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Comments
Well, they didn't say they weren't talking about it, planning it or tooling up, just that they haven't announced.
C'mon folks, think positively and keep calling them.
John
Any thoughts are most appreciated.
I WISH I could get a Michelin for my '08 Highlander.
It would be worth reading back through the posts here and investigating the availability of tyres for the wheels you propose. There are only two tyres (Toyo and Bridgestone) available for the Kluger's 19" wheels and neither of them have received favourable comment on this site, particularly where snow is involved. The availability issue is likely to be worse in New Zealand because of the relatively small market. It is a significant issue in the USA, A bigger one in Australia and likely a shocker in New Zealand.
I have a now 5 year old Kluger in Victoria, Australia and found the original fit Toyo tyres to be shockers. They were worn out in 40,000km and gave poor road holding in wet or mud conditions. I then replaced with Yokohama Geolander HT/S 225/70 R16 and have got 90,000km out of them. Very good performance although when new, the pretty aggressive tread was inclined to dig in on loose sand (although excellent in snow and mud). They are now due for replacement and I will replace with identical tyres after a lengthy chat with several tyre experts. As one of them put it "Why would you put anything else on?"
Toyota in the USA have been pretty difficult about fitting non stock tyre sizes to the Kluger (Highlander) and I would approach that idea with caution.
Whilst perhaps not as attractive, it might be wiser to stick to the original 17" wheel size which will give you a far greater range of tyres. The side benefit of this is that I actually think the ride and handling is better on the 17" particularly in snow/mud than the 19" (Colleagues have both sizes and the 19" look better for poseurs in suburban streets, but are poor on the mountain)
Cheers
Grahan
Toyota Canada lives in a legal world but their repair shops have to deal with real problems. A service manager at Toyota told me he never heard about the issue but he would talk to some people and would get back to me. When he called he admitted that there is a problem and said my best bet was to get the recommended size tires and use them until Michelin or somebody else comes with a better product. This is a very sound advice and should be followed by everybody.
At another Toyota dealership I was told that as long as the tire is within 3% of the recommended size all is OK. Now, I live in Ontario and winters here are the real thing. Still I did not want to go for winter tires and my Toyo A20 lost the traction to such a degree that I was seriously worried about safety of my family. Without much exaggeration I can say that with even only a little snow on the road my Highlaner was behaving like a curling stone on ice.
Toyo Open Country HT are a better tire than A20 and I would have installed these if they were available but they were not. So, I bought Michelin Latitude Tour HP All Season 255/55R19 XL 111V tire. This tire is one size up and about 1.5% bigger than the original 245/55R19. Buying an oversized vs undersized tire seems safer since the tires will get slowly smaller in diameter due to wear and many people, including yours truly, often drive with not enough air pressure in tires anyways.
Toyota dealership ordered and installed the tires for me without slightest hesitation, which makes me feel so much better.
After a couple of weeks with the oversized Michelin tires on I can say that I am very pleased with the choice. The car has that silk-smooth ride to it now. It does not slide any which way and the yellow warning light does not come on the dash anymore. We did not have all that much snow in Ontario since I got the new tires, though, so it is hard for me to make any statements regarding real winter performance of this all season tire.
Just one more thing: when new tires were fitted the car vibrated a lot, which was especially noticeable at highway speeds. I went back to Toyota dealership and the tires were rebalanced. This did not help much. It turned out that one of the tires was way out of specs and caused the vibration. After the tire was replaced the problem is gone and the ride is superb.
BTW, at one point I called Michelin for advice and they did not recommend using any other size than specified by the manufacturer.
Cheers Colin
It's not the mountain goat my '86 Subaru GL wagon was, but it had factory steel skid plates, armored exhaust and dual-range part-time 4wd along with a 5-speed. I wore it out on the beaches at Hatteras, but it took 14 years before the rust got the subframe.
John
Managed to get only 16,000 miles out of the Hankook Optimo 235/55 19s on our 2008 Highlander Limited, after replacing the OEM Toyo Open Country's. Fortunately, the tire warranty from Hankook was pretty decent, and they allowed almost the entire amount I paid for premature wear. Went to Discount Tire, they replaced all 4 with another set of Hankook Ventus AS P255/55 R19XL. After it was all said and done, I effictively got 2 new tires for free and paid for the other 2 (around $375 total out the door including road hazard + free lifetime rotate and balance). The Ventus is a wider than the original Optimo (255 vs. 235), same aspect ratio, however the load rating is higher.
Ride on the wider Ventus tire is decent, and I am especially happy with the way Discount Tire handled the warranty with the old set of tires. The ride on the Optimo was better than the OEM Toyo Open Country's, but the wear rate was about the same as the OEM Toyo tire. I rotated the tires with an oil change at 5K, so I am at a loss as to why these 19" tires don't last very long.
When you put the 235/55's on, did you need a new rim? I really don't want to go with new rims and all.
I think you have a problem with your specs. I have not found anyone with a 255/55R19 tire. There are several 255/50R19 tires, but not 55's. Without the 55 aspect ratio, the 50 ratio shrinks the tire about 0.4 inches in diameter and results in a 2% difference in real speed (slower) than indicated speed. There may also be issues related to ABS calibration. Firms with 255/50R19 include Michelin Latitudes, Continental Extreme Contact DWS, Continental ContiCrossContact UHP, and Hankook Ventus AS and possibly some Pirellis. You really must shop around the tire company sites to find the sizes since places like Tire Rack do not carry all brands and all sizes. Michelin offers no mileage warranty, whereas Continental and Hankook do. The replacement Toyo tire (if you want to continue the pain) is a Toyo Open Country H/T with a 60,000 mile warranty. Why is it the replacement tire gets 60K while the OEM is lucky to get 25K? I suggest everyone with problematic 19" tires (that includes the Bridgestone owners with similar complaints) write to Toyota and demand a refund for premature tire wear. The address is:
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
19001 South Western Ave.
Dept. WC11
Torrance, CA 90501
You should also go to the blog at Consumer Reports to read what they have to say about the tires in question.
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/04/toyota-highlander-how-to-choose-th- e-best-replacement-tire-.html
I have always found their evaluations of tires to be right on target.
"My 2008 Highlander Hybrid has 21,000 miles and it needs new tires! This is unacceptable and inexcusable. Like other Highlander Hybrid owners, I am now forced into purchasing replacement tires to ensure the safety of my family.
I am not alone in my disappointment and anger around this problem. It will only take one savvy lawyer to make this into a class action law suit and, when it does happen, I will happily sign up to fight Toyota for equipping their Highlanders with inferior tires.
Toyota MUST also do the right thing and compensate Toyota Highlander Hybrid owners like myself for tire replacements."
Toyota is now being sued by shareholders who claim the price of the stock was kept articifically high by hiding the gas pedal problems. It is a class action suit.
Any lawyers own these 19" tires?
Mr. Akio Toyoda
President and CEO
Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota City Head Office
1, Toyota-cho, Toyota City,
Aichi Prefecture 471-8571, Japan
Tel: (0565) 28-2121
Fax: (0565) 23-5800
For the corporate web site, not the USA 'buy your car here' sales site, go here:
http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/index.html
To file a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), use this site. They have a complaint form on line. You need the DOT identification for your tire found on the side wall near the rim after the letters "DOT" it is a combination of letters and numbers. It also helps to have your VIN found on your title and maybe your registration.
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/Complaint.cfm
The House Oversight Committe is holding hearings on the Toyota recalls. Add your tire complaints to their agenda. Email your representative in Congress. You can locate that person using this link.
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
One of the best blogs about these tires is found at Consumer Reports. Read the article, then add a post like you have here. You can also scoot around the Consumer site until you find a way to send them an email -- it can be done from the site, but it is not obvious. The more people who directly contact them, the better the chance they will investigate and run an article.
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/04/toyota-highlander-how-to-choose-th- e-best-replacement-tire-.html
A good complaint has these things:
The year and model of your vehicle.
Where it was purchased.
The name and size of the tire that is the problem.
The mileage on the tires.
Any problems related to the tires, such as skidding, near misses, collisions, etc.
Anything you have already tried to get the problem resolved (visited dealer, etc.) and the result of that (e.g., nothing).
What you want done about it (rebate $XXX, replacement).
Emotions such as anger and disappointment should be mentioned.
Threats to take your next car purchase to another brand are legitimate.
Profanity will not help (although you may swear at the tires themselves).
1) Get a new tire size (255/55-19). I don't want to do this. Computers on these vehicles are so sophisticated, I'm worried about what it will do to the gas mileage and overall performace of the vehicle. Toyota and many tire shops are leary of this as well.
2) Get the newer expensive Toyo HT's which are rare. How is the snow performance for these? I'm leary of Toyos in general now.
3) Downgrade to the 17" as you mentioned. Is this the wheel you used? Are you still having good luck doing this? At least I could have an OEM size tire in 245/65-17 with a little more rubber on the road.
Any input is greatly appreciated.
I changed my tire at 18500 miles. I already called Toyo Tires and Toyota so many times and I didn't get any response except Toyo Tires agent sent me out to 3 different dealers and the claimed their self that they are not Toyo Tire dealer anymore.
The winter was very near at that time and I have baby girl whose enjoy the ride a lot. So I changed the tire for my family safety.
I report complaint to 3 websites including bbb.org and finally I got partial credit from Toyo Tire via bbb.org about 40% of my new tire purchase.
I have no idea about Highlander Sport.
But for me, Highlander Hybrid, have no choice rather than to stick with 245/55 19" due to computer calculation input. I already discussed with 2 mechanics and they told me to stick with original tire size.
Understand your frustration. I am in same boat. Maybe not quite as bad, but close.
My experience is:
If you switch to different tire size either rims or tire size, I have been told by Toyota dealership and mechanics that Toyota will void warranty if/when you experience any front end, transmission, or AWD issues. The likelihood of this happening might be "rare", but if it ever did and dealership noticed non-OEM tire size, you are OUT of LUCK for warranty repairs.
Next is computer recalculation: Might not seem like a big deal, but I also have been told the transmission is computer controlled and many other issues. In short, be prepared for weird shifting, poor gas mileage, and potential other issues if you go to 17 inch rims.
My tires (Toyo A20) lasted about 25k with frequent rotations and air pressure monitoring. I did replace them with another set of A20 because the HT were not available "anywhere" in early November 2009. Now for interesting part...
Very unhappy with A20 tires with 5,000 miles on them. Called TOYO about this issue and they told my tire shop to call them directly once I got to tire store where purchased. Tire manager discussed issue with TOYO and they offered to replace my tires with HT tires shipping from California. I too, experienced very terrible traction, poor snow conditions in Michigan with AWD, overall safety issues with spin out, etc. I will be paying for dismouting of tires and remounting of new HT tires on 03/06/2010 of original size.
Also call and send letter to the National Highway Safety council as noted in this thread about the TOYO tires. Interesting item: TOYO is almost the same as TOYOTA.... go figure.
IF you call TOYO, be patient but firm and tell them you are elevating the issue to Washington DC, just like the many other TOYOTA issues at present time. This is what I did and got some partial relief.. I hope.
Good luck in your tire search.
MICHIGAN MIKE.
MICHIGAN MIKE
on hers, they've only lasted about 26k and then started to wear unevenly to boot, so I also had the car aligned after only that many miles which also seems strange. we previously had her tires rotated and I think they were also rebalanced at one point.
so are you saying the "Open Country" (A20) were terrible and only lasted 14k? so I should check out the "HT" instead? not impressed with what I've read about the Bridgestones, most people seem to hate them especially in snow (which we drive through for a few months out of the year).
had the car in for the 15,000 mi dealer service (@18k) which was 8k ago, and they never mentioned one thing about premature tire wear or bad alignment. also, the car never pulls or exhibits other signs of possible alignment.
have an appointment to take the car to Toyo dealer in the next two days from now for inspection per their recommendation. car won't be driven much until then, we just have other committments to deal with. the woman already conceded to me that there could be something wrong with the tires and if so, they would offer some concession ($) on replacing them, without even much goading. I will definitely insist on the HT, and that they don't just replace them with another set of junky A20 or some other tire (unlikely, being that the only other is Bridgestone).
I was a bit worried about switching sizes but so far I am very happy and glad I made the switch.
To add to this message -- I agree and did the same process. I called TOYO and spoke with Candice. She in turn advised me to have my tire store call her directly and she provided a PO number and instructions for tire store to obtain tires (TOYO - HT). Tire store had them shipped in from California destined for Michigan. Got them installed last Friday and all is ok. Only thing I had to pay for was dismount and remount of new TOYO ---HT tires. So far,all is good and even have seen a modest improvement in MPG and quiet ride on vehicle. Hope these tires will last much longer with proper rotation and pressure checks...
Good luck !
Because the HT 245/55R19 tire is in short supply, tire dealers will tell you it is not available. If you work through Toyo, not only will you get a discount, but they will "grease" the system to get tires for you (in about two weeks). You will need to visit a Toyo dealer in your area so he can measure the tread and call the 800 number for the discount authorization. (Toyo can help you locate a dealer - they are genuinely helpful).
I just got my new set of tires and they seem to be just fine for the first 25 miles. For what it is worth, the tire dealer I where got my tires said he had driven on a set of HTs and that they were good tires.
The A20 tires on new vehicles have been reformulated to wear longer. Do NOT expect your Toyota dealer to tell you about the Toyo discount program - the two in my area said nothing. Cut and paste this message and spread it around the internet to help others with this problem.
See these sites for more information
http://www.gsp9700.com/pub/technical/4202T/5THEO004.cfm
Road Force Machine & to locate in your area
http://www.hunter.com/pub/product/balancer/index.htm
Click on the 'Locate a service rep' and look for your area.
The one except to this is if it comes and goes in a rhythm. Sort like: "Thrum......Thrum......Thrum....." etc. - and we're talking seconds here - Then its a pair of tires interacting with each other. Put one of anoither axle and the problem goes away, as neither is by itself large enough to cause a vibration, but when they in and out of phase, they combine to be large enough to detect.
momcat