Toyota Avalon Tires and Wheels

nimimi

I had to chain up my '08 Avalon in order to traverse Snoqualmie Pass this week. The chains left red paint on my wheels and I used paint thinner and a scouring pad (BAD!) to get the red paint off. Now the wheels are dull and discolored in those areas. How can I restore or refinish these fine wheels?

mortster1

I had a 1992 Camry that was the best car I ever drove. I have a 2000 XLS with 77,000 miles and it needs new tires. I replaced the original Michelin 205/60R16s at 36,000 miles with the same tire. I also have had significant rust problems with both front and rear brakes. Dealer said you cannot let the car sit for more than a few days but could not show me anything in book saying to do this. The calipers or rotors have repaired or replaced 5 times with a complete new brake job at 41,000 miles (paid for by Toyota after letter to Corp. HQ.) I just returned from repair shop due to rear right caliper being rusted. A friend with an identical car has had similar problems. I agree that there is a manufacture/design defect. Outside of the brakes and tires the car has been wondeful but I am thinking of a new car and it will most likely not be a Toyota.

dljandk

Help! I am ready for my 3rd set of tires for my 05 avalon touring. Started out with the stock Michelins replaced at 44k but really should have replaced at 34k. Went with Yokahamas after much research. These were even worse. Replacing these at 36k but was told at the previous 6k rotation that they already needed replacing at 30k. at nearly $1000 a set, I would like to get an honest 40k out of my next tires. I've been told by my tire dealer that the touring model eats tires. Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone have a good tire recommendation? I am not a particularly aggressive driver, but I do put a lot of miles on in a year.

rpfingsten

For most of my adult life I have found that I got the best ride and wear from one of two brands, either Michelins or Firestone ( hate goodyear tires ). However about 5 years ago, a neighbor of mine who runs several tire centers here in my neck of the woods recommended that I try Toyo Tires. I did and will continue to buy Toyo as I need replacement tires. Great treadwear, and nice ride... Of course with any tire, it is essential to keep air pressure up to specs and of course rotating your tires every 6K is important. Just my 2 cents worth. Hope this helps.

Roland

tjc78

I can tell you that I never had a set of Michelins that didn't get nearly 50K. I can also tell you NOT to put Bridgestone Turanza EL400s. My '06 XLS has about 27K and they are almost down to the wear bars. Rotated every 5000 miles and kept at 35 PSI all the time. Crap tire that was never that quiet new and even worse now. Friend has a 4cyl Camry with same tire and is experiencing the same thing.

dljandk

yup, that had been my experience as well. I was quite surprised to find out that my stock michelins were worn out at 34k. When I did my research though, I found that I was not alone. This is certainly not the only big car with sport suspension, I would think whatever they use on a 5 series BMW would work here. Was hoping someone had found a magic combination for this particular model. Thanks

55396

"( hate goodyear tires )."

There was a time that I didn't have much time for Goodyear either. But things change as time marches on, so I always look again when ready to upgrade anything. When we needed tires for my daughters Camry, I found Goodyear Allegro's at exclusively SAMS at a very good price and was very impressed. (A similar tire is sold under another another name elsewhere) Good on snow. Long treadwear rating, Lots of siping. Quiet and confortable ride, and handle well. We put Goodyear Assurance ComforTred on our 03 Avalon when my wife bought custom wheels and have been very satisfied with them. And, I'm buying from an American company, which I do when I can - assuming they give reason to.

tjc78

I would think whatever they use on a 5 series BMW would work here

I would think many of the OE tires on BMWs are "sport" rated tires with softer compounds that would easily wear out in 30K. I would go to tire rack and specifically look for tires with high mileage ratings. You will give up some quietness and wet traction, but may end up with a tire that can go 50K.

rpfingsten

Hi Guys..
I was wondering if any of you out there could tell me what the expected battery life of a stock battery in the Avalon is? I bought my 07 XLS new is Sept of 2006 and so far the battery's fine. However never having owned a Toyota until this car, I'm not sure what to expect. The reason I ask is that in every new GM car I've ever owned, and I'm including Cadillac in this group, I have never had an AC Delco battery last more than 2 to 2 1/2 years.. and they give you no warning. You just go out to your car at midnight in the parking lot at work, and NOTHING. So hopefully trying to avoid that with my Yota. Until now I've always replaced stock batterys with Sears Diehard. Would you stay with the Toyota battery or go with another brand? I appreciate your help. Thanks

Roland

tjc78

Roland,

Not sure how much help I can be here but....Toyota's batteries I believe are pretty good. My 00 Solara and 03 Avalon were fine after 3 years and my Stepfather's 03 Camry is still on the original battery.

55396

Still have original in our 03 Avalon. Battery life may depend on whgere you live. Here in MN, -20 degrees requires a good battery, so a weak one may need to be replaced sooner. I usually buy the cheapest with the highest CCA's at SAMS or our Fleet Farm stores, and get by many years. They carry Champion or their own label. Desert heat is also a killer.

lakebreeze1

My '85 Corolla, '94 Camry & '00 Sienna all went 7 years (in Wisconsin) before I changed them and even at that, they were still performing well. I changed them before they actually died. All the vehicles were equipped with the winter package which included a heavier duty battery. I expect my '08 Avalon will be the same.

fin

Went in for a tire rotation and ended up with a new set of tires on my '07 Limited. My tire man said the new Nexen 5000 tires were selling well and suggested a set as the original Michelins were 60% worn at 28k miles. They would go 40k total, or more, but being retired, over 60, I said "maybe". But I'm a Michelin guy, mainly, for four decades. So then he shows me his new modified MB sedan, cost him 95 grand. He put Nexen tires on it!

First Report: After a FL trip and some local driving, 1200 miles total, the tires are winners. More quiet and smoother than Michelins. Traction in wet and dry appears to be the same. Cornering also. So far, so good. The best part was the price: $102.50 each OTD. That's mounted, tire disposal fee, spin balanced, filled with N and 6% tax.

Additional reports will follow for anyone interested. But don't be afraid of Nexen tires for your Avy just because they are made in S. Korea or you never heard of them. If mine develop problems the exact trouble and the overall experience will be posted here.

55396

Probably a good price for your size. I put 15" Goodyear Allegras from Sams Club on our 03 and daughters Camry. Really like em.. Rated for 80k treadwear at $70-80 range. Good winter traction, quiet, and ride well. Lots of siping. Your size would be more. Just another option for those who want a more recognized brand or can't find Nexen.

rpfingsten

Might I suggest yet another brand. Toyo. I have a friend who runs 4 or 5 tire centers and handles all the major brands. Went in to get a new set of Michelins a few years back and he suggested I try Toyo.. Since he was a neighbor, and since this 'IS" his line of work, I gave them a try. Loved them. 100K treadwear warranty... smooth ride.. Just another brand to consider.

Roland

fin

Great tires, Toyo. My kid had set on a '95 Honda V6 and we actually had a set on our first Avalon. Superior handling, good mileage. But the ride was a little harsher than the Michelin and there was more road noise (it seemed). Still, Toyo is a good tire at a competitive price and definitely worth considering.

gilseidman

On my 1995 Toyota Avalon, the original battery lasted almost 8 years. I replaced it with a Sears Diehard Gold battery that is still in use. If you do buy a non- Toyota battery, measure the size of the battery clamp on holder and make sure the dimensions of your new battery is the same size and will fit exactly in the clamp holder. There is a cold size battery used in the north and Canada that is larger 24 size as opposed to a 35 size used in warmer climates.

rpfingsten

Fin... you're absolutely right. I had forgotten that the Toyo's were a bit noisy.. but not bad...and for the money, certainly worth considering... as far as ride goes, I've never owned a tire that had a "nicer' ride than my Michelins. jmo.....

Roland

captain2

Toyo 's 'new' tire is the Versado, sold as a 'luxury' car tire - have a set of 235/50s on my Touring - and that particular tire is amazingly quiet- much more so than the OEM Michelins they replaced . All in all, a good fit for the smooth and quiet riding Avalons, IMO. Only spent $600.00 for the set total a summer ago..

drengka

Just took delivery of my new 2008 Avalon Limited. After years of foolishly buying GM products, I am so looking forward to owning my Avalon for a long time.
With regards to the tires, I noticed that the spare is a full size tire and the manual recommends doing a three tire rotation on the right side and a two tire rotation on the left side. I haven't had a real spare for decades. Is this what you do, or do you "save" the spare and just rotate the 4 on the car. If you involve all 5 tires in rotation, it seems that they would wear at different rates leaing to unbalanced replacement?

tfelton

Go to http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=43 and look at their tire rotation patterns. I believe the ones they suggest are better than Toyota's.

bwia

I just watched a scary video on ABC TV website about tire dealers (like Sears and Costco) selling what appears to be brand new tires but in fact were as much as 4 years old in some cases. ABC mentioned that the safe limits for a tire is 6 years and in England that is the law of the land.

Furthermore, they said it is very difficult to tell how how old a tire is but if you look closely on the inside wall of the tire you might be able to decode the manufacturing date. For example, there is a lengthy DOT alpha-numeric number on the tire with the last 4 digits being the manufacturing date. Thus, the number 4402 means that the tire was manufactured in the 44th week of 2002. Similarly, the number 399 would be interpreted as week 3 of 1999.

Does anyone know if there is any truth to this or just sensationalism or over zealous TV reporting?

fin

The date of tire manufacture codes are easy to learn as you describe them. Yes, tires begin to deteriorate even if they are never used. Slow process, but it happens.

NO reputable tire dealer will sell a new tire 6 years old. The risk of failure and lawsuits would be too great. Where would you even find a new tire 6 years old? Even 4 years is much too old to be placed in new service.

My suggestion: Look for tires less than 1 year old when installed. Even if you drive on them for several more years they should last till the tread is worn down or they become a victim of some road hazard. And the best of tires will begin to fail in time, such as the OE Michelin MXV4's on my wife's Honda. At 5 years (24k miles) they had plenty of tread but also had age cracks. Replaced 'em...

There are plenty of new tires out there in all brands... choose wisely, and choose recently made.

bwia

My suggestion: Look for tires less than 1 year old when installed. Even if you drive on them for several more years they should last till the tread is worn down or they become a victim of some road hazard. And the best of tires will begin to fail in time, such as the OE Michelin MXV4's on my wife's Honda. At 5 years (24k miles) they had plenty of tread but also had age cracks. Replaced 'em...

So fin, the spare tire in the trunk could be a false sense of security. Since most people don't replace the spare when they do a tire change over that spare could be sitting in the trunk for over a decade in most cases.
Hmm, now might be the time to sell that spare on eBay after all.

smudgy2

Our 2005 Avy experienced a sudden battery failure after 3years and four months. This happened at a busy gas station while on vacation in Alabama. Helpful teens gave us a jumper start. The battery was a sealed type, with a little "eye" to view battery condition. Even after it died the little eye indicated a happy green color. Replaced it with a Ever Start Maxx 24fs. Later found out Consumer Reports was highly favorable to this brand. Bottom Line: Modern batteries that come with a new auto are not what they used to be and they may go out without any warning.

dljandk

got 3 yrs 3mos (80k miles) on the stock battery in my 05 touring model. as described elswhere, it gives no warning - started fine on way to dinner, so dead it wouldn't pop the trunk after dinner. luckily was a mile from home so could walk home and get the 2nd car. Not sure what to look for, but my battery had a LOT of corrosion around the terminals. much more than my older chevy. Dont know what that means but thats what I noticed. Good Luck, YMMV by the way - jumped it, drove it home, was dead after that. "eye" was black

fin

About 3 years is all you can safely expect from the OE battery. Anything beyond that is borrowed time.

The high level of corrosion is typical of all Avalons. Keep the terminals clean for maximum performance. And the "eye" on a battery is not much help as even when the eyes are green the car still may not start. These subjects have been covered many times in other Avalon forums.

Enjoy your Avalon..

fin

After 3k miles on our '07 Limited with our usual suburban driving conditions these tires are every bit as good as Michelins. No discernable difference in performance in wet or dry and no visable tire wear or road hazard damage. And the nice ride has even improved with mileage. So far the tires are a bargain at half the cost of the MXV4's. Will post again when rotated.....

55396

I just had the mag wheels pulled off my wifes 03 and the stock steel wheels out back on with 2 new Goodyear Allegra's $78.04) at Sams. My wife didn't notice, but I immediately heard and felt just a slight pulsation in the steering wheel at 65 and 70. I called them back and explained that we were leaving on an 1800 mile trip, and even a slight problem would wear into a bigger problem. They said they had just received a notice about an out of round? condition on the latest batch, and suggested BF Goodrich. I declined. I really like Allegra's. 'Bring it right back.' They mounted 5 tires before they found one they were satisfied with and now all is fine. They are returning the rest of their stock for replacement. Any product can have problems. What is telling is how they handle it. My question was why didn't they detect it when they spun it up, but it was probably in spec, but not perfect. Now, we're talking about judgement by the tech that did the job. Again, most people wouldn't even notice.

yanker

The Yokohama Avid went about 40000 miles but the last few were not great very noisy. Yoko's did not do as well as Michelin in snow and ice in upstate New York Back to Michelin

carreraken

Anyone have experience with General tire Altimax HP? Tire Rack seems to rate them highly. I have 205/60/16 on my 02 XL.

pasqvinc

anyone have any experience with cooper tires - good,bad or indifferent?

tfelton

I had Cooper tires on a Taurus. I couldn't keep them in balance. I got ride of them after 20,000 miles.

tfelton

Over the last few years I've put Goodyear Assurance TripleTreds on my cars ('05 Nissan Sentra, '98 Sienna, '08 Avalon). I haven't been sorry. They're excellent in rain, which we have a lot of in Arkansas, and just recently proved good in snow. I was in northern Utah over Christmas when they got some big snow storms. I had no trouble driving around and at one point I was going up a steep hill when the car in front of me started to slip and slide off to the side of the road; however, I went steadily up without a problem. Also, a bus couldn't make the hill. I'm sure they're not as quite as other tires but I think road conditions dictate noise more. On a really smooth road I find them quite acceptable. One note, I put 34 pounds in my tires and have for as long as I can remember.

55396

I have Goodyear Comfortreds (same family) on my wifes 03 mounted on custom wheels which come off for winter. Vague soft handling at first until things took a 'set' but then fine. I believe I posted elsewhere about that and suspension upgrades.

tfelton

I just got a set of Thule CB-12 100 tire chains for my '08 Avalon. They fit around the tire OK but the tension chain is way too short to attach as per the illustration in the instructions. You can get it to attach, but not in the prescribed manner.

Has anyone had any experience with this brand?

fin

Just had these tires rotated at about 5.5k...

In short, they are as good as Michelin to this point. Ride is a liitle better, actually. Handling and performance are the same under all conditions as the Michelin, except we have had no snow to drive on... yet... here in metro Atlanta. No significant wear is visible on the tire tread or the shoulder even for the ones that were on the front.

So far, so good. Satisfaction at half the price of the MXV4's. Consider the Nexen brand if you need tires for an Avalon.

aguerrini

My car (135Kmiles) got a negative camber and equally chewed-up the inside of both front tires to the steel belt in about 10Kmiles since tires and struts were replaced.
(Note: Original struts lasted for 120Kmiles)

Shop #1 calls for plain wheel alignment.
Shop #2 call for struts replacement.
Other information sources state 98 Avalon does not have caster-camber adjustment.
What is the correct solution to have this problem fixed?

njavalonguy

Car is 97000 miles now and still on the 2nd set of Michelin OEM Energy MVX4s . Looking for a tire change...has anyone any experience with BF Goodrich tires on the Avalon ?

Have some great deals going on at Costco..hence the question

~A

tfelton

Check the web site for info on tires:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=GTAS

njavalonguy

Thanks tfelton...

this is one amazing tire comparison chart I've ever seen...

~A

fin

Used Michelins and one set of Toyos on my first two Avalons, a '99 and an '03. On the '07 at 28k on the car I went to Nexen. Half the price and at 40k now they still look new. No difference in overall performance from the factory Michelins and the ride is better. If they sell Nexens in your area they are worth a look. Long term, can't say... still too new. But, so far, so good.

txsweetlady

I have a 2009 limited avalon with somekind of special wheels..........It was a dealer demo and I have only had it about 6 weeks. Today was the first time anyone ever road in the back. We left the movies and drove about two miles ...the back drivers side tire was smoking.... it was gone. The tires say bridgestone....firestone.... the tire just became power....I know the belt broke because I now have dents and scraps on my new car.... to top that off, I have to have a special key to remove the luggnuts which was not in the new car........... then when the spare tire was removed..........It has a different rim and is a different size tire.... it is a michelin........ any one else out there have this kind of problem???

fin

You appear to have answered your own question as to how this happened: with some kind of special wheels... The wheels and/or tires are oversize in diameter or width or both. When someone rode in the rear seat the tires rubbed the body. This is just one of many possible problems with suspension or wheel/tire modifications to any car, not just Avalons.

If this car came from a Toyota dealer then take it back and demand an answer as to how this happened. Did you sign anything that says the car has wheels and tires that are different and might be a problem? At your risk? Not from Toyota? Or other warnings? And the special wheel lock key? Or not. Approved factory changes should never cause this problem.

Many forum members have wheel and tire modifications to Avalons that work OK. One of them may have more details and suggestions.

bwia

I am considering a set of the newly introduced Grand Touring, 60,000-mile, all-season Goodrich Advantage T/A tires. At Costco the set will cost $372 installed. This is a new tire so there is little information about it on the internet so I was wondering if any of you have any information that you wish to share.

The Costco rep says its a much better tire an improvement over the Traction T/A but I'm skeptical as I've never used that brand before. As a matter of fact I've only used Michelins but at $135 each I wanted to switch to a cheaper tire in these hard economic times but I don't want to regret that decision so any feedback would help.

tfelton

Check this Tire Rack web site:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=Advantage+- T%2FA

bwia

I pulled the trigger and bought the Goodrich Advantage T/A tires at Costco but I was duped. First, I bought a $50 membership card with the intention of getting the $70 promotional discount. The tires were not in stock so I had to wait for 5 days, however, when they presented the bill it did not include the discount claiming that the discount was on selected Goodrich tires which did not include the Advantage T/A.

Second, when I returned to have the lug nuts re-torqued I asked the service manager how did the Advantage T/A stack up against the Michelin MXV4. He said the Michelin was a superior tire. I told him how could he say that when to me there was no difference in handling and NHV. He said to wait until January and I will see the difference and that the Advantage T/A is no better than the Track T/A which it replaced.

So far I have driven 118 mostly highway miles on smooth and rough surfaces. The car felt competent on all surfaces but the noise level was a little more noticeable than the Michelin’s on the rough surface. By the way, the tires were inflated with nitrogen at no extra charge but in terms of handling I can’t tell the difference between nitrogen and regular air. Final price for the set of 4 tires including tax, installation, warranty and disposal, $442.36.

fin

About the N.... the most noticeable difference will be on a very hot afternoon on the interstate. Tire pressure will remain nearer the original cold setting and the car will feel a little more stable. Most other driving will not produce any meaningful difference for the majority of drivers. Extreme cold weather is also better handled by N but you can't feel it as much especially on snow. Good luck with the tires, keep us all informed, they may be winners......

rpfingsten

Hello everyone... I've got an 07 Avy that has a set of Turanza's on it. Sadly enough, these tires are shot at only 31,000 miles.. on top of that I was never satisfied with the ride I got from the tires. I've had so called "experts" tell me that because the tires are a lower profile tire with less sidewall space, I'm not going to get a "soft" ride out of any tire. Anyway It's time for me to change them out and I was wondering what people thought about these 2 tires... one is the Micheline Primacy Mx4 ( h speed rating / 60K mile tire ) the other is the Toyo Versado Lx ( V speed rating / 40K mile tire ). The problem with both these tires is the cost.. the total out the door cost for the Michelins ( includes alignment ) is $980.00. The Toyo's Versado Lx cost including alignment is $840.00 But even at that, the only reason the toyo's cost less is because I know the owner of the tire store and he said he would sell them to me at a discount to help out on the cost.... otherwise they would have cost an additional 160 bucks, making them cost more than the michelins... I've read mixed reviews on the michelins and I have to be honest, almost all the reviews on the Versado Lx's have been good... but my god, I just hate to spend over 840 dollars for a 40,000 mile rated tire.. any thoughts? bear in mind the most important factor for me is ride smoothness... thanks.

Roland

tjc78

I've got an 07 Avy that has a set of Turanza's on it. Sadly enough, these tires are shot at only 31,000 miles..

I only got 27K out of mine. However, I guess I could have squeezed another thousand or two. Anyway, I can you that I put Goodyear Eagle GT and was never happy with them. My car was leased so I had to put a "V" rated tire on. My choices were limited and the Eagle GT was the lowest price option at 750. They had great grip but were noisy and harsh. Michelins wear like iron, but ride firm for some people. I would look at Goodyear Assurance Comforttread. I hear nothing but good things about them on various vehicles.