I have a 2002 SC 430 with 11,500 miles. I started to notice an
increase in noise from my tires (run-flat). When I brought the car in
for service, I was told that I will need new tires at 15K. Anyone else
notice this on their SC?
Jay

I recently ferried an SC430 somewhere for some work to be done on it, about
1300 miles round trip. One of the items to be addressed was the tires (OEM
run-flats). If I remember correctly the tires had 20K+ miles on them. The
noise from them was incredible. I noticed on the way over that the tires
were cupped and reported this to the dealer. To make a long story shorter I
talked with a tech and he said that in his opinion Lexus used the wrong tire
on this car. Apparently this is a problem with all of the cars with this
tire.

The owner of the vehicle I drove has a son that also has an SC430 that had
the same problem. The son ended up replacing the tires with a different
brand (still run-flats) and he is very happy now. The tires on the car I
drove were supposed to be replaced, but, the replacement tires were on
national backorder at the time. I believe the tires have actually been
replaced now, but, I have not spoken to the owner about it recently.

I'll bet you want me to tell you about the new tires. Unfortunately, I
cannot remember, sorry. If you really want to know please let me know and I
will contact the owner and get the specifics and post them.

The owner of this car is quite disappointed with Lexus at the moment for
this and a few other things. He has owned many Lexus automobiles over the
years and he feels that he was given the finger from Lexus on this issue of
very short tire life ( there was still PLENTY of tread on the tires, before
I drove the car I was wondering why in the world he was having the tires
replaced ). He was not looking for full replacement cost. He received a
communiqué, obviously drafted by American ( type ) lawyers, saying something
to the effect of these are high performance tires and they do things like
this, tough. He was remembering the days when Lexus was more interested in
taking care of their customers, especially when there is a broad issue
(problem) such as this. (sigh)

Douglas Kaip


"Jay" <ontheroad1154 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com> wrote

I recently ferried an SC430 somewhere for some work to be done on it, about
1300 miles round trip. One of the items to be addressed was the tires (OEM
run-flats). If I remember correctly the tires had 20K+ miles on them. The
noise from them was incredible. I noticed on the way over that the tires
were cupped and reported this to the dealer. To make a long story shorter I
talked with a tech and he said that in his opinion Lexus used the wrong tire
on this car. Apparently this is a problem with all of the cars with this
tire.

The owner of the vehicle I drove has a son that also has an SC430 that had
the same problem. The son ended up replacing the tires with a different
brand (still run-flats) and he is very happy now. The tires on the car I
drove were supposed to be replaced, but, the replacement tires were on
national backorder at the time. I believe the tires have actually been
replaced now, but, I have not spoken to the owner about it recently.

I'll bet you want me to tell you about the new tires. Unfortunately, I
cannot remember, sorry. If you really want to know please let me know and I
will contact the owner and get the specifics and post them.

The owner of this car is quite disappointed with Lexus at the moment for
this and a few other things. He has owned many Lexus automobiles over the
years and he feels that he was given the finger from Lexus on this issue of
very short tire life ( there was still PLENTY of tread on the tires, before
I drove the car I was wondering why in the world he was having the tires
replaced ). He was not looking for full replacement cost. He received a
communiqué, obviously drafted by American ( type ) lawyers, saying something
to the effect of these are high performance tires and they do things like
this, tough. He was remembering the days when Lexus was more interested in
taking care of their customers, especially when there is a broad issue
(problem) such as this. (sigh)

Douglas