I have an '02 Passat GLS wagon with just 31K miles (I don't get out
much) and the tread on the factory tires (Michelin MXV4+) is
technically gone, worn down to the wear bars. Worse, the car spends 5
months of the year on snow tires (four Michelin Arctic Alpins), so
the actual mileage on the tires is far less. The tread on the snows
is just fine, but I guess packed snow and ice are less wearing than
pavement.

The wear is even on all four tires, with nothing that would suggest
alignment or other problems.

Is this common with these tires, or did I just draw a bad batch?

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | bert (AT) iphouse (DOT) com

Well, I don't know about that particular Michelin tire, but these days tires
should last much longer than that on paved roads. My tires in recent years
have gone for as long as 80,000 miles.

So something is obviously wrong. Do you brake a lot? I have seen many
drivers habitually tail-gating in heavy traffic, and they are applying their
brakes every few seconds. Just a thought, not an accusation.

bikingis (AT) my (DOT) fun (Papa) wrote in
news:rtOZg.15951$UG4.8820 (AT) newsread2 (DOT) news.pas.earthlink.net:

A discussion with a local car fancier suggests there might be an
alignment problem. He says that bad toe-in/out adjustment could
produce rapid but even wear on the front tires. Since I have them
swapped front-to-back each year, after a while all four would be
messed up. The snows go on in a few weeks; I'll have it looked at
then.

No; generally the contrary :-)

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | bert (AT) iphouse (DOT) com

Those were the original skins on my '01 Jetta, I replaced them last fall
at about 51,000. I was pleased with the longevity. They were also
quiet, had good dry traction and were good-looking.

I would have replaced them with another set, except for two things:
Like all Michelin "all-season" tires, they are awful in the snow and
rain, and they are very expensive.

Seems to me that the toe-in theory is plausible, because you should have
gotten more than 31,000 out of them.

I got 80,000 miles out of that model tire on my 2003 Jetta wagon.
Mostly highway miles with the tire pressure at 31-33 psi front and
back. I was happy with that mileage so I bought three more. I made use
of my spare for the second set.

Some alignment shops will check your alignment for free with the
obvious 80% or better chance that they can find somethng out.

I wonder if gritty roads wear out tires more than clean roads. Do you
drive like a real estate agent in a subdivsion? They get horrible tire
mileage.

On 19 Oct 2006 17:02:31 GMT, Bert Hyman <bert (AT) iphouse (DOT) com> wrote:

"Bert Hyman" <bert (AT) iphouse (DOT) com> wrote

For one, tires are not all made of the same rubber. harder rubber wears
longer but generally might be noisier, rougher ride, less traction. Softer
rubber wears faster but will be grippier.

Second, alignment can be a problem but your even wear sort of rules that
out. Can't hurt to have the alignment checked after you get new tires
though.

Third, overinflation will cause the center to wear faster than the edges.
Underinflation will cause the edges to wear faster than the center (and also
can cause the tire to overheat and fail, so underinflation is dangerous).
Do you keep the tires inflated properly according to the recommendations on
the door sticker? If the tires are not the same pressures front-rear as on
the sticker (front-drive cars are usually higher pressure in front than in
back), after rotation to you readjust the pressures accordingly? When
adjusting pressure are you doing it cold (should be)?

Lots go into tire wear and pretty much only the rubber compound that went
into the tire is the manufacturer's "fault". And it could be that the given
model of tire is one they want to be grippy and quiet (but the side effect
is faster wear). And that doesn't make it a "bad batch" either...it's
simply how the manufacturer wanted the particular tire and it's how VW
wanted the car to be equipped.

Bottom line is keep the pressures in check (once a month at least), rotate
regularly, drive sensibly, and choose a tire that meets your needs (wear vs.
grip vs. noise vs. ride, etc.)

Bert Hyman wrote:
Heh. My '03 has 20K on it.

Mine's got the MXV4+s too. Yeah, they suck.

--
Mike Smith

I had a 2002 Jetta GLS and the tires were crap after 15,000 miles.