Poor Tire tread life on 2 year old 17K miles Leaf

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mrafi

Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2020
Messages
13
Hi,

I already lost most of the tire tread in my 2 year old Nissan Leaf SV which I got new from dealer on Nov 2018. During my last service, the dealer asked me to replace the tire already. It came with Michelin Energy P215/50R17 90V tires . i am not a rash driver and the car has only 17K miles .

Is this tire tread life normal with Nissan Leaf. ?

Given the car is leased ( 1 year lease left ) can I apply for milage warranty ?

Thank you
 
mrafi said:
I already lost most of the tire tread in my 2 year old Nissan Leaf SV which I got new from dealer on Nov 2018. During my last service, the dealer asked me to replace the tire already. It came with Michelin Energy P215/50R17 90V tires .
...
Given the car is leased ( 1 year lease left ) can I apply for milage warranty ?
Did you have them rotated?

Per https://www.michelinman.com/warranty.html, there's no treadwear warranty on Michelin tires after model year '17. I was surprised they ever offered them as I've never ever had a car where the OEM tires were covered by treadwear warranty. Usually, they're excluded so car companies can get them cheap.

My earlier '13 Leaf (leased) for 2 years had enough tread life on the Bridgestone Ecopias (EP422, I think) to be not dinged my NMAC at lease end with under 24K miles. The '13 Leaf I bought which was previously leased to someone else for 2 years had 3 very worn tires. I didn't feel it'd be safe driving on them so I replaced all 4 immediately.

'18 Leaf is significantly more powerful and could enable you to wear out the fronts a lot more quickly.
 
I rotated every 7500 miles.

Looks like I may to get some cheap tire. I was looking at some $75 tires. ( meets the specs ) from Discount Tires . Any feedback on cheap tiers from Discount Tires for Nissan Leaf ?
 
cwerdna said:
mrafi said:
I already lost most of the tire tread in my 2 year old Nissan Leaf SV which I got new from dealer on Nov 2018. During my last service, the dealer asked me to replace the tire already. It came with Michelin Energy P215/50R17 90V tires .
Did you have them rotated?
Good question, and then
Are they well inflated ?

EVEN a lease car should be properly maintained.
 
I got 50,000 miles out the OEM Energy Savers over 23 months in my 19 Leaf. My wife only got about 20,000 miles with OEM Energy Savers in a 15 Focus EV. So it depends on the driver and the roads.
 
Having driven over 150k miles in LEAFs, I have some experience with tire wear:

1. LEAFs are heavy cars so tires last longer and yield better handling if they are inflated to higher pressures than the 36 psi cold that Nissan recommends. I recommend 44 psi cold for OEM tires since that is maximum rating shown on tire sidewall.
2. The OEM tires wear out quickly, especially if not rotated frequently.
3. 7500 miles is too long between rotations for best tire life on these vehicles.

I replaced the OEM tires on the 2011 at 20,619 miles even though they had a fair amount of tread left because I did not rotate them often enough and they became very noisy. I replaced the OEM tires on the 2015 at 28,429 miles because they were worn down to the wear indicators even though I rotated them frequently. I replaced the OEM tires on the 2019 at 15,007 miles because the front ones were worn down to the wear indicators. I did not rotate them so the rear tires had adequate tread left and I received some trade-in allowance for the rear tires.
 
I replaced the OEM tires on the 2019 at 15,007 miles because the front ones were worn down to the wear indicators. I did not rotate them so the rear tires had adequate tread left and I received some trade-in allowance for the rear tires.
Are the OEMs from the 2019 the Michelin or the Ecopia? I wonder if they will wear differently.... 15K miles is not great wear.
 
mrafi said:
Hi,

I already lost most of the tire tread in my 2 year old Nissan Leaf SV which I got new from dealer on Nov 2018. During my last service, the dealer asked me to replace the tire already. It came with Michelin Energy P215/50R17 90V tires . i am not a rash driver and the car has only 17K miles .

Is this tire tread life normal with Nissan Leaf. ?

Given the car is leased ( 1 year lease left ) can I apply for milage warranty ?

Thank you

Sounds like a tire pressure issue. Your story is a copy and paste from the "manufacturer knows best" segment driving around on 36 PSI tires.
What the manufacturer "actually" knows is if they recommend a tire pressure that increases wear rate by 20%, they get a 10% discount from the tire manufacturer which essentially splits the profits when you come in for tires 2 years early.

Now you can do 44 PSI (or whatever the maximum SAFE COLD pressure listed on the tire itself) and risk

Longer stopping distances (or simply follow at a legal distance for conditions and speed)

Rougher ride (I tried it and my only impression was a much mushier ride at lower pressures. Way too many roundabouts in my neighborhood to be mushing about)

or not.
 
dmacarthur said:
I replaced the OEM tires on the 2019 at 15,007 miles because the front ones were worn down to the wear indicators. I did not rotate them so the rear tires had adequate tread left and I received some trade-in allowance for the rear tires.
Are the OEMs from the 2019 the Michelin or the Ecopia? I wonder if they will wear differently.... 15K miles is not great wear.

SL/SV; Michelins
S; Ecopia
 
I do agree that the ride is firmer at 44psi than 36 (or 32 which was what our 2013 Leaf had when we picked it up), but have not seen any differences in stopping distance.
 
dmacarthur said:
I replaced the OEM tires on the 2019 at 15,007 miles because the front ones were worn down to the wear indicators. I did not rotate them so the rear tires had adequate tread left and I received some trade-in allowance for the rear tires.
Are the OEMs from the 2019 the Michelin or the Ecopia? I wonder if they will wear differently.... 15K miles is not great wear.

The 2015 and 2019 both came with 17-inch Michelins. I consider them the worst passenger car radial tires I have owned (mainly due to marginal wet/dry traction and handling regardless of inflation pressure) so I did not bother to rotate the ones on the 2019. The 16-inch Ecopias that came on the 2011 were much better tires, but I did not rotate them frequently enough and they became very noisy (which was annoying on a quiet car) so I replaced them early.

I discovered that wet braking (stopping) distance was significantly reduced on the 2011 with the Ecopias inflated to 44 psi vs. Nissan-recommended 36 psi in the conditions I drive in (heavy rains with standing water on roadways after long dry spells that allow oil residue to accumulate). I believe the reduced wet stopping distance is because higher pressure helps to keep the tread grooves open under the braking force and weight of the heavy car.
 
DougWantsALeaf said:
I do agree that the ride is firmer at 44psi than 36 (or 32 which was what our 2013 Leaf had when we picked it up), but have not seen any differences in stopping distance.

I find that to be a "feeling" statement more than factual. I sacrificed the tires on my 2013 trying to determine exactly how much distance I was adding to no avail. W/O equipment, it was very difficult to quantify. AFAIK, the contact patch is NOT reduced at the higher pressure and the greater sidewall integrity helps when negotiating roundabouts and potholes.
 
I have always kept the recommended PSI and rotated every 7500 miles.

Looks like

a. known issue
b. Extra PSI and frequent rotation might extent life little bit more

Given this, what is the cheapest tire option out there ?
 
Not as cheap as some terrible Chinese tires, but I got a set of four new Goodyear Eagle L/S tires for $275 from Ebay, and they were fine on my 2013 leaf. They were - at least then - made in the US, too.
 
mrafi said:
I have always kept the recommended PSI and rotated every 7500 miles.

Looks like

a. known issue
b. Extra PSI and frequent rotation might extent life little bit more

Given this, what is the cheapest tire option out there ?

Hit up the discount tire stores and emphasize you want LRR tires if maintaining most of your range is essential.
 
As Dave said, ask for low rolling resistance (LRR) tires if range is an issue. I have used Michelin and Continental sport performance tires and am now using Bridgestone DriveGuard run flat capable tires. All of these reduced range compared to the OEM tires. I like Ecopias for LRR needs and put a set on the 2015 that were still on it when traded. They seem to offer a little better range than the OEM Michelins and offer significantly better handling and traction.
 
GerryAZ said:
As Dave said, ask for low rolling resistance (LRR) tires if range is an issue. I have used Michelin and Continental sport performance tires and am now using Bridgestone DriveGuard run flat capable tires. All of these reduced range compared to the OEM tires. I like Ecopias for LRR needs and put a set on the 2015 that were still on it when traded. They seem to offer a little better range than the OEM Michelins and offer significantly better handling and traction.

The Ecopias seem to be the efficiency champion but there is an inevitable trade off as efficiency means harder, less flexible tread which means less traction. I have to say I didn't notice it as much with my Gen One LEAFs but spinning tires in wet weather has become nearly unavoidable and I know it can't be me so it must be the tires. :cool:
 
Yes, it is easy to spin the tires when accelerating on wet pavement because weight transfer is away from the front wheels. I can manage wheel spin when accelerating, but need the best braking traction I can get. In my experience, the Ecopias work very well for braking when wet if inflated to 44 psi cold (as good as the Michelin and Continental sport performance tires I had on the 2011 and 2015). The DriveGuards seem to be about the same for wet braking, but the heavier and stiffer tires take their toll on range. Of course, the extra torque and horsepower of the Plus makes it even easier to spin the front wheels!
 
GerryAZ said:
Yes, it is easy to spin the tires when accelerating on wet pavement because weight transfer is away from the front wheels. I can manage wheel spin when accelerating, but need the best braking traction I can get. In my experience, the Ecopias work very well for braking when wet if inflated to 44 psi cold (as good as the Michelin and Continental sport performance tires I had on the 2011 and 2015). The DriveGuards seem to be about the same for wet braking, but the heavier and stiffer tires take their toll on range. Of course, the extra torque and horsepower of the Plus makes it even easier to spin the front wheels!

Well have to say my brakes work very well. Since I regen A LOT, brakes get used very infrequently and even less at speed so I go out and do a couple test stops every 2-3 months or so. I am still working on not touching the brake pedal at all for an entire month. Lately, my impatience has not allowed me to challenge but I did make it to the 23rd of the month once.
 
Is Kelly Edge A/S tire good ?

I just ordered 4 , installed price including Tax for $493. There is an additional $25 rebate which i am not betting on.
 
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