19" and 21" Tire Wear (informal) Survey

[Owner]

I finally have the full story on my tire wear. I have a long, sad but entertaining post about this here: Tire Wear | Tesla Owner

In regards to the alignment issue, here is a quote from Noe Mejia, Director of North American Service:


"The points you bring up regarding camber and toe are correct. As per our conversation, your Model S was out of alignment, which caused abnormal tire wear. Unfortunately, your vehicle was likely delivered with misalignment, thus causing accelerated inner tire wear. For this, we again apologize. As we did with Edmunds, when any customer comes to us with abnormal and excessively uneven tire wear, we proceed to cover the cost of replacing the tires as it is Tesla’s responsibility the vehicle was misaligned causing abnormal wear to the inside edges of the tires. The Tesla representative with whom you spoke should not have assumed your tires had worn out quickly and evenly. Faster tire wear is normal on the rear tires, but it should be a more even tire wear than illustrated in your photos. Like other performance vehicles, Model S has pronounced negative camber, per design. Therefore, even under ideal conditions, accelerated wear on the inner edge of the tire is normal, but less pronounced than your vehicle experienced."

 

[AlMc]

I finally have the full story on my tire wear. I have a long, sad but entertaining post about this here: Tire Wear | Tesla Owner

In regards to the alignment issue, here is a quote from Noe Mejia, Director of North American Service:


"The points you bring up regarding camber and toe are correct. As per our conversation, your Model S was out of alignment, which caused abnormal tire wear. Unfortunately, your vehicle was likely delivered with misalignment, thus causing accelerated inner tire wear. For this, we again apologize. As we did with Edmunds, when any customer comes to us with abnormal and excessively uneven tire wear, we proceed to cover the cost of replacing the tires as it is Tesla’s responsibility the vehicle was misaligned causing abnormal wear to the inside edges of the tires. The Tesla representative with whom you spoke should not have assumed your tires had worn out quickly and evenly. Faster tire wear is normal on the rear tires, but it should be a more even tire wear than illustrated in your photos. Like other performance vehicles, Model S has pronounced negative camber, per design. Therefore, even under ideal conditions, accelerated wear on the inner edge of the tire is normal, but less pronounced than your vehicle experienced."

This is the way a company should handle a problem. The difference between a good company and a great one is how they handle problems. All companies have problems from time to time. Moving forward, I hope TM handles these issues in a straight forward way. It builds brand loyalty and brand name.

 

[lolachampcar]

It takes a tremendous amount of competence and capability to properly handle these types of issues on the fly. Knowledge of the past helps (Acura and the NSX for example). Tesla, like any other company, is not staffed by superstars at every point in the management chain but it sounds like the smart ones are starting to exert their influence on this problem. Simply acknowledging that cars were likely delivered out of alignment is a HUGE step.

 

[Dale Adams]

I'll be impressed when Tesla proactively provides a refund to all Model S owners who ended up paying at a Tesla service center for new tires due to this misalignment.

The two rear Continental 21" tires on my Model S wore out at 4680 miles. There was very uneven wear on the tires, with most of the tread having normal wear but the inside edges worn to the point that the cords were exposed. I was told repeatedly by the service center manager that this was considered to be normal wear and also within the expected lifetime for the tires. Tesla did perform an alignment, but only after I requested it. The toe on all four wheels was way off and in the wrong direction on all four, with both rear wheels having significant toe out (-0.36 degrees on the left rear and -0.19 degrees on the right rear).

 

[lolachampcar]

Dale,

Dear XYZ,
I saw your response to the high rear tire wear on early MS. I applaud your recognition.........
Please review my data (miles/alignment) from yada yada yada.

I would not be surprised if you got the result you are seeking.

 

[Owner]

Yes I agree. Once Noe was in the loop and read my preliminary blog post he quickly called me directly to tell me that my alignment was bad from the factory. It was quite a relief!

I had not quite expected my blogging endeavors to go down this path and I not a wimp.

I think mistakes and growing pains do happen and how a company handles them is what enables long term success.

If folks with this problem in North America need to contact Noe directly, you can email him at nmejia at the standard Tesla dot com. He said "I always welcome feedback from customers" so I think putting out his email address in a non spamable way is fine.

This is the way a company should handle a problem. The difference between a good company and a great one is how they handle problems. All companies have problems from time to time. Moving forward, I hope TM handles these issues in a straight forward way. It builds brand loyalty and brand name.

 

[KevinMS]

Recently, I rotated the 19" GY Eagle tires on my '12 MS with 20k miles because I had noticed some wear difference between the front and back tires. This was just before leaving on a 500 mile e-trip. On the rear tires, I found the inside rib completely worn away with cords showing. The rest of the tread appeared like it could go another 20k miles. So, I decided not to take the MS on the trip. While on the trip, I read the info on these forums about the tread wear and when I returned, I measured the total toe on the front and rear to see if I had the same problems as other early cars. The front was good at -0.07 deg, but the rear had -0.78 deg! I adjusted the rear toe in by 1 deg (0.5 per side) and now have a total toe of 0.22 deg. The adjustment made a huge difference in energy use. Went from an average of 310 w*hr/mile to 270 w*hr/mile on the typical commute to work!
I typically don't get more than 20k miles on oem tires. So, i didn't mind ordering a set of Mich Pilots and am planning a trip to the SC (210 miles away) for an alignment check. Will request a closer to neutral camber as suggested here.

 

[lolachampcar]

and if you do not mind the car more on the "hunting" side following road imperfections you can have the Service Center shoot for the very low end of the rear toe in specification (wheels nearly pointing straight ahead) and you will see yet another improvement in range although not as great as going from .78 to .22. You got most of the benefit already as I believe the lower limit is close to what you have now.

 

[yobigd20]

Update: 44.6k miles on original OEM 19" goodyears. I though I could make it to 55k. But just checked. 5/32" on fronts, 4-5/32" on rears. The 3rd tread on both rears are 3/32" so I'm not going to get much more of these tires. I think I've noticed the biggest drops in wear during winter driving. Not sure if snow accelerates wear. Anywho, I have a set of the 19" grey Tsportline's on order so I'll be replacing within the next 5 weeks or so. I'll probably time it to mount the wheels and then Go to service center before I hit 50k (warranty expire) to fix anything and also for alignment check. I plan on mounting the new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3's on the Tsportline's. 255/45ZR19s. The wheels are 8.5" with 35 offset so should be a perfect fit.

 

[Denarius]

I was planning on swapping my rear tires across due to some wear on the inside edge. Since putting my winters on I've had the camber bolt TSB done. Should I still swap my tires across or will the wear on the far inside edge continue?

 

[dsm363]

I was planning on swapping my rear tires across due to some wear on the inside edge. Since putting my winters on I've had the camber bolt TSB done. Should I still swap my tires across or will the wear on the far inside edge continue?

Was your alignment checked as well?

 

[Denarius]

Was your alignment checked as well?

Yes, an alignment was also done.

 

[linkster]

I was planning on swapping my rear tires across due to some wear on the inside edge. Since putting my winters on I've had the camber bolt TSB done. Should I still swap my tires across or will the wear on the far inside edge continue?

Yikes! IMO, it may already be too late Den. The left tire appears to "spot" thru the outside tire compound already, with the right one seeming to be not too far behind. Fortunately, I was able to make significant changes/adjustments to the S before my tires got to the stage of your tires in the pic. I currently have 25k on my original 21 Conti's and am on track to easily obtain 30K but more likely will achieve 35K using unconventional means.

 

[yobigd20]

booooooooo I just noticed inside edge wear on mine after 45k miles. details and pics here: 45k miles on original 19 goodyears, finally got the dreaded inside edge wear

 

[dsm363]

booooooooo I just noticed inside edge wear on mine after 45k miles. details and pics here: 45k miles on original 19 goodyears, finally got the dreaded inside edge wear

45,000 miles is pretty good for tires, isn't it? Makes the 10,000 miles on the Conti DWs seem like a dream. Hopefully your service visit reduces this even further.

 

[lolachampcar]

YBD,

You really must avoid posting these bragging type comments There are members that would kill for your rear tire milage.

Ah, forget it... Go ahead and brag. At least I can be happy for your rear tire wear as I write a check for new rears on my car.

 

[andrewket]

I just had my car at the SC for annual maintenance plus misc items. Car has just over 10k miles. I had the SC swap out my 19" snows back to the 21" PS2's. I came to discover that the inside edge on the rears is at 4/32". I had the snow tires on since mid October, so this damage was done with 5k miles, or less.

An alignment was done in October, and again yesterday along with the new bolts. I haven't measured the tread depth on the snow tires; hopefully they held up better.

 

[yobigd20]

I just had my car at the SC for annual maintenance plus misc items. Car has just over 10k miles. I had the SC swap out my 19" snows back to the 21" PS2's. I came to discover that the inside edge on the rears is at 4/32". I had the snow tires on since mid October, so this damage was done with 5k miles, or less.

An alignment was done in October, and again yesterday along with the new bolts. I haven't measured the tread depth on the snow tires; hopefully they held up better.

for such short mileage on yours, this is something Tesla should 100% cover the cost of replacement.

 

[lolachampcar]

10,500 miles and 5/32" across the patch with even wear in the rear. This is consistent with previous five series BMWs for me.

 

[andrewket]

for such short mileage on yours, this is something Tesla should 100% cover the cost of replacement.

I have faith they will do the right thing, especially since there is set precedent. The center was at 7/32" (from memory, may have been 8). The fronts are wearing normally.