I couldn’t tell the origin point of the problem. At the roadside, it looked like the sidewall of the tire had ripped. There was one long tear, at the juncture of the tread and the sidewall, probably 6” in length. I never was crazy about the Toyo tires the car came with. They always seemed “unsteady” when cornering at high speed or under acceleration. The dealer refused to cover the tires under warranty because I didn’t purchase a “road hazard” rider when I bought the tire warranty at the time I purchased the vehicle. Because there was no warranty, that made the decision easier to switch tire brands and types. I bought 4 new Yokohama Ascend tires, each with an 85,000 (not a typo!) mile warranty, inclusive of both ordinary wear and tear (tread life) and road hazards. I pick up the car tomorrow- I’ll update everybody with the impact my choice has on mileage and handling.
Ouch! That looks awful! I hope that there wasn't too much damage to the rest of the car, or to you! Looking at the picture, although it's rather difficult to determine, but it looks as though there might have been some separation of the tread and the main carcass of the tyre? I think I would take a careful look at the debris, see if you might determine what happened! BTW was it on the front or rear? (looks like front from the pic!) As for advice, I think I'd try to replace all four (…I hate skimping on tyres, since when it comes down to it, they're the most important thing between you and the road! ) Check out the reviews on TireRack.com - Good luck!
OEM tires on cars are not covered by the dealer but the tire manufacturer. I just looked at my Toyo book that came with my car and you have to file a claim with them. I think he is past that point now. I hope his new tires are a good choice.
I was on a trip last year and one of my Toyos blowout at highway speed. It got noisy for several hundred miles before it happened. When I first noticed the noise I stopped to check all the tires and notice nothing out of the ordinary and all pressures were good. They had only 23k on them. I trust Toyo no more and went to Michelins. I'm very anal about checking tires and pressures way more than the average bear so this was very unexpected.
Our son's car recently had a sidewall defect, a small split that started opening, Costco deemed it requiring replacement. and this was a near-new Michelin X-Ice. I'd say Michelins have good odds, but they're not immune from problems. They likely tapped a curb, contributed to the failure: there was a slight wow in the (steel) rim at that point.
As promised, an update: The new tires, after the break in period, cost me about 15% of my mpg. During break in, numbers were worse. I used to routinely exceed 50mpg on each tank, with most coming in at 53 or 54mpg and leisurely drives yielding even better mileage (60+). My best tank since the swap came in at 45mpg. The car handles MUCH better, though, than it did before. I think it’s worth the trade-off. With the stock LRR tires, the car got skittish when cornering at speed or under acceleration. That problem has disappeared with the new tires.
Yokohama Ascend Avid? One of these three? Tire Search Results (hopefully link works) They're all rated as having "eco focus" by TireRack, though there's a pretty broad spectrum.
I'm assuming the Toyo had no steel belts, a hugh round stone punctured the tire at 20mph, in the center of the tread, they are long gone or I would slice them and look. Gleemened this off toyo, question is, are the tires they sell to Toyota Premium? OEM tires. Some tire makers offer a fourth belt, or protector ply, of high elongation steel cord only for their on/off highway tires. Toyo uses its High Elongation Steel Cord in all of its premium radials, both over-the-highway and on/off highway, for maximum durability, whatever the conditions. Our High Elongation Steel Cord features filaments with tight twists, wound like a spring, to better protect the tread area. Toyo's four-belt design, combining a High Elongation Steel Top Belt and Belt Defender, protects against cutting, chipping, and impact breaks for outstanding retreadability.
