19” Toyota Tire Warranty - Anyone Have It?

Tires and wheels seem to be more of a problem than usual on Gen5, so its worth considering... But Prius are notorious for going a decade or longer with nothing to fix.

If I were in your situation I wouldn't trust the fine print in that tire warranty and take the money you'd spend on the warranty and put it in a separate bank account or a similar stable investment with a plan that you'll never need to access that money until the tires are worn out and you can eventually use more commonly available wheels and higher quality than garbage Toyo tires.

As in rather than getting peace of mind from a likely dishonest tire warranty for $600, instead be patient and eventually get the peace of mind from the knowledge that just about every tire shop out there has the replacement tires you need in stock, which is the exact opposite of what Toyota is doing to their Gen5 customers currently.

 

Flats should not require new tires the vast majority of the time. I would not base a decision on expected flat tires.

Wheel damage is more likely on low profile tires than on your 2009. This "might" be a reason but the odds are in the insurer's favor unless you regularly hit curbs at speed or have big potholes on fast roads. The wheels are strong.

I would not worry about insurance from Toyota as long as it IS from Toyota and not a third party. Some dealers do sell third party warranties and those are next to worthless.

 

I had two blowouts within a month on my 2023 XSE after hitting
potholes on the highway. I believe I was driving well under 55 mph on both occasions. In the first instance, the dealer replaced the tire under warranty but charged me for installation and wheel alignment. In the second instance, the dealer said the rim was damaged and unrepairable. I had to get a new rim from the dealer plus installation and alignment. I took the damaged rim back from the dealer hoping that if I found someone to repair I could then use it as a spare. I found such a place at Crimson Wheel Repair in Edison, NJ. They agreed with the dealer's damage assessment and said they could straighten the wheel for $85. They also got me a new Toyo Extensa for $150 and installed it for free. I now have a spare without TPMS. I am hoping this would serve me until its time to replace all 4 tires at which point I intend to switch to Michelins.
The 195/50 aspect ratio on these tires suck. It seems I am not the only unlucky one with premature blowouts !! My car was less than a year old when the blowouts occurred.

 

Sure in normal tires, but these problems in Gen5 aren't normal.

 

That's absurd that this is happening so often for everyone who has spent so much money on a Gen5... How could they screw up this badly? If this keeps up the lawsuits from injury or death are gonna get huge.

 

Toyota is not the only manufacturer that uses a 50 tire aspect ratio on their sportier models. I understand a low aspect ratio provides a sporty feel and a stiff ride. Unfortunately I drive in NY/NJ where highway potholes are one of many tolls that drivers face !! I also suspect Toyo's are not in the same class as Michelins for quality.

 

I agree that the 50 tire aspect ratio is common in sportier cars. What isn't common is the 19" inch diameter decision that's so uncommon it's stupid.

If Toyota decided on 18" or 20" inch wheels there would be tires at most every tire shop you go to and a quick fix on a destroyed tire would be available in a matter of hours not days or even weeks for some Gen 5 owners.

As for Toyo, out here on the western side of the continent we have a franchise known as Les Schwab that, until the owner died, provided one of the best all in one tire services ever and they have a store in just about every major city out here with 540 locations.

Toyo is the preferred off-market brand this business and others its size use to get wholesale shipments that are way more affordable than tires stores that can only afford to sell major name brands at a much lower margin of profitability.

And true to the off the rails profitization agenda at Toyota corporate these days, they want to maximize every penny by not just using off-brand, but also using a size that make its easier for them to exploit OEM exclusivity rather than considering convenience to the customer in their time of need. It so wrong! That's not the Toyota we used to know.

 

Interesting ! I didn't know that a 50 aspect with 19" wheels is uncommon. Following your post, I did a quick Google search for models with 195/50R19 and Prius Gen5 was the only result I found.

 

hmmmm.....
OK.....
So.
Warranties 'can' be a waste of money but some people 'of sufficient means' value their time and convenience over money - so I would not necessarily use the word 'waste.'
However (comma!!!!!) buying a warranty from a dealer is ALWAYS financially unsound, even if it is less wasteful than buying non-OEM "coverage plans."
Buying a warranty with "platinum" in the name is sorta like buying a boat with a glitter paint job or a fake radar arch....IMHO.

Remember!
The biggest disadvantage of getting a dealer provided warranty, is that you have to go back to the dealer to have the car serviced!!!!!

I try very hard to AVOID going back to the dealer until and unless I need to buy a car.

New car tires come with a warranty from the tire manufacturer.
You can get a road hazard warranty with any subsequent tire purchase, and if you buy from some place like Sam's or Costco they're included in the purchase.
My last flat (caused by a nail) cost me $5 to fix and took about 15 minutes because I didn't have to take the wheel off of the car.

I cannot speak to the 'bent rim' thing because I've never bent one.
If this is a 'thing' with the G5 then you may need to consider getting heftier aftermarket rims, or getting a better equipped vehicle.
You could buy VERY NICE rims for whatever the mother-ship charges for the OEM rims - and if you're the type of person who likes to stop problems before they start you can yank the OEMs off of your car while they're new and sell them, recouping some or all of your costs.

Note:
If you DO buy your tires from Costco make sure you pull your black valve stem covers off before you park he car.
This is VERY important, because Costco uses green valve stem covers and you do not want people to think that you fall for every scam that comes along - ESPECIALLY if you get your car worked on.

 

Yup hang onto your valve caps. Also, if you ever buy directional tires from Costco, check that they’ve manage to do two rights and two lefts.

google:

mounting directional tires

 

Toyota warranties for wheels or repairs are far superior than third party LLC backed "warranties" and do not require dealer maintenance.

Caution is needed even at the dealer as some dealers sell third party warranties and the finance guy makes more doing so.

The real issue here is the potential for bent rims, not bad tires or flats. Sure, the smart move is to get rid of the tires and rims now when there is excellent resale value - by buying what you want first. Often you can recoup half the cost by selling the factory parts. I always sell new car tires immediately if they are not Michelin. However a consumer shipping wheels and tires is expensive - so local sales and face to face deals are required - something a lot of people don't have the nerve or time to do.

The reality is something you are not thinking of is more likely to bite hard than wheels bending. Who knows, the seat covers might have wrinkles.

 

I got the wheel/tite warranty. Have used it twice now.
Once early on with the 19" low profile and once on my 16" winter tire.

Already paid for itself

 

Proprietary control for unjust profiteering run amok...

 

I got the tire coverage, because I had so many issues with my previous vehicle. Ended up needing it a couple weeks later with a nice sized bubble in the tire, likely thanks to the potholes we sometimes refer to as a "road." Still took two weeks to get the tire in though.

 

It's entirely absurd that a failed tire could put a vehicle out of commission for 2 weeks! What was Toyota thinking?

 

The real issue here is Gen5 owners are having their car inoperable for up to two weeks because Toyota is too incompetent and greedy to a) keep spare tires in stock, and b) choose a wheel size that is common so Gen5 owners lose their vehicle to bad tire for a couple hours at any tire shop rather than a couple weeks at a dumb stealership.

 

At this point, I think the best recommendation to Gen5 buyers is to show up with your own 18" wheels with a higher profile tire, or 20" wheels with a lower profile tire and have them knock down the purchase price because you provided your own wheels and didn't want the junk they're selling that could cause you to wait 2 weeks to get something as simple as a bad tire fixed.

This strategy will also help up to 4 people with a busted wheel or busted tire not have to wait as long from that particular stealership because they'll have them in stock.