GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

After having a tire rotation at 20,000kms I noted that my car seemed to vibrate once it got over 60km/hr, after going back to the dealership to ask about alignment and such they are telling me that my performance tires on my 2003 GT need replacing due to "normal wear and tear". Has anyone else had this problem? It seems rather early for the tires to need replacement does it not?

and on a postnote...GM is telling me that they will not warranty the work as the dealership is quoting it's "normal"!!!!

welcome to genvibe.Most people seem to feel that the tires that come with these cars are not very good, some have had really bad luck with Continentals, although mine held up pretty well.what brand of tires are they?

Hi there...Good luck with this. I had the Dunlop SP9000 tires that came with my GT. After 2 tire rotations at my dealer, come to find out through an independent shop that the wheels were wearing as if the alignment was off. Actually was told that this had probably been a problem for a while. Since I had just had the tires rotated like 3 days before the independent shop looked at em, I was very mad because my dealer's service center didn't notice the wear. You'd think they'd look for that during a rotation! Well, unfortunately, it was the alignment, sorta... and being that the car had JUST passed 12,000 miles, the dealer wouldn't help me other than to charge me for an alignment which would have been included under warranty 60 miles before. ARG! And yes, the dealer rotated the tires 3 days before, which was well under the 12,000 mile warranty for it. I was pissed... and needless to say, I haven't been back to the dealer since.If they take care of you then I think you'll be one of the rare ones. It almost seems like some service places will avoid doing the right thing, at almost any cost.Dave

FWD cars should have their tires rototated every 5,000 miles, or at least do evey other oil change, keeps the wear even. FWD wear tires faster due to the engine and trans weight in front. Do this and they will last 50-60K. Possibly the rims lost their balance weights. Have them re-balanced if you strongly suspect the tires. 15K on my tires and they look perfect.

My OEM Dunlops do the exact same thing, they are just really crappy tires. I had them rotated every 4k and appearantly the tread has become 'sheared' so now the car vibrates at high speed and the tires rumble down the street like mudding tires.... and they are almost down to the wear indicators after 18k miles.

Every time I've had my tires rotated on my vibe I have had a lot of vibration afterwords until they wear down a bit. Usually it's at higher speeds but this time it's going about 10-20mph. The dealer thinks it's out of alignment, but since I had them taken off the rims and rotated to the other side (dang directionals) they weren't really sure. So I have to go back in after a little while have them look at the wear again.

Properly inflated tires is key, check it at least once a month and so is proper torque 76 Ft. Lbs per lug. Still have not had any issues with mine and I do all the above. Taking tires off rims to rotate? Directional tires are not OE on the Vibe. Front to back with the original tires is all that is needed. My Vette has directionals.

I only had the tires taken off the rims once. So I could swap the directionals from left to right. Since almost all cars are toed out a bit, I thought it would be best to swap to the other side. Yes directionals were OE as I have a GT with the 17" tires. Other than that I've switched the tires front to back. I always check the torque except the change this last week. I check tire pressure about once a month as well.

That doesn't always work. I religeously checked air pressure. First rotation was between 5 and 6,000... Second was about 125 before the 12,000 mark. Bought a torque wrench just to make sure everything was just right. Sometimes tires just don't last. I think everyone should have their alignment checked before the 12,000 mark because apparently that's an issue. My new Conti's now have about 16,000, rotated twice, this last time (about 100 miles ago)flipped on the rims. Not overly worn, still have good tread left, still ride smooth and quiet. The Dunlops I had, treated the same way, would have been completely useless by now. The Conti's will probably last me 3x longer.Dave

Some tires are softer compound then others and yes those will wear faster. Like my Vette, 25-20K is all that you can expect that is if you do not smoke them. With hard or medium tires that are rated to 50,000 or more miles, yes it does work. Put 130K on one car and only used three sets of tires. Air & rotation are the keys...With three leased vehicles at 15,000 miles a year for three years, I never replaced tires. I take care of them and why should I put tires on vehicles I do not own.

Thanks for all the quick posts, I have owned a number of cars in the past and I have never had to change my tires until about 50,000km or 35,000Miles. I take my car to the dealership to get it's work done every 5,000km oil changes extra and I have been far from impressed with them, my fog lights are cracked, my clutch has been replaced already, and they consistently just hand off the car to me without giving me a detailed description of what is wrong with my car. When the tires were mentioned during a tire rotation they had said they repeatedly got the vibes back for new tires at about 20,000km or 30,000 but when we contacted GM to speak to our dealership about our warranty issues they told them it was normal wear and tear...hmmm that's not what they told me. Hey even Midas gives me better service. I own the car so not putting them on is a little risky and they are getting bald already, it's summer here but when winter comes I have to get them replaced....any suggestions on some better All Season tires.Note my tires are the Dunlop 9000 series tires, I also mentioned to GM about the dealerships issues with the tires and they said they had not heard anybody having issues with these tires...I think they need to do some consumer research!!!

i have the dunlops on my GT as well. currently running 22K miles on the car, but during the winter i have studded tires for snow/ice. i haven't seen or noticed any extra wearing on my tread, i've only rotated them once and that was putting them back on the car in May. i wasn't aware that the dunlops were having issues, but know the conti's are known for being crap.

Quote, originally posted by trdvibe »i have the dunlops on my GT as well. currently running 22K miles on the car, but during the winter i have studded tires for snow/ice....So Hope, since you're in AK that would be what, around 2,000 on the Dunlops and 20,000 on the studs?

ha ha ha! you are funny. actually, since i had to drive so much last summer, avg 2500 miles/mo, when i changed them over in oct, i think i already had 14K miles on the dunlops! yeesh! not as much driving in the winter as in the summer. plus in may, when phil was here, we probably drove 1000 miles that weekend just from sightseeing!

Quote, originally posted by vibetires »any suggestions on some better All Season tires.I replaced my OEM Continentals with Pirelli P3000's. That would have been 6 months ago. Last month they were down to 8 or 9 32ndths, and I think they start at 12 or 13, so I'm pretty happy with the wear (that's about 35,000 km on them ... yes I drive lots!).I got them at OK Tire, and paid about $700, installed and they come with lifetime rotations (most places do).I really researched the crap out of replacement tires, and for the mileage warranty, cost, and availablity, these were the ones I picked.

hi pmh and vibetires, pmh - I think most Pirellis start around 10-11/32's so you're getting even better wear than you think.vibetires - When I was searching for tires, I narrowed the choices down to 3... The Pirelli P-Zero Nero A/S, Michelin Pilot Sport A/S and the Continental ExtremeContact A/S. The Michelins were almost twice the price as the other 2, so those were out. Deciding between the Pirelli and Continental, I went with the Conti's because they were easier to get locally and they have a better snow rating @ Tire Rack. I haven't regretted my choice at all though still may try the Pirelli's next just to see the difference. BTW, after a little more than 16,000 miles, I'm between 8 and 9/32nds on all 4 (They started @ 10/32nds)Dave

hiya trdvibe,I don't think the OEM Dunlops are a bad tire. I honestly doubt the OEM Contis are either. I think more over there is an alignment issue, which I've been told is quite common on similar "import" cars like Toyota and Honda. Just have heard that the camber and toe is set differently so taking it to a GM dealer to have checked probably won't yield accurate results. Since some have no problems at all with any tire they have used, I would also have to assume that their alignment, or other factors, aren't an issue. Mine and others caused a slight issue which is noticable on the tire. Had my alignment checked and adjusted by a local, independent shop and now my new tires are wearing fine. My new tires have softer tread rubber so I would assume they should wear faster, but that's not the case.Just my 2 cents on the whole tire thing...Dave

Not sure what the real issue is... Again Contis have 15K and they look new, just checked the pressure yesterday and it too was fine. Cannot speak for the GT because mine is a base but if the GT's have softer compound then that could be the real reason those are wearing.I know two other people with base Vibes running Contis and they too have no issues. Could there be differences in the Contis when they were made? Different batches of tires? All the tires have their own warranties so if a customer had premature wearing, they should save the tires and approach Conti themselves. All I can speak for is mine and they have no issues, look perfect and sound perfect too. The car is driven both on the highway and city, three days a week. My wife drives to Detroit and I would not put her in crappy, wearing out tires.

Quote, originally posted by DavidPIL »pmh - I think most Pirellis start around 10-11/32's so you're getting even better wear than you think.I just got out the folder to book myself in for an oil change & tire rotation tomorrow ... and what do you know, my tires did start out at 11/32!Yay Pirelli!!!

Hello, I am getting replacements for my original OEM Continentals. Any feedback on Goodyear Assurance? I live in Northeast and want a tire good in snow and high wear rating. They are about $90 on Tire rack. Any feedback? Thanks

Quote, originally posted by robodog61 »Hello, I am getting replacements for my original OEM Continentals. Any feedback on Goodyear Assurance? I live in Northeast and want a tire good in snow and high wear rating. They are about $90 on Tire rack. Any feedback? ThanksAssurance is a pretty new tire. Been out for less than a year AFAIK.My understanding is they replaced the former Aquatread model tire. While only 5 people reviewed them on epinions.com, all seem to rate them highly! http://www.epinions.com/pr-Tir...views

Am I the only one who got Goodyears (RS-A's) as OEM? Had these on the wife's Grand Am, and got 60k out of them. Replaced them with Kumho Ecsta's ($55 apiece at tirerack.com).

at like 23/23k i needed new ones.suckssssssss...i am still paying for them.

Quote, originally posted by vibetires »I noted that my car seemed to vibrate once it got over 60km/hrHas anyone else had this problem? Got same experience at 60Km... and 110Km/h (Conti's)Will get soon the dealer and have this checked.Quote, originally posted by vibetires »any suggestions on some better All Season tiresLooking for Michelin HydroEdge.http://www.epinions.com/pr-Tir...viewsh ... s/...pe=AS

Quote, originally posted by futseal04 »Am I the only one who got Goodyears (RS-A's) as OEM? Had these on the wife's Grand Am, and got 60k out of them. Replaced them with Kumho Ecsta's ($55 apiece at tirerack.com).I also have those tires on. Can't really complain about them, they are much better than my old Cavys GoodYear Contours now that was pure crap!

Any sports tire needs to be replaced more frequently.If you look at the sidewall of the tire it has 3 ratings listed on the tire.tread wear (3 digit number, higher is better but a harder tire)temperature (AA, A, B, etc. AA is best)traction (AA, A, B, etc. AA is best)