Tire recommendation for a Toyota Prius - Ask Rob About Cars

March 24, 2014

What is the best tire for 2009 Toyota Prius? I live in Massachusetts and I've gone thru 2 sets of Integrity tires since 2010. Gas mileage is important to me but I’m only getting a year out of them and I average 15,000 miles per year. An economy car tire should last at least 40,000 miles or far longer with no compromise in performance or safety.
- Diane in Massachusetts

Hello Diane,

The bad news is the Integrity has a tread wear warranty of 6 years or 50,000 miles. If both of your 15,000 mile sets were replaced by the same shop and they, or Goodyear, didn't give you a warranty credit, I would ask them to provide you a new set of tires. If you have the documentation, Goodyear may provide assistance. It might be a long shot with the first set, but worth a try. This may obligate you to another set of Goodyears though. For future reference, 15,000 with even tread wear is absolutely inexcusable for anything but a high performance car tire or something else extreme such as track use or very poor roads.

The good news is there are better tires that cost less with superior performance and warranties. If you go on the long-established and popular website www.tirerack.com and search by your tire size of 185/65/15 you'll find a large selection of good tires. One of the top rated choices, for only $57 per tire and a tread wear warranty of 5 years or 70,000 miles with free replacement in the first three years if
the tread is worn down to 2/32", is the Firestone Precision Touring tire. It is an all-season tire which you need in your region. Fuel mileage differences between similar tires will be very small, and I don't recommend shopping on that criteria alone.

Since shipping may not be convenient for you, Tire Rack has recommended installers and tire shops usually will match the price to within $10 per tire or so to cover shipping.

Good luck on your next set, keep me posted!

Robert Eckaus
San Jose Cars Examiner