Exactly why I'm staying out of the Boston area!

 

What do Toyota & Lexus use as tires for their SUV hybrids?

 

Hey guys, I don't know whats going with these Continental LRR tires but I just bought my wife a 2007 Ford Freestyle and it has 17 inch Conti Eco Plus tires on it. So Ford must still have them (I guess).

 

Interesting. They aren't putting them on the '07 Escape Hybrid but they are putting them on the Freestyle?

At least they are still making LRR tires but ours are 16" aren't they?

 

I just stopped by my local dealer to look at a 2007 on the lot. It had the Eco Plus tires. It wasn't on the lot two weeks ago, so I'm assuming it's a recent build.

 

The '07s DO have the Continental EcoPlus tires. I don't know *why* people think they don't. A number of us have shared that our '07s came with them.

Anyhow, in a slow parallel parking incident this week, when I rubbed against the curb a HUGE hunk came out of my sidewall, making my 1 month old tire irreparable.

My Ford Dealer had to special order a tire from Conti. Giving both the VIN number for my FEH AND the location of the tire that was damaged before they would let the Ford dealer order a replacement. Given all of that, my Ford dealer made me PAY AHEAD OF TIME for the whole tire before they would finalize the order with Continental.

I've had to rent a car to drive in the meantime because it is a front tire that has blown (and mine is a FWD FEH) and it isn't safe with the donut - I have two small kids. I am really ticked off that I have to rent a car for 7-10 days because I can't get a replacement tire before then. If the car were a year or two old, rather than 1 month, I'd just cough up the money to replace the tires with something that I could actually get my hands on in cases like this.

The EcoPlus tires may be great tires, but any cost savings for improved gas mileage has been blown by having to rent a car while waiting for a replacement. I wish that my '07 came with another, easier to replace, set.

 

Elaine,

FYI, your local Goodyear dealer might be willing to sell you a road-hazard protection package for your tires, based on the replacement price. I cost me $12.95 a tire when I got it for my 2006 FEH and it includes road side assistance.

You could probably go to a salvage yard and get a regular Escape wheel and tire that would work for a spare for less than you're spending on car rental. Another thread addresses assembling a full-sized spare so you don't have to use the donut. It only took a couple of days for my dealer to get a tire for a full-sized spare once it was ordered. Hopefully your experience will be the same and you'll be back on the road early next week.

Good Luck!

 

Great suggestions! I will contact my Goodyear dealer and see if they'd be willing to do it. It still won't get a replacement in any faster, however.

I have two kids with autism who both went back to school this week and it has been *very* stressful for a variety of reasons, the tire issue being but one of them, so I haven't exactly had the time to go salvage yard hunting. BUT, once things settle down with their schools, I think I will go looking for one as a spare.

 

For all the people getting full size spares. Why wait for a CONTI Plus? Why not just get any tire thats the right size and a cheap rim. Its just a spare. When you get a flat, you put the full size spare on and order the new tire. You can drive on the cheap tire/rim until the CONTI comes in.

If you get a CONTI with a normal rim... the assumption would be that you intend to use the spare permanently after a flat.... Then things get complicated. 1) you have to include your spare in your rotation or it won't be worn evenly 2) If you have an '06 or later you have to worry about the tire pressure sensors, programming them, etc so you don't have a warning light for the rest of your driving life.

If you just have a cheap spare under there you wouldn't have to give a darn about rotation (you are going to swap it in a week or two) nor the tire pressure sensor... who cares if the alarm goes off for a week or two.

I'm just curious if there is a really good reason I'm missing before I go by a cheap spare.

 

Hi Tim

Of course, I have the '05 and don't have a sensor to worry about, so I bought the original tire and rim. For me, I don't like spending any money unless it is 100% right for the car. The main reason I bought a replacement was for a damaged tire, rim or both. Also, I was concerned that a rim that would just fit and not match the specs of the other three, could also effect the performance and handling of the FEH.

When I had a damaged tire, I drove over 10 days and over 500 miles on the donut. It was not safe for me , my family, other's on the road or my FEH. I considered the cheap route also, but looked at it as an investment that could be sold on EBay or be a bargaining feature when I sold my FEH. It would have been nice if I could have found a replacement tire and rim on EBay or the junkyard at the time and paid less, but I choose not to wait.

Same thing I think Elaine felt when she had a damaged tire, she didn't feel safe so she rented a car. BTW, I bought the rotation, balance and road hazard package from Goodyear when I first rotated my original tires back in April '05. Goodyear went through Ford and replaced my tire the first time. I bought protection from them on the tire they replaced and the new spare also. The protection includes on the road protection anytime, and includes towing. The donut is in the garage also for a real bad day.

GaryG