However, I did not rotate my tires every 5k miles, only every 10k miles. Still, there was damage to the sidewall of one tire and the other ones needed to be replaced "soon" according to the dealer. I got the Michelin MXV4 S8 energy tires at Costco for about $677 and that was with a $70 coupon. The taxes alone were $60 in California. It is a smoother, quieter ride now. Hopefully they'll last a very very long time.

 

Replaced mine at 22,000 and did rotate them 3 times. Got Uniroyal Long Touring at Walmart for $425 (I work there so I got a 10% discount) plus got the road hazard warranty.

 

I run 40 psi (cold) in my Energy S8 tires. They ride good at that pressure. If your not a hypermiler like me you can run 35 to 38 psi cold and the tires would hold up good.

I read that michelin was starting to add a green dot to their tires. This is suppose to be a new rubber compound to help get a little better gas mileage. A Consumer Guide car book I bought a few months ago, reported this same Energy S8 tire gave higher mpg than the competition.

Rotate and balance every 5000 miles will sure keep your tires in good shape.

 

How much more do energy savers cost than standard tires?
How much mileage do they add?
To those that 'only' got ~20-25m miles, did you have them at standard pressure or were they overinflated?
Isn't there a warranty on the tires? That seems like relatively fast tire wear (IMHO)

 

Alas, I have red sticker dots on my tires. I'll check the manufacture date when I get home.

 

I too had to replace mine before $30k, despite very conservative driving and regular rotation every 4-6k miles. Found out from the Firestone dealer these tires have no warranty and the UTQG rating was only 260...meaning Toyota knew these tires were cheapies when the put them on at the factory. THANKS TOYOTA FOR THE JUNK TIRES.

 

Much has been written in previous posts about Bridgestones vs Michelins mxv4s. My michelins have 27K on them and treadwear is only now beginning to show. I drive normally and keep the pressure @38 psi. In 2007 half of all TCHs had Michelins and half came with Bridgestones, or so it seemed. Lots of complaints about Bridgestones back then too.

 

The Bridgestones supplied on the Camry have notably worse treadwear rating than the Michelins - according to Tire Rack, it's 260 vs. 440. Not that the wear ratings are that easily compared accross brands, but you get the point. Really don't know why Toyota made the choice of that particular Bridgestone model - BS makes some pretty decent tires with good treadwear rating, for about the same $$$ (at least on the aftermarket).

The BS model in question is $50/per cheaper than the Micheling at Tire Rack, but still...

Looking at Tire Rack prices, the Good Year Fuel Max seems like a decent deal - at $90, compared to $105 for Bridgestone and $159 for Michelin, with quite good treadwear rating (580). Not sure of other characteristics - seems like it's a new tire, with few comments.