I've had my 2012 m/t base for less than three weeks and managed to get a flat already. I was turning into a parking lot and smacked the curb unexpectedly. There's an inch cut in the sidewall now, and per The Internet, not a size or placement that should be repaired. So tomorrow, I need to get to a tire shop. Unfortunately, I'm apparently an easy mark when I wander into any automotive setting, so wanted to bolster myself with y'all's advice before I go.

With the tires so new (less than 500 miles on the car), it would be totally fine to only replace the one affected tire, right? I was figuring to go to some where with a regional/national chain, like Big-O or Walmart... so if I had a problem later on or while traveling, I could fairly easily get service on them. Any advice (other than recommendations to avoid hitting curbs) would be welcome. Thanks.

 

I would use this as an opportunity to ditch the stock rubber before you grow to hate them.. You are right in you assumption that that tire is not repairable.

OE Tire replacements are expensive.

 

Good advise there. The base fit tires are terrible. I've put yokohama envigors on both of my base fits and they are much better than stock. 185/60/15 195/55/15 and 195/60/15 are all good replacement sizes if you want to get a wider tire.

 

you can replace just the one tire to save you money. my fit ended up having a bump on the sidewall around the 30,000 mark. dunno how it got there. ended up going to a used tire shop and replaced just the one. fit runs fine. no alignment adjustment needed.
so i pretty much have 3 bridgestone turanzas it came with when i got the fit and one used dunlop sport ap 7000 tire to replace the defective one.

 

You want 4 of the same tire, and all need to be damn near the same in terms of wear.

I would say "preferably," but this is the interface between the car and the road.

It is a necessity for you, your passengers and fellow motorists to carry on in safety. The tires are what determine the limits of grip for emergency braking and maneuvering.

Don't compromise because you want to be cheap.

Get a brand new OE tire, or replace all 4.

There is no in between.

 

At an absolute minimum, keep the same tires across axels. But yeah, all four tires should match.

Depending on price, it might make more sense to buy 1 new tire now because your other tires are so new. If they have a great price for 4 of some other tire though, the stock tires are kinda lame.

 

500 miles on a tire is nothing Take it back to the dealer and get a replacement, quick and easy.

 

malraux That is a good point, and it is truly not recommended but in the event someone is putting a gun to your head and making you have different sets on the front vs rear, the "better" or grippier tires go on the rear.

The stock tires for the base 2012 come up on tirerack as 175/65/15 @ $110/each!

Unless you are expecting a ton of snow now would be the time to go to a 195/5x/15 or similar.

 

Guess depends on the driver. In my old Teggy I ran A048s up front and AD07s out back, the much more grip up front made the Teggy very tail happy and a complete handful, but an utter blast to drive. Granted that was only when doing gymkhana, everyday usage was AD07 all around, but I would put newer fronts on before rears as the fronts wore much faster being the FF config it is.

 

If I were you, I would just replace the one tire since it only has 500 miles. I too agree that the stock base tires are not good. But considering that you live in Oakland, I would just replace the one tire that you blown.

Also, you might need to check the alignment if it is shot.

Hope that helps!

 

I agree - 500 miles isn't much, replace with another stock. The oem tires are not good, but you can get at least 15-20k miles. Save your money and get a really good set when they are worn. Unless you do a lot of snow driving, there is no need to replace all at this time.

 

Agreed I just don't want this guy to be let loose on public roads with a car prone to snap oversteer if he so much as sneezes

 

Just echoing what others have said. You definitely don't need to replace all 4, unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket, and since you have a Fit, I'm guessing you do not. Just get a replacement (of the same kind), and ride those until they wear out, then get better ones.

I would also definitely have the alignment checked as it is extremely easy to knock your alignment out of spec.

 

I called my local Honda dealership and they agreed, at 500 miles, just swap in a replacement Dunlop -- only, they didn't have any in stock. I called a nearby Honda dealership, and they had one (and only one), but the parts guy was baffled that I'd want to know what it would cost installed. He transferred my call to the service department, who never picked up, and the call rolled over to some other number, that also never picked up.

I read more reviews of the OEM Dunlops, and got less and less willing to go that route. I ended up going to Les Schwab (whom my parents have been happily trusting for decades) and got a set of Toyo TourEvo on my car (the only tires they claimed to have in stock in the base's size). The few reviews I could find of them proclaimed them nice tires, and I'd have to agree. I know I paid more to go with a set of new tires, but free rotations, a warranty, and rock solid Yelp reviews help cushion the sticker shock. Also, they said my alignment was fine.

I was totally set to get a set of Yokohama ENVigors that was recommended here (and great reviews on Tirerack), but all my local tire places left me very anxious given their very mixed reviews.

 

Good move. Any tire you went with would have to be 10x better than the stock dunlops. Let us know how you like the toyos.