So, the wife gets this flyer for a cheap oil change and free rotation...the guys would not even bother with the tires. They couldn't believe there were only 9000 miles on 'em.

The fronts are worn badly on the inside edges...with the left one being worn twice as bad (almost to cords on the inside) and feathered all the way across. The rears are both badly cupped towards the inside edges.

I keep up on the tire pressures and the wheels were aligned at our dealer a month after the 16" tire/wheel package and Eibach Pro-Kit lowering springs. I actually made a habit of looking at the tires periodically, but the localized wear to the edges made it unnoticeable at a cursory glance. I know now to take a closer look.

The stock Dunslop 15's lasted 35,000 miles and still had some life left in 'em.

She has only been getting the tires rotated with wheel alignments every 10,000 miles...but I guess she's been used to the tires requiring a lot less attention.

It seems there's little recourse but to buy a new set of tires, another alignment...and apparently a set of rear shocks.

 

That sucks. I put a new set of 912s (185/60R15) on last spring and put 10,000km on them before swapping them out for the winter tires last fall. They still look brand new.

 

Sounds like you got a bad alignment to me. Did you happen to get a print-out of the before & after specs of when you had it done last? Oh, and how many miles were put on them in the month before you got the alignment?

I don't have first hand experience with those tires, but even on a lowered car they should last MUCH longer than that - as long as toe is within factory specs, of course.

 

^ x2

your toe is most likely out of alignment... get a print out...

 

Sound like the dealer screw up on the front alignment. The rear is normal wear since it's non adjustable. Falkens 912 are rated for much longer milage so that's not normal.

 

don' the 912's come with some kind of wierdo 40k factory warranty?

 

I had 912s also and i love them. the toe was probably off. I lowered my car and drove like that without an alignment for a month and my tread on the inside was horrible lol then i sold the wheels. haha

 

Aspect 55 and under have 40k warranty, aspect 60 and over have a 65k warranty.

http://www.falkentire.com/template.php?page=technical

but:
"What is Not Covered (Exclusions)... ...Unserviceability due to... ...improper suspension alignment..."

 

Agree, toe was out, well technically, in. I was also very surprised, and happy, that no one blamed negative camber. That's what most people jump on on other car forums.

 

camber really doesn't have as much effect on inner tire wear as you might think... most of the heavy inner tire wear comes from toe.

 

Yup. Definitely sounds like you had a bad alignment. I had RT-615s on my DB8 and they lasted for 20K miles. I daily drove, touge, and tracked them.