Just leased a new Volvo S60, the finance guy was trying to upsell me on all the protection packages, had declined them all. After that was already done, he then talked about Volvo being quite strict on “wear and tear” charges, including tires.
To be fair, I had an Infiniti where the orig tires were worn beyond spec when I turned the car in.
Anyone looked at whether it’s “worth it” to pull the original tires off, replace with cheaper/onsale tires (since BF right around the corner), and then just put the old ones back on right before lease return? 36m/10k miles lease in my case.
I’d go the opposite way and have on a Acura MDX and X5 lease. Use the stick tires normally. If they wear out prematurely buy used tires from eBay with no sidewall repairs from a reputable seller. If the tires are just under 4/32 during the end of the lease get the inspection done earlier and see if they take off money for it or if its not mentioned. If it’s less than 4/32 all you need is equivalent tires in rating so if it’s XXX/18/XX XL rated tires you just match them. Doesn’t need to be Michelin tires if it originally came with Michelin for example. Also you don’t know if you may have a pull ahead offer to offset your wear towards the end of your lease. They are just trying to scare you and make more commission.
Wear and tear is different than tires. It’s usually straight forward for tires must be for example 4/32 at the end of the lease and even wear. The scratches, dents etc is up to them and varies. Even the inspector at lease end can make a difference. Had a Acura marked as paint failure after it was in 2 accidents and poorly repainted not $1 in excess wear and tear.
Depends on the stock tires IMO. The car I leased came with run flat POS tires (very expensive POS tires). I pretty quickly swapped out for my ideal tire and will swap back before turn in. My ideal tires make a huge difference in driving dynamics, comfort and road noise. Also part of the calculus is that run flats will never make it 36k miles so I would be on the hook either way.
For ref OEM tires are Michelin Pilot Sport 4z and my ideal are Michelin Pilot Sport 4s. One letter and world of difference.
If you were going to do something like this, I’d really say that it only makes sense in an area where you get seasonal weather. A set of winter tires would offset the miles put onto the stock tires, and give you better winter performance to boot. You’ll have more confidence in poor winter weather, and not have to worry about the stock tires as much. Personally I’ve never done this, primarily because of a lack of storage as well as not wanting to lay out the extra money. But in a perfect situation I’d probably get a cheap set of steelies and some winter tires to put on between now and the end of February, and then put my all seasons on the rest of the year.
I’m debating this exact thing on the X3 right now.
The stock run flat 20’s ride as harsh as a covered wagon so I’m likely going to see on bpost if anyone has a set of takeoff 18’s to throw some softer riding non RFT rubber on there. That or just flat out replace on the 20”
Okay so I seen so many people make the mistake of buying super expensive tires when they return their lease etc. I would keep the tires you have on the car now, use them, and if they do go bad by the end of the lease just go on champtires or bestused tires pay less than 80 bucks a used tire to put the same brand and model of tires on the car for cheap, then return the car. You save yourself money and you have the peace of mind of returning non-brand new tires.
See the part about “BF right around the corner”, i.e. taking advantage of any huge tire sales that might bring the cost of tires today way below what they might be whenever the car return period is.
There are plenty of other sales to be had, and used tires are a great option.
Keep in mind that the person telling you about how harsh volvo is on wear and tear is the person that was trying to talk you out of more money. He has every incentive to tell you that, regardless of the truth. Tires are a simple thing. There is a measurement. There is either more or less tread than the number.
The correct answer is to lease a $59 a month electric Hyundai and buy $500 worth of Saran wrap. Wrap the Volvo, drive the Hyundai, and in 36 months you can turn in a pristine S60. Tires and all.
When inspector told me about the tires, he told me it has to be the same brand if i wanted to replace. You are saying it’s fine if the specs match, so brand doesnt matter? I assume you will have to replace in pairs, or in this case you replace all the four tires so they are all the same brand?
( I am new to leasing, just returned my first lease car not long ago.)
A safe bet is to try and choose one of the OEMs for that particular model. For example, our X1 came with Pirelli RFTs and by 23k miles they were worn down to 3/32. I replaced with another OEM from BMW, a set of used Goodyear Eagle RFTs in the exact same size, speed rating, and model. They did not give me any trouble.
The BMW Genius doing the return said the tires just have to be the same size, speed rating, and type (if it came with RFT, it needs to be returned with RFT). My guess is most captives are similar in that requirement.
They were all below the acceptable level for wear, and the tires have to match. I ordered 4 used tires with 9/32 tread from Bestusedtires for $350. Was an easy choice.
I think the run flats they put on a lot of the German SUVs are almost guaranteed not to last the duration of the lease. Not to mention people generally hate them.
If the car comes with run flats, they have to be returned with run flats, which are really expensive.
