Ive got an 03 A4 with 17" tires and 36k on it. When i was getting serviced for a fuel pump that died, they said my tires were pretty worn and i should put new ones on. I dont do any hard driving, so i think these should be lasting longer.

Anyone out there with an idea of how many miles the 17" tires should go these days before they should need to be replaced?

 

Depends on the type of tires and whether you have an alignment problem, under inflated your tires, or decided to burn rubber.

36K isn't an unreasonable distance

 

You have the dunlop 9090's or the Continentals? Both of those tires wear quickly... the continentals wearing more quickly than the dunlops.

 

Look for wear bars
These are narrow bands that appear in the grooves across the tread of the tire. When the wear bars are even with the tread depth, only 2/32-inch of tread remains. If you can see the wear bars, it's time to replace the tire.

- The Penny Trick
The other way to tell if the tread is worn out is to place a penny into the shallowest tread groove with Lincoln's head down. If the top of his head remains visible, then the tire should be replaced.