So a little backstory... I bought my 2000 A6 Avant 2 years ago and bought a set of four tires quickly afterward. Firehawk GT 50k from a Firestone franchise. When I purchased the tires, I had an alignment done, bought the road hazard warranty, etc. I have had the tires rotated every 6-8k miles and have most of the documentation from each visit. I can't find my alignment paperwork though.

I have loved the tires but have noticed that there is some uneven wear. I have driven 30k miles in 24 months, not too uncommon for Northern Colorado. The tire now on my right front is showing a little bit of steel wire which is cause for alarm. Looking back on the documentation, my last rotation paperwork showed that tire was at 0/32nd on the outside, and 3/32nd on the inside. No one mentioned this to me, and I obviously didn't notice back then.

So I took the car to the same tire place today and asked them to take a look He noticed and pointed out that all my tires are on the wear bars, with just that one tire with extremely low tread and he offered me a mileage discount on a new set of tires.

I am rather upset about the whole thing. I can certainly understand that tires wear out, and maybe more so with an AWD car, but 30k miles, ON ALL FOUR tires? Something seems wrong here. Are they liable for my alignment or poor rotations or anything? It seems those tires wore out WAY too soon. and I'm feeling they should simply replace them at no cost to me. I shouldn't have to pay for new tires early just because their tires didn't hold up as long as they warrantied them. I paid for 50k miles and I should get that no matter what the expense is for the store. I did my part on rotations, making sure they were inflated properly, etc, so my warranty should include replacement, not just a discount.

On top of that, I'm not sure I want to pay for a whole new set right now because I am saving up to buy a new car (probably another Audi) in the next 12 months. I might need to accelerate that now though and I'm not happy about that.

Any suggestions on short term solutions either with the tire place or not buying an entire new set? Any help or consolation would be appreciated! :-) Am I out of my mind?

 

Your tire wear doesn't come from alignment or rotating...the wear you describe comes from one of your steering/wheel components....not enough info to guess as to which one....