Looking to buy my first mazda, a mazda5. Concerned about tire wear

[jturkish]

Seems like i'm finding lots of posts where people experience tires wearing out quickly - is this something i should be worried about?

I'm looking to purchase either a 2013 sport or 2013 touring (there's only $500 difference between the two). Will the 16" wheels alleviate the tire wear issue or is 1" not much of a difference to make an impact?

Also, how does your mazda5 do in the snow?

 

[sac02]

The consensus seems to be that the accelerated rear tire wear issue was countermeasured in recent years. The stock Toyo tires are crap anyway, don't be sad when you wear them out and are able to move onto something nicer. Rim size isn't going to affect tire wear significantly. Abnormal tire wear is alignment related most of the time.

 

[phunky.buddha]

Do take your brand new car and put it up on the alignment rack when you leave the dealership (if/when you buy it)- not all cars are set up properly from the factory.

 

[Robotazky]

I doubt you'll see any issues. The extreme tire wear threads were a long time ago. I think Mazda addressed that.

I have an '09 GT with no tire wear issues at all. I have Michelins with 54,000 miles and they're still in great shape.

 

[90210]

my 2012 that I bought brand new in 2011 summer, it is a Touring model with 17" has no tire wear issues.

At 29K miles, and plenty of tread left on OEM tires. Alignment was done at dealer at time of purchase.

Took it up to the snow many times, no issues either.

 

[geyev]

Bought my Brand New 13 GT back in October and had the same worries. Just as some have posted above, get the alignment asap and you shouldn't have any problems. I've already got 16k on mine in just 6 months. Have rotated twice and tires are still going good!!!

 

[Donewood]

I got my 07 cheap because the Org. owner went thru a pair of rear tires every year, burning off the inboard edge. The dealer put new tires on it the first year. The second year they charged her $320 each. And she wasn't looking at forking out 600 every year and was happy a sucker came along.

Thanks to this website, I discovered an easy cheap fix. Ford Focus adjustable control arms. $43 bucks apeace and an hour in my garage, I've had my Falken great tires on for three seasons now. And they are wareing evenly!! I would like to think that Mazda would have had it sorted out many years ago. But like I said it was a cheap and easy fix anyway.

 

[JesseM]

I got my 07 cheap also, bceause of a missing running board on the drivers side and a few small cosmetic issues. The rear wheels were also wearing super fast on the inside edge. The toe-in was really extreme, along with the camber. I didn't buy the adjustable camber arms, but I literally *forced* the local alignment shop to set my rear wheels to ZERO degrees of toe. Most shops will try to resist any suggestions you have, even if you are right so you have to force it on them.

The first time they told me it was in spec and didn't adjust anything, so I took it back while the alignment was under warranty and made them adjust the rear toe and show me the print-out of the results. It looks much better now, you can see from 20 feet away that the rear wheels are now pointing straight forward instead of inward. I'm thinking this should take care of 75% of the rear wear problem. AND now it no longer pulls to the right (the rear toe in must have been uneven, causing pulling).

 

[Bandley3]

2012 Sport 6MT. 25K miles in 18 months and the tires are barely worn, with even treadwear all around. I believe that the wear issues were on the pre-2012 models and has since been addressed, and won't be an issue with a 2013. Snow? Not a problem. Even with the horrendous storms this year I never became stuck once, this coming from someone who once believed that snow was something you visited and didn't live in. FWD and traction/stability control got me out of any tight spots, but of course they are no substitutes for common sense and will not repeal the laws of physics. I fail to see why so many people here in the lower midwest think AWD is a necessity when it's just more weight and complexity that's only needed for perhaps a month or two every year; it might be a different story in the upper midwest or northeast, but around St. Louis it seems like overkill.