I lease a 09 g37x sedan. It currently has 21k mi I have 48,500 mi lease (I may go a little over). My tire tread on all 4 tires is currently 6/32. The tires are still good but I'm starting to notice some loss of traction in the rain and I know they will need to be replaced before the winter (I hate snow!). In two weeks I am going on a 3k mi road trip with my 6yr old.

So my question is should I get new tires now and have brand new tires for my trip and enjoy a better tire for longer or should I wait? I was going to wait until at least the half way point in my lease but the last time I went on a 3k road trip I totaled my car hitting a guard rail avoiding a deer in the middle of the road.

Thanks for your reply.

 

Depends on you. I believe 2/32's is the standard for "You need new tires NOW".

If you're down to 6/32's, you can choose to change them now. Nothing wrong with giving yourself a little peace of mind, but from what I understand... if you have 6/32's left, you should be fine in rain.

 

Well they need to be replaced when they need too. When the wear bars are evennwith the tire is how I measure. Or you can wait till it blows out but the stocks don't get that much life

 

Thanks for the reply. I agree 6/32's should be fine in the rain, and it is as long as I take it easy. What I should have said is the tires don't make me feel confident in the rain. I like peace of mind which is what got me thinking about the tires in the first place. I'm just not sure which is a bigger waste, replacing the tires before I have to or returning the car with a lot of tread on the new tires.

 

I would wait longer. Given you only have 21k miles and you will drive approx another 27k miles before your lease return, you should wait as long as you can to get new tires. That way you can leave as much tread as possible on the 2nd set of tires on your lease return. If you change tires too early, you might have to change tires for the 3rd time just to have sufficient tread for your lease return to avoid penalty.

 

Thanks for the reply. Wear bars make sense for SF but with snow I'd be sliding all over long before the tread is up to the wear bars. But that's not really my question. I know for a fact I will replace them before winter. It's just a question of if I should replace them now and have a better tire longer or wait.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to keep my original tires no matter when I replace them in case I need a spare or to avoid a penalty when returning my lease. I would wait as long as possible if I thought there was a chance I wouldn't have to buy any tires. But it's clear even if I used the tires well past whats safe in rain or snow and worn the tires to the wear bars I'd have +35k mi and return the car with pretty new tires.

When I started this thread I was pretty set on replacing them. But I am having second thoughts, I think like "MACS" said I may just want the peace of mind.

 

Oh haha, I'd replace them now then

 

Tires lose most of their wet traction/all season ability at 4/32nd's. At 2/32nd's they legally have to come off.

 

Neal, I've spent two hours this moring browsing and reading on tirerack. Great site.

I've decided my tire purchase comes down to a question I think you can answer. For a 3k mi road trip thru the mountains and the country, will a brand new tire be moderately/significantly safer than my current tires with 6/32 tread?

 

If I were driving in those conditions I'd want the most tread depth possible. 6/32nd's isn't the wost, but compared to full tread depth tires that average 10/32nd's or some even 11/32nd's, they won't do as well.

 

While the stock tires are pretty bad even when brand new, I'd still wait until 4/32". Tires are expensive and you're not gaining really all that much. Unless you are a reckless driver, it seems overkill. The positive is that you'd probably replace them with a much better tire.