just got a new set of rubber for my 5 Grand Touring. 40k on the ticker, and this is the third set of rubbers. The factory tires were gone at 23k (and WORN very badly), and replaced with General Altimax tires. they were horrible in the snow and these also wore incorrectly.

I just got Goodyear Assurance Triple Treads and they are marked on tire rack as the best all season performance tire as far as winter traction. I also went with 215/50-17's and to be honest I think the van should come with this size in the GT from the very beginning. First impressions, the van rides NICE now - and I don't have to pucker when pot holes emerge. The higher load rating of this tire initially had me thinking the ride might be harsher than the Generals - could not be further from the truth. They just soak up the road and handling did not suffer much from this. Though not as quick into the turns, they hold the road just as well if not better after the van catches up to the tires. Again, not quite a wet marshmallow in the turns - but not the General Altimax's either.

I have great confidence in these tires when the snow comes as my best friend has these on his dodge dakota and he gets around great - even in 2wd.

now onto the alignment - I asked the guys to compare the 2009 specs to the 2007 ones and sure enough, they are different to a degree. they aligned the rear end to as close to parallel as they could within the 2009 specs. I still have a good bit of camber, but the rear is nearly parallel on the dynamic toe-in. We'll see how they wear...but i'll tell you now that the van handles GREAT, actually better than it ever did, just that the steering isn't as quick and responsive as it was with the General tires. It handles like a Grand Touring car should - not the sport and this suites my family truckster well.

Good luck to all of you with your tire choices guys and to those of you that have a chance of snow, give the Goodyears a look for your next tires...I don't think you will be displeased.

I'll update this thread as we get into the winter and will be measuring the tread depth with a digital caliper over the next 6 months to ensure decent tire wear.

 

Hi I am new to this site and my wife has a mazda 5 sport and it has done 8500 miles and the inside of the front tyres are worn quite badly. It was picked up by arnold clark in a service in April when it had only 6000 miles on the clock.
Who do i speak too regarding getting these changed under warranty as i spoke to arnold clark at the time and they were very dismissive about them changing the tyres. Do ineed to contact mazda direct?
Any contact info

Thanks

Ross

 

Well i got mine with tires for life.. local dealer program... as long as i do my oil changes at the dealer.. i get new tires when needed.. I guess im cover..

 

i got mine the exact same way with bumper to bumper warrantty up to 100k and tires for life.
The moment i needed tires they pulled out of the warranty using the fine legal print )
look at the print it sais act of GOD ... well rain is an act of god... if it rains and i drive the car in the rain then the tires are no longer covered???

DO NOT BELIEVE everything they say... they are like medical insurance every car has a coverage limit... if you pay 1500 for your extended warranty or tire coverage they can not be spending more then 1000 on you so they will probably give you 2 tires to show good faith and then they will say... ok our lawyer says you are no longer cover... you can go to court if you want more...
and if they told you that your tire coverege is FREE...well is not NOTHING IS FREE IN LIFE and they just use that line so you loose the negotiation leverage because after all ... it was free.. so be happy with what you got so far...
the same thing is going on with some ford models and even volvo because all this cars are made by ford !!!
thank you, have a nice day!

 

I bought my mazda5 2.0 petrol ts2 manual as a demonstrater from my local mazda dealer it had 4850 miles on the clock i have done about 2000 miles and have noticed my tyres are wearing on the outer front tyres to the point that i will have to replace them before ive covered 7500 miles, The dealer did pay for a 4 wheel laser alignment check and adjustment but because the tyres are already so badly worn they will just carry on wearing,
Ive phoned mazda uk who just hang up on you when you say mazda5 tyre wear, what else can you do ive had the car just over 2 months covered about 2000 miles and it looks like it is going to cost me about £190 for 2 new toyo tyres.


Im thinking of bbc watchdog what do you think


Car 2008 mazda5 2.0 petrol ts2 black

 

After my re-complaint to SMMT about Mazda being either stupid, blind, unprofessional or purposely deceitful. Mazda are pretending this is the old rear tyre wear problem, instead of a new front tyre wear problem. Mazda re-reply by reproducing the rubbish they are gave out in May 2009 to me. See the copied (slightly edited to 'protect the potentially innocent'):- sorry about formatting, I didn't want to type it myself) dated 10 Sept 2009
The covering letter says:-
Thank you for your letter dated the 19th August 2009 in regards to your vehicle. I have spoken with Mazda and I am regret to advise that their position has not changed in regards to your case. I have attached Mazda's response that they sent to me dated the 20th May 2009 when we referred your case. I am sorry if this is not the outcome you sought.
Thank you for your e-mail dated May 2009, and attached correspondence from Mr XXXX
regarding the tyre wear on the above vehicle. Before addressing Mr xxxx specific concerns with his vehicle, I thought that it would be beneficial to provide some background in formation on tyre wear on the Mazda 5. Mazda Corporation became aw
are of abnormal rear tyre wear on Mazda 5 Sport and Furano models early in 2007. At that
point the issue was fully investigated and are medial action taken to optimise the suspension geometry settings and the tyres were enhanced by Dunlop to ensure durability. This enhancement was implemented to vehicles produced after 9th January 2007.With respect to Mr XXXX vehicle, I can confirm that this was produced 28th May 2008; therefore has already had the above enhancements carried out at the point of manufacture at our factory. Having investigated the tyre wear described by Mr XXXX I have confirmed with YYYYYYY that the front tyres were replaced by KwikFit on April 2009, at which point the car had covered 16500 miles.The replacement tyre costs were fully covered by YYYYYYYY; although the tyre tread depths were recorded at between 4 and 5mm on all four tyres, and therefore were within the legal limit. YYYYYYYY have advised their records indicate that KwikFit reported the tyres were worn to excess on the inner edges;although the tyres are no longer available for inspection.
The vehicle was last serviced by ZZZZZZZ in January 2009, at:12,565 miles. At that point the tyres were rotated and there was no abnormalities noted with tyre wear. The vehicle was returned to the dealership by Mr XXXX in March and it was requested that tyres be replaced. Having reviewed the claim submitted to our Warranty Department, I have looked at the pictures of the tyres at that point and there are no signs of abnormal wear, at this time the vehicle had covered 15000 miles.
With respect to Mr XXXX comments regarding the design of the vehicles suspension, I can confirm that the shock absorbers have not been redesigned due to the size of alloy wheels, as the type of shock absorber fitted is dependent on the axle weight and not the size of the wheels. In summary, I can confirm that Mr XXXX vehicle is not subject to the above remedial action, as these enhancements have already been carried out at the point of production. Additionally I am unable to fully investigate the tyre wear described due to the lack of availability of the affected tyres; although I note that YYYYYYY have covered these costs and have no intent to pursue the matter further. In closing, I trust I have clarified these matters for you and thank you for Concerns to my attention. Yours sincerely Robert Hancock Customer Assistance Manager Mazda
Motors UK Limited

My MP has suggested that I contact the Trading Standards Department for the county that Mazda UK are based in. I will probably compose that letter with my evidence shortly. Also I have also replied to SMMT to do what they are there for... re read my letters look at my photographs and start an investigation for excessive front tyre inner edge wear on the Mazda 5 Sports. Also not to be fobbed off by bull about a historic rear tyre wear issue.
Do you agree with me?
If you want to 'WatchDog' it, there needs to be enough cases to warrant a section on the program. I did e-mail previously to them but unless they are interested enough it won't happen, there needs to be more interest in it. That will need some organising, say a list of e-mail addresses send to them who have the 2008/09 UK Mazda 5 Sport's front tyre wear inner edge problem. I have no skill at organising, but if yo uPrivate message me you can add my e-mail address details to go to Watchdog (plenty photos).

 

Just a suggestion why not start an online petition on the forum and send it to Mazda uk watchdog and anybody else that might help us sort out the problem. I love my mazda5 but this tyre wear issue is past the joke.

 

The simple answer is "yes, you do need to contact Mazda UK direct".

the difficulty you will have managing this though, is demonstrated by the length of this topic here on the Forum. In short, a guy called Jon Smith has been the contact for most of us. His number will be on here somewhere, but you will probably become quite dis-heartened whilst ploughing through our posts.

What age is your car? Is it still under warranty?

Please report back to let us know how you get on. It's a real problem, don't let them fob you off.

Dave.

 

Hi all,
our 58 5 sport goes into the dealer next friday for a check on the Front tyres / tracking etc. We were lucky as the nearside tyre deflated on the M6 causing my wife some mild panic, the general consensus from the RAC and tyre dealer was abnormal wear, Mazda didn't seem to bad when I contacted them and suggested that I go straight to the dealer to get an inspection and report done. I suppose that will be the easy bit, judging by the number of posts and general dismay at the Mazda attitude towards the problem we will be in for a long struggle. I will post the results of the inspection when known, you never know it might help.By the way stay clear of Trinity Mazda, Hinckley awful service dept.
Regards.
Dave
VFR800

 

Can anyone confirm whether it is just the Mazda 5 Sports that have this problem with tyre wear, or whether it is all Mazda 5s? I am on the verge of buying a new Mazda 5 Sport Lux, already done the test drive and got the quotes. Now I'm wondering if I should go for a different model of Mazda 5 or even a different car.

A.