The ageing process

Mine is a 2015 car and now hit about 65,000 miles so I thought it interesting to talk about how they are ageing. Mine is a working car and daily has stuff chucked in it driven varied distances and left in public car parks.

Generally its held up OK, its not broken down, everything works normally except the USB socket in the armrest won't keep a USB stick connected so I don't use it now.

There are quite a few squeaks and some rattles.

The front of the car looks like its been shot with a shotgun for all the chips and there are now 2 significant chips in the windscreen, I can't be bothered to have fixed yet as it will just happen again. There are green things growing in the light lens. Amazingly my charging flap has never broken! Also the sides have resisted any visible 'dings' being left.

Power train feels good, last service they said a rear brake caliper was seizing and would be fixed when the part arrives, still waiting quite a while now...

I often find the ride of a car has changed noticeably by this mileage and the PHEV is no different. The suspension seems to soften with wear and the upside is my car travels more comfortably than when it was new but it rolls a bit more in corners and is more reluctant to turn into a corner, less sharp.

Interior has held up OK, bottom outer edge of steering wheel has worn off a layer, seats are fine and the leather looks good.

It will be interesting to see what its like and how much range the battery has when the car comes to an end in another 35,000 miles time.

Hi Bob

I am glad to learn that you have done 65,000 miles with no serious issues. My annual mileage is since retiring is <5,000 so I hope I have a few years of motoring in my PHEV (when at work as a field engineer put 283,000 miles on an Astra diesel with only a couple of hoses and an alternator failure!!)



Chris

At 35,000 miles, my engine is quite a lot more noisy than it was at delivery mileage. Hoping that this will stabilise now!

Bob,
One query - how many sets of tyres have you gone through?
I have a 20k 2015 car and just swapped the original tyres front to back - reckon I will get another 5-8k from them down to 2mm and roughly even.
Fronts seem to wear quicker (with mainly urban use).
Thanks

Hi gobiman,

My first set of fronts went to 32K miles, still had tread left but the sidewalls started delaminating, bear threads showing through.

My second set of fronts went another 32K no problem with the sides but the centre thread was below 2mm.

Had my first rear change at this time so even at 64K they still had plenty of tread left, maybe another 20K worth incredibly! but the Tyre place thought they needed changing due to mileage and age, the lease company agreed.

I am not used to these mileages on my tyres, I do think the Toyo's are quite a hard formula for economy reasons (low rolling resistance) but also I think the smoothness of the powertrain and advanced traction control helps, no letting the clutch up too quick, no scrabbling off the line.
Even auto's I have had could scrub the tyres in a fast pull away, the PHEV is always assured and smooth.

Annoyingly, last time I washed the car I found a 3-inch (8 cm) screw had gone right through a rear tyre (the point protruding through the side wall). Despite this there was no loss of pressure (but I had to replace it, of course). There's a major house extension going on 3 doors up the road, and I blame them

Bob,
Thanks for the prompt response. Your experience confirms what I'm seeing in that fronts wear very roughly twice as fast as rears.
I want to replace all tyres at the same time with an all-seasons Vredestein so have swapped front to rear at 18k to even out wear (probably a bit too late to be optimal!).
Mine also does 90% London driving which probably accounts for higher wear.
I still reckon I can get to around 30k without pushing 2mm all round and will then change.
Interestingly, for anyone who does get a nail, there seems to be far more Toyo Proxes around now in the right size both new and part worn.

gobiman said:

Bob,
Thanks for the prompt response. Your experience confirms what I'm seeing in that fronts wear very roughly twice as fast as rears.
I want to replace all tyres at the same time with an all-seasons Vredestein so have swapped front to rear at 18k to even out wear (probably a bit too late to be optimal!).
Mine also does 90% London driving which probably accounts for higher wear.
I still reckon I can get to around 30k without pushing 2mm all round and will then change.
Interestingly, for anyone who does get a nail, there seems to be far more Toyo Proxes around now in the right size both new and part worn.

Click to expand...

I agree, Kwikfit got me 4 for next day. Your lucky you can change brand, I would but the lease company will only allow OEM to be fitted.

gobiman said:

Bob,
One query - how many sets of tyres have you gone through?
I have a 20k 2015 car and just swapped the original tyres front to back - reckon I will get another 5-8k from them down to 2mm and roughly even.
Fronts seem to wear quicker (with mainly urban use).
Thanks

Click to expand...

One set of winter tyres, one set of summer ones. 85000 km and still at least 20.000 to go on both combined.

Jaapv,
Thanks - that fits if my maths is correct.
85k km = 53k miles
Split roughly evenly between winter/summer = 26K miles each set with another 12k to go.

Are there any issues with the tyre pressure monitoring system to be aware of when changing tyres?

ChrisMiller said:

Are there any issues with the tyre pressure monitoring system to be aware of when changing tyres?

Click to expand...

Do you mean changing standard tyres for standard, or changing to a different brand/type?

When I last had mine changed there was a tyre pressure warning, the Kwikfit guy just drove it around the block and it cleared immediately once the car learned the new readings.

BobEngineer said:

Do you mean changing standard tyres for standard, or changing to a different brand/type?

Click to expand...

Either - swapping front/rear or changing to winter tyres. My local (independent) service station told me they'd had problems with an Outlander that had a punctured tyre replaced while on holiday, following which the pressure warning light wouldn't go out. They had to replace it with a Toyo. (They weren't trying to 'upsell' me, as the leasing company insists on Toyos.)