If you lease your
vehicle, there’s no getting around the fact that you’ll need to buy
a new set of tires before turning in the vehicle. When turning in a
leased vehicle, tire wear is particularly
important. Don’t bring the car in with less than one-eighth of an
inch of tread, or with mismatched tires. If you do, you will be
charged for a new set of tires.
With that said, we wanted to share some practical advice to help you get the most out of your tires and vehicle during your lease period, and not get burned at lease turn-in.
In order to extend the calendar life of the tires that came on your leased vehicle, you should consider purchasing a set of winter tires. This will accomplish two things: 1) help maximize your driving performance throughout the winter season, and 2) allow you to minimize driving mileage on your all-season tires by storing them during winter. In other words, when your vehicle lease is up after 3 years, because you drove on winter tires in the winter, you will have considerably less (perhaps as much as 35% less) mileage on your original tires. Instead of having 36,000 miles on your all-season tires for example, you may only have 23,000… which may be acceptable to return without a surcharge. Without buying a set of winter tires you’ll most likely have to buy new tires at some point before turning in the vehicle.
There are many variables that can impact the life and condition of your tires – some having to do with the quality of tire, some having to do with the quality of care, and some having to do with the climate and road conditions. We’ve shared videos and tips on routine tire maintenance. Proper tire inflation, regular tire rotation, and wheel alignment may be the best preventative care to extend the life your of your tires.
To determine if tires are at the end
of their useful lives, many manufacturers have installed wear
bands. The bands appear across the tire once they have reached the
end of their useful lives. You can also determine if your tires are too worn to be safe by using the penny test.
Insert a penny upside down into the tread of your tire. If you can
see the top of Lincoln’s head your tires must be
replaced. Remember, not only is it
illegal in most areas to continue driving on bald tires, it is also
very dangerous.
If you lease a vehicle and live in the northeast, we strongly recommend you buy winter tires for winter driving instead of buying another set of all-season tires. Furthermore it’s important to note that Dunn Tire provides storage for your spare set of tires. When we install your winter tires, just leave your vehicle’s original tires with us. Simply call us when you’re ready to change over in the spring, and we’ll have the tires ready when you arrive at the store.
Don’t get burned on your leased vehicle tires. You’ll have to buy at least one set of tires during the lease period. Make it winter tires for safe, confident driving year round.