Needin'Advice
Observer
In July of last year, we picked up a 2013 Subaru Outback 2.5 limited from a dealer in Pa. with 22k miles. It was a single owner trade. It now has very close to 34K. The problem however, is the tires.
When we bought it, it had what we assumed (and still do) were brand new Kelly Edge A/S tires. I suspect the dealer had them put on for the purpose of selling it. A little while back, my wife pulled in the driveway and I could hear air leaking from one of the tires. At this point I can't recall if it had a nail, screw or something similar in it, but regardless, I put a plug in it then and there...problem solved.
Fast forward to the past 2 weeks and she has had 4 or 5 flats (I honestly don't remember which). This morning's event involved her on the side of the road, me loading up the kids, the oldest home from preschool for a sick day and me taking the day off work, to come to her aid. I aired up the completely flat tire to find the leak with the intent of plugging it and sending her on her way. Too much air leaking for a plug so I put the spare on. She stopped by a local shop on her lunch break and they told her there was a 2" slit in the tire and it couldn't be repaired. All the other flats recently were slits, cuts whatever, not nails or other punctures and its not vandalism of any kind, because they are fine when she leaves the house, but are low or flat soon after arriving at work about 15 minutes away.
We live on a gravel road and there has been some fresh gravel put down in the time period that this has been happening. I know she isn't running a rally car through the back roads, and the all wheel drive is going to prevent any wheel spin of significance on the hills. So here are my questions:
Could these tires be so weak that they just get cut up by driving over gravel for a few miles a day?
Isn't Kelly owned by Goodyear? Do they seriously make tires this junky? (By the way, most online reviews are quite good)
We now have one un-repairable and all others with at least 1 plug or patch...what are the odds they will offer some type of warranty coverage even though we aren't the original purchasers?
And most importantly, do you have any tire recommendations (size: 225/60r17) that aren't going to be complete junk? I have a set of Falken Sinceras on the Ford Freestyle and they do pretty well, but I am not overly impressed and I certainly will not get the 80K miles out of them that they claim. The Subaru is mostly a kid hauling grocery-getter but we do have gravel and a steep gravel driveway to deal with. We do get the occasional decent snow, and sometimes those even come in March, so not in the clear for this year yet.
Are all passenger tires made with the same basic construction/carcass, or are some "tougher" than others? If they are different, which ones are the "tough" ones?
Any thoughts, advice or ideas are welcome. Thank you in advance.
When we bought it, it had what we assumed (and still do) were brand new Kelly Edge A/S tires. I suspect the dealer had them put on for the purpose of selling it. A little while back, my wife pulled in the driveway and I could hear air leaking from one of the tires. At this point I can't recall if it had a nail, screw or something similar in it, but regardless, I put a plug in it then and there...problem solved.
Fast forward to the past 2 weeks and she has had 4 or 5 flats (I honestly don't remember which). This morning's event involved her on the side of the road, me loading up the kids, the oldest home from preschool for a sick day and me taking the day off work, to come to her aid. I aired up the completely flat tire to find the leak with the intent of plugging it and sending her on her way. Too much air leaking for a plug so I put the spare on. She stopped by a local shop on her lunch break and they told her there was a 2" slit in the tire and it couldn't be repaired. All the other flats recently were slits, cuts whatever, not nails or other punctures and its not vandalism of any kind, because they are fine when she leaves the house, but are low or flat soon after arriving at work about 15 minutes away.
We live on a gravel road and there has been some fresh gravel put down in the time period that this has been happening. I know she isn't running a rally car through the back roads, and the all wheel drive is going to prevent any wheel spin of significance on the hills. So here are my questions:
Could these tires be so weak that they just get cut up by driving over gravel for a few miles a day?
Isn't Kelly owned by Goodyear? Do they seriously make tires this junky? (By the way, most online reviews are quite good)
We now have one un-repairable and all others with at least 1 plug or patch...what are the odds they will offer some type of warranty coverage even though we aren't the original purchasers?
And most importantly, do you have any tire recommendations (size: 225/60r17) that aren't going to be complete junk? I have a set of Falken Sinceras on the Ford Freestyle and they do pretty well, but I am not overly impressed and I certainly will not get the 80K miles out of them that they claim. The Subaru is mostly a kid hauling grocery-getter but we do have gravel and a steep gravel driveway to deal with. We do get the occasional decent snow, and sometimes those even come in March, so not in the clear for this year yet.
Are all passenger tires made with the same basic construction/carcass, or are some "tougher" than others? If they are different, which ones are the "tough" ones?
Any thoughts, advice or ideas are welcome. Thank you in advance.
