Newbie Question About Es300 Tires

bobsunrise · April 2, 2004

I have a 2002 ES300 that came with Toyo tires (Proxes J33). The tires started to become more and more "noisy" at about 12k miles. When I asked thedealer about this, I was told that the tires were "cupping and wearing too fast for the car." They offered to replace them with Micheline tires at "half" price.

What I would like to know is if there are any recalls (silent or other) on these tires and has anyone had the same problem and what did the dealer do about it?

steviej · April 3, 2004

The J33 Toyos did have an extensive cupping problem. How many miles are on them? This may be why they are offering Michies at half price instead of swapping them out totally. There have been posts here and on CL about these poor performing tires. I believe Lexus stopped using them and went solely Michie Energy MXV4+ (or whatever the call letters are) with the 2003 model.

The J33 I believe was offered on cars only and not sold separately. They were also not shipped on cars delivered above the snow belt.

If your tires have over 25,000 miles on them, this is probably why they offered a half price deal on the michies, they are pro-rating the Toyos.

When in doubt, call 1-800-25-LEXUS and discuss it there. Tell them you know of the Toyo J33 problem. They may instruct your dealership to just swap them out for a new set of Michies or Dunlops (shipped on the 2004 ES330). If you have a choice, go with the Dunnies. The Michies are poor in rain.

steviej