tlapointe

My first set was not Firestone - - not sure what they were though.. I found the 2nd set (Firestones) by looking at consumer reports for V rated touring tires and Firestone came up as #2 with very good reviews. I don't know what model they are. The fact that I had the exact same experience with two different sets of tires (and the last set worked marvelous at first - - I was floating down the road, so all seemed perfectly good ..) the ride slowly progressively got worse and worse and the 2nd change of tires made no difference at all ... not even on the first day. This is why i don't believe it is just the tires - - I was expecting at least a temporary improvement when I had the tires changed this last time around, but I drove it off the lot bad .... and the guys at the shop asked me to leave out my owners manual when I dropped it off, so i presume it was to gauge the proper tire pressure, etc.

2004 ES 330 - 2nd owner - bought it with just over 50k miles in 2007. Drove like a dream... I really love this car - it fits me perfectly. I have a big continuous problem though and no one has been able to help me: after 10k miles of usage, I purchased new tires - (not michelin - but a decent grade V touring tire) - 4 wheel alignment checked out fine. After 10 - 12k miles and 3 rotations later, I noticed the car wasn't driving as smoothly and it was a little shaky. Tires were off balance and the tire guys told me that the alignment must be off. I took it to a different place and they told me alignment was fine... both places had given me computerized printouts. Well, it got worse and worse over the next 20k miles and every time I had the tires rotated, they had to be balanced and wore unevenly, etc... the tire guys SWORE it must be a bad alignment. Other people suggested maybe it was a slightly off round set of tires. Last year, I had another set of tires put on - Firestones - highly rated... I went to a more reputable place - they said alignment was fine when the installed tires .... took it out on the road and immediately noticed the car STILL didn't drive as posh as it did when I first bought it (or when I first changed out the tires the first time around) ... so now I am only 10k miles into the tires and already they are showing signs of uneven wear. I haven't had a nice smooth ride since some point in 2008... I do love my car, but I bought it for the quiet luxurious ride and I miss it. I haven't brought it back to the Lexus dealer because I figure they will just tell me it is because I didn't buy Michelins and send me on my way. Any ideas? Thanks.