Lifecycle to Replace 20" Tires on Air Pure

[davidarogan]

I took possession of my Air Pure on June 20th, and we have ~ 3,300 miles on it. We are averaging 850 miles/month. We took a screw in one of our front tires and replaced it at Discount Tire. We also purchased the "warranty" plan they offer for the 2 front tires. Discount measured the wear on all 4 tires and found that the front tires have 9/32" of the original 10/32" left. The back tires both have only 5/32" left and would need to be replaced at 3/32". Lucid initially told us 1) many 3 year lease vehicles are returned with the original tires and 2) this is HIGHLY unusual and they would open a warranty issue with Pirelli and replace the 2 tires. I got a call from Lucid today saying that 1) the sales team should never have said that and it isn't true, and 2) they would not open a file with Pirelli as this is normal wear and tear based on driving patterns. We are not teenagers that are burning out when we accelerate. We're 2 retired persons who have what I would call normal driving patterns.

My question to you all is this: Is this normal and most of you have experienced this? It seems mind boggling to me that I should be budgeting to replace my back tires every 6 months with only 5,000 miles on the tires. Really? $900 every 6 months just for the back tires?? Please share your thoughts, advice, and let me know if this is truly normal and I just need to get used to it.

 

[davidarogan]

I took possession of my Air Pure on June 20th, and we have ~ 3,300 miles on it. We are averaging 850 miles/month. We took a screw in one of our front tires and replaced it at Discount Tire. We also purchased the "warranty" plan they offer for the 2 front tires. Discount measured the wear on all 4 tires and found that the front tires have 9/32" of the original 10/32" left. The back tires both have only 5/32" left and would need to be replaced at 3/32". Lucid initially told us 1) many 3 year lease vehicles are returned with the original tires and 2) this is HIGHLY unusual and they would open a warranty issue with Pirelli and replace the 2 tires. I got a call from Lucid today saying that 1) the sales team should never have said that and it isn't true, and 2) they would not open a file with Pirelli as this is normal wear and tear based on driving patterns. We are not teenagers that are burning out when we accelerate. We're 2 retired persons who have what I would call normal driving patterns.

My question to you all is this: Is this normal and most of you have experienced this? It seems mind boggling to me that I should be budgeting to replace my back tires every 6 months with only 5,000 miles on the tires. Really? $900 every 6 months just for the back tires?? Please share your thoughts, advice, and let me know if this is truly normal and I just need to get used to it.

Correction: Not sure if this matters, but we have 19" Pirelli's not 20".

 

[Pragmatic]

Ask SC check rear wheel alignment. They should not be wearing that fast.

 

[davidarogan]

Ask SC check rear wheel alignment. They should not be wearing that fast.

Thanks Pragmatic! What is "SC"? We made a service appointment to look at that. They did say that if they are wearing unevenly, the loss could be due to misalignment and that would be a different issue. I did not think to ask Discount ire what they saw. May pop back in there to ask. Might ease my mind a bit.

 

[Leftlane]

SC is service center. The tires should last much longer than that so there is some underlying issue, which could indeed be alignment. If not, there is no reason you can’t switch away from Pirellis to something else at Discount Tire that has a much longer tread warranty, like Continental. I will say, the Pirellis on my Tesla Model S Plaid are wearing quite well at over 20k miles on them now.

 

[davidarogan]

SC is service center. The tires should last much longer than that so there is some underlying issue, which could indeed be alignment. If not, there is no reason you can’t switch away from Pirellis to something else at Discount Tire that has a much longer tread warranty, like Continental. I will say, the Pirellis on my Tesla Model S Plaid are wearing quite well at over 20k miles on them now.

Now I wondered whether other EV's had this issue and was going to ask my friend who has a Tesla. Does switching brands impact the warranty or would Lucid raise issues when the lease is up if I did this?

 

[JoeSchmo]

... from my understanding, and i believe its even somewhat subjective even when criteria is given from the financial institution, as long as the tires of somewhat equal value and normal wear and tear.

Meaning if you replace a tire of similar, you should be fine. But obviously the right answer is to get it pre-checked, because just with Lucid there has been quite a bit of angst about lease turn ins lately not matching up to what some consider "reasonable".

For warranty the same thing, its possible if there was a fault that Tesla/Lucid could balk at it, or complain but i would imagine the difference would have to be somewhat easy to discern because your recourse would be arbitration.

 

[Leftlane]

The key with tires is to find ones that are rated for the weight of an EV, which is considerably heavier than ICE cars. There are plenty of choices from many brands now, specifically for EVs. I can’t imagine the brand would matter because Lucid and Tesla each use different brands for different sizes, etc….

 

[davidarogan]

Update: This is getting surreal. After 3,300 miles, the rear tires on my Air Pure are down to 5/32 and 4/32 (front are 9/32). Discount tire and 2 SC reps have stated this is an issue, but then retract any offers to help or address issue. While 1 tire is wearing slightly unevenly, they are finding nothing related to the farthest can cause this. I’ve been directed to work directly with Pirelli to file a claim. Is this typical? I’m shocked that they simply was their hands after owning the car a mere 4 months. After reading similar posts and responses I keep hearing that this is not being experienced by anyone else (19” tires lasting for 34k miles, etc.). Anyone have thoughts or guidance?

 

[Buffalo Bob]

Please answer some of the important questions that were asked of you... Most important is if you have had the front and rear alignment checked. For some reason that is inexplicable to me, Discount Tire does not check alignment. Have either Lucid or someone else do it, and make sure they know to check both the front AND rear. If you have not done this, you should do so immediately. Next, what cold tire pressure are you inflating your tires to? To keep wear down, your 19s should be religiously kept at no less than 49 PSI cold. (I keep mine at 50.) Larger performance tires operate at much lower pressures. Have you checked to make sure that your car's TPMS reporting features are set for 19" tires? (You had to make a correction to your post about the tires being 19s and not 20s. If your car is set to report based on 20s, it will report PSIs as normal when they are in fact quite low.) Where do you live? A car driven all summer in Palm Desert will have a significantly higher wear profile than one driven in Seattle, although it should be nowhere near this bad. And here's a big one... Does ANYBODY ever drive your car without you present? I hate to say it, but this is a very tempting car to push like hell, so make sure that one of your kids, grandkids or a trusted friend aren't out having a field day doing so.

We are a retired couple in our mid 70's, and our two year old 19s are at 20k miles, and I think they have at least another 10k on them. In your case, something is clearly amiss.

 

[davidarogan]

Please answer some of the important questions that were asked of you... Most important is if you have had the front and rear alignment checked. For some reason that is inexplicable to me, Discount Tire does not check alignment. Have either Lucid or someone else do it, and make sure they know to check both the front AND rear. If you have not done this, you should do so immediately. Next, what cold tire pressure are you inflating your tires to? To keep wear down, your 19s should be religiously kept at no less than 49 PSI cold. (I keep mine at 50.) Larger performance tires operate at much lower pressures. Have you checked to make sure that your car's TPMS reporting features are set for 19" tires? (You had to make a correction to your post about the tires being 19s and not 20s. If your car is set to report based on 20s, it will report PSIs as normal when they are in fact quite low.) Where do you live? A car driven all summer in Palm Desert will have a significantly higher wear profile than one driven in Seattle, although it should be nowhere near this bad. And here's a big one... Does ANYBODY ever drive your car without you present? I hate to say it, but this is a very tempting car to push like hell, so make sure that one of your kids, grandkids or a trusted friend aren't out having a field day doing so.

We are a retired couple in our mid 70's, and our two year old 19s are at 20k miles, and I think they have at least another 10k on them. In your case, something is clearly amiss.

My apologies if there were unanswered questions. Yes, both front and rear alignment was checked by Lucid and were “fine”. My initial reference to 20” was simply a mistake. Everything is set for 19”. Tire pressure is kept at 49-50 psi. We live in Florida. My spouse drives the car but neither of us accelerate in an unreasonable manner. In fact, the tires never spin, we keep it in “smooth” driving mode and never get warning indicators.

 

[Buffalo Bob]

My apologies if there were unanswered questions. Yes, both front and rear alignment was checked by Lucid and were “fine”. My initial reference to 20” was simply a mistake. Everything is set for 19”. Tire pressure is kept at 49-50 psi. We live in Florida. My spouse drives the car but neither of us accelerate in an unreasonable manner. In fact, the tires never spin, we keep it in “smooth” driving mode and never get warning indicators.

Thanks for clarifying. Wow, that's really crazy. In your case, I suggest that you have someone other than Lucid check your alignment. I may be dead wrong on this, but I wonder how adept Lucid is re: alignment checks, and how sophisticated their equipment is. I would take it to an independent specialist.

You bought your car new, correct? I ask because the only other thing I can come up with is wondering if somehow the frame is off kilter in a way that does not manifest itself on an alignment check.

If a deep dive into your alignment does not identify anything, I think you really need to keep Lucid's feet to the fire on finding the root cause, as there must be something very fundamentally wrong.

Good luck. Please report back.

 

[davidarogan]

Thanks for clarifying. Wow, that's really crazy. In your case, I suggest that you have someone other than Lucid check your alignment. I may be dead wrong on this, but I wonder how adept Lucid is re: alignment checks, and how sophisticated their equipment is. I would take it to an independent specialist.

You bought your car new, correct? I ask because the only other thing I can come up with is wondering if somehow the frame is off kilter in a way that does not manifest itself on an alignment check.

If a deep dive into your alignment does not identify anything, I think you really need to keep Lucid's feet to the fire on finding the root cause, as there must be something very fundamentally wrong.

Good luck. Please report back.

Thanks. I’ll have it re-checked. Yea, I bought it new with 11 miles on it.

 

[davidarogan]

UPDATE: I have learned that there is uneven wear on the new tire installed 900 miles ago. I have had 2 independent inspections done and both say the car is out of alignment. Lucid supposedly checked this out and signed off on it. Has anyone heard that Lucids are designed to "toe in" due to being a "performance vehicle"? Furthermore, while still trying to pursue getting them replaced by Pirelli under manufacturers warranty (bought 5 1/2 months ago with 11 miles on it and currently 4500 miles), Pirelli says that the claim can only be opened by Lucid or a certified entity like Discount Tire. Lucid refuses to help saying that they cannot do this, and Discount Tire says that they can't do it and I must. I'm stuck between a rock and hard place with no options left but to pay for new tires without knowing what c caused it and potentially doing this again twice each year. Does anyone have the specs on alignment mandated by Lucid? They do not appear to be available in the tire centers database (too new). I have requested this as well as confirmation that they checked the alignment but nothing yet. For those interested, attached are the readings as of today.

 

[davidarogan]

Can anyone recommend a place to perform a tire realignment on a 2025 Air Pure? I hate sending it to Palm Beach and paying for an annual maintenance service when it's only 5 months old and has less than 5k miles. I'm in Cocoa, FL about 1/2 hour east of Orlando.