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2012 Rio Tire Noise with OEM Kumho Solus KH25 Tires

7K views 22 replies 9 participants last post by  sblake5 
#1 ·
I recently took my 2012 Kia Rio in for service at the Kia dealer due to a whine from the rear of the vehicle. The noise is very pronounced at speeds of 35mph and above. I thought it was a wheel bearing etc.
Anyway, the dealership analyzed it to be the rear tires wearing/chopping creating the noise. My rear alignment and bearings were fine.
I must admit I have been lazy and never rotated them so am surprised this would occur if they confirmed the rear alignment was fine.
I only have 24K miles on the car.
Is this normal wear for these tires and is this a typical failure mode of the tires?
 
#2 ·
I'm no expert but, in my opinion, no tire that was properly mounted, balanced, etc. should be wearing to the point of making that kind of noise at 24K even if they had not been rotated.
 
#4 ·
Our Kumhos aren't noisy but I don't like how they ride/handle. When it's time for new tires we're definitely going with another brand.
 
#6 ·
I recently took my 2012 Kia Rio in for service at the Kia dealer due to a whine from the rear of the vehicle....the dealership analyzed it to be the rear tires wearing/chopping creating the noise...and bearings were fine.

the dealers LOVE to push off blame/responsibility. it is sad.

my 12' rio needed an axle. the outer cv was bad at 70k. brought it to the dealer, and dealer said it was the tires, and it was not a warranty issue.

i don't know what planet you are from, but tires do not "click" when only turning left. after a lot of going back and forth with the dealer, i got disgusted.

combine the axle issue with the fact my car had rust, and i was done. i traded it in on a honda fit.
 
#8 ·
I had the same issue with the Kumho's. Tires made an awful noise starting @ 20K miles, just got worse as the miles racked up. They got down to the wear markers around 28K and I ended up changing them to General Altimax RT43's and have been very happy with 20K miles on them with normal wear. The dealer said nothing they can do since they do not warranty tires. I also have a 2014 Forte and notice the Kumo's are starting to show significant signs of wear @ 17K miles!
 
#9 ·
The dealer said nothing they can do since they do not warranty tires.
Kumho will warranty them, however. Scroll down to "Original Equipment Warranty Policies", just past about mid page:

For Owners - Kumho Tire USA, Inc.

The dealer should be able to tell you who to contact for the tire warranty.
 
#11 ·
These Kuhmo "Soul-less" tires are JUNK. They made my Rio sound like an airplane. I ended up having to have them replaced at 45k because the rear tires were almost bald. Good thing is that you can get a set of tires in this size CHEAP. I paid $250 out the door for 4 brand new tires with a lower treadwear number so they sound so much better..... Avoid the dealers at all costs. Go to a tire shop, talk with the big cheese, get hooked up with some PROPER tires.
 
#12 ·
Did you rotate them? I agree that they are crap but they should last more that 45K on a lightweight vehicle like these if properly maintained. That being said, I've been unable to find an actual mileage that these tires are warrantied for anywhere on the Kumho website. 45k or so might be all that one could expect. I won't buy another set of them when it comes time to replace them but I'd like to at least get the most use I can from them.
 
#22 ·
Of course, it was covered by the dealer and they did it. im assuming its because the rear end of the Rio5 has almost no weight and if you take corners quickly im assuming its wearing them down quick. But the new Eco tires im on are going well. Took a few days for the fingers to fall off. Had the stripes for about 2 weeks. wearing slower than the soulless, but quieter and better wear rating,
 
#13 ·
Well I read the reviews on TireRack etc. and replaced the two noisy rear tires with General Amtimax RT43s (T Rated). (One of the other posters here mentioned them also)

It's like night and day. The noise was unbearable before but it's amazingly quiet now (I should get two more for the front to rid the vehicle completely of the Kumhos.

Still the dealership are unable to tell me why the rear tires started making this noise as they have far less wear than the front tires and given that I was lazy and never rotated them I would have thought the fronts would have been the noisier pair.

There was still plenty of tread left on the Kumhos that came off the rear so they would have lasted longer but I could not bear it any more.
 
#15 ·
No it isn't. You should get more than 24K out of new tires, cheap or otherwise. Kumho purports themselves to be a major tire manufacturer. These may ride like crap and, though I couldn't find a stated warranty mileage for a Solus KH25, the lowest mileage coverage warranty number they show for any of their tires on the website is 30K with some listed at 40k, 50k, 60k, and even one, the Solus KR21 at 85K.
 
#17 · (Edited)
I'm not doubting that or your experience. I'm saying that you "should" get more than 24K out of new tires. Any new tires; not specifically Kumho. Obviously, these fall short so this is something I'm going to watch on our Rio. We've only driven it about 9K miles so far. If we do have the same problem down the road, it probably wouldn't be worth fighting Kumho if all they would end up doing is replacing them with the same tire.
 
#18 ·
To SBLAKE5:

I have been driving for almost 40 years. I have owned numerous autos from sports to sedans, and even a truck. I have purchased tires for all those vehicles. I can tell you with complete sincerity that none have been very good after about 2 years (24k miles).

Sure you can drive them until the thread is gone (my teen years, for lack of $$$), but obviously that's not safe.

The ratings on tires is total BS, and I'm stating that based on experience, not ratings, which are probably based on perfect conditions in Never-Never Land, because there are no perfect roads. And, I have driven to and through over 20 states. I've even purchased 80k miles rated Michelin's that lasted me just under 35k miles.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but from my experience, after two years or 24K it's time to buy new tires.
 
#20 ·
I really wasn't questioning anyone's experience since everyone's will be different. Many factors involved there. I was speaking of expectations. I am aware of the reliability, or lack thereof, of a particular tire company's claims. I'm just saying that I expect a tire to last somewhere in between this 24K being discussed here and the company's stated rating. My experience is different than yours. I'm not sure of the relevance of how long one has been driving or how many vehicles one has owned but, I've been driving almost 49 years and have owned almost 70 vehicles in my lifetime. Many of them I didn't own long enough to note the experience here but I've had others that had tires last more than 24000 miles or two years without running them until they were bald. That doesn't make my experience better; only different. Another member stated earlier in this thread that he replaced them at 45k because the rear tires were almost bald. That would indicate to me that they must have gone bald somewhere beyond 24K and would have still had usable tread somewhere in between.

On the A/C idle/stalling issue, you might try checking the IAC valve. From what I understand, they can be cleaned. You might also check the PCV valve. A bad one can allow oil to be sucked into the intake causing idle problems. The A/C pressure switch could be faulty causing the system to turn off and on. Is the system cold while it's running? I'd put gauges on it and check the pressures and also look for a minor leak somewhere like the charging ports or any of the line connections.
 
#21 ·
I switched to the Altimax RT43's and have loved them, the noise is gone and wet weather traction has improved as well. They are not an ECO tire and I have noticed a miniscule drop in gas mileage, but not enough to make me feel like I made a bad choice on not getting an ECO tire.
 
#23 ·
Ours is a sedan but the tire wear should be similar. It's my wife's car. She doesn't take corners quickly but even so, 45k is probably all one should expect from these tires as well as probably being all that one could stand.......
 
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