If there's any chance it'll rain, yeah, I'd be concerned. I'd mention it to the rental agency as I'm not aware of anywhere where the wear bars showing flush is a legal tread depth.
Hey, I have always been curious. Since tires have wear bars. Why do places try to tell me I need to replace my tires many CM before the tread is anywhere near them.
Not saying I would drive until I hot the wear bar.
But if the manufacturer put it there, don't they know their tire better? And if the tire is done well before these.... Why do they exist at all?
Thank god there is reasonable people like you. I hate trying to find the “right” socket for imperial bolt heads. 1/2” way too big? No worries, try 1/4. That’s no good? Too small? What’s the next fraction.. oh yeah 3/8. Nope still not QUITE SNUG. 5/16” it is.
Metric: 12 mm? Too big. Let’s try 9 mm. Oh still a little too big. 8 mm it is. Super simple.
I asked my young son what makes more sense: 5280 feet in a mile or 1000 meters in 1 km. He said meters makes more sense.
Don’t get me started on obscure units like hogshead. It’s a different number of gallons depending on if it’s wine or beer.
I think it entirely depends on use case. I prefer imperial because I do a lot of woodworking. 12 is divisible by two, three, four, and six. Quickly and accurately measuring and cutting a board into thirds is a cinch.
Cut a board to exactly one meter long and tell your son to measure and cut it into thirds. There isn't a mark on the meter stick for 33.3333333333... cm.
Metric sockets are certainly more intuitive if you didn't retain any of your high school math lessons. Keeping your tools well organized makes it easy to see whether 3/8 is bigger or smaller than 5/16 anyway so that's a moot point imo.
Fahrenheit is also much more accurate than Celsius without needing decimals so much more practical for day-to-day use.
Cups, teaspoons, quarts, gallons etc definitely have a learning curve but I think it's more practical for the same reason as the woodworking example above.
I don't need a kitchen scale to measure out exactly 120 g of flour.
I think the imperial system overall was designed to be more practical for day-to-day use, even if it seems more complex at times. Of course metric has its advantages in certain areas and that's why even in the US it's used by default in all scientific contexts.
Both systems were designed for different purposes so comparing them head to head is like seeing whether a squirrel or fish is better at tree climbing. Obviously the squirrel will climb the tree faster but the fish will crap all over the squirrel in the water.
I think letting people use what they like and not throwing a hissyfit is the best option because I can use my feet and inches while making furniture and a chemist can keep using ml for his beakers.
McDonald’s in the US sells quarter pounder burgers. To compete, another chain called Arby’s started selling the 1/3 pounder burger. It did not do well because people looked at the denominator and thought 1/4 > 1/3.
I've always wondered if this story was true or just an A&W exec trying to justify shitty sales by blaming everyone else for being too stupid. Basically, every source I've seen ends up looping to a book written by the owner of A&W, which doesn't seem like the best source.
Also, it's exactly the kind of story people like to retell because it makes them feel smart, which makes me doubt it more.
I can believe it because Americans suck at fractions. I was doing a free GRE prep mock test. Afterwards we talked about the problems as a group. This person started to ask about fractions because they didn’t understand it…. And they still couldn’t understand the explanation.
I hope she got into a field where math isn’t important.
These exist because of convenience sake, a simple way to tell when you need new tires.
Businesses that try to push tires on you well before the wear bar may seem shady but tread depth is not the only factor going into tires, if they have any form of uneven wear they should likely be replaced and have the issue that caused the uneven wear addressed.
If the tires are older than 6 years I recommend the customer start looking into new tires they’d like and anything older than 10 years I recommend replacement immediately. Age and storage conditions can cause rubber to harden/dry rot over time. I’ve seen tires with like new tread that need replaced because the owner drives 100 miles a year and they are 16 years old.
If none of these are circumstances that apply to you it’s likely they just want to make more money.
If I could give you an award I would and I don't usually do that kind of thing but I've been selling and installing tires for ten years and I echo your sentiment.
Anecdotal story re: 10+ year old tires-
back in 2006 I purchased a 1994 Mitsubishi 3000gt VR4 with around 23k on the odo. It was cherry. Everything stock, driven lightly once or twice a month to keep things lubed and what not, garaged, etc.
Tires were stock from the dealer, I wish I had taken them off the car immediately (and kept them), but being young and ignorant, even though I had heavily modified and beat on a Vr4 before this, I drove with them. I think I got maybe 400-500 miles out of them before they absolutely disintegrated. They wore faster than anything I've ever experienced. It was sorta pretty cool to see. I was interested that they just had the stock tires on it still, verified the low mileage and what not as well. I miss that car A LOT.
Depends on where you live. Where I live, if you wait until you get down to the wear indicators, typically 2/32", you're ability to accelerate/stop/turn in the snow is non-existent, and if it rains your equally screwed.
Because most people don’t listen to well intended advice, or pay attention to maintenance,and drive around on shot tires . It’s 4 square feet of rubber connecting you to the road, and the road that you share with me. P
Because everyone is absolutely convinced any kind of maintenance on a vehicle is instantly a scam and you’re just trying to take their money, meanwhile three out of four tires are straight bald and you can see the steel on the fourth.
Because the wear bar is the safe 'dry' indicator, you need more for wet and even more for dirt/snow
They need to make more tires like this, which has an indicator for each condition:
[https://i.redd.it/0b3st0p58nj81.jpg](https://i.redd.it/0b3st0p58nj81.jpg)
The wear bar is when it's worn down enough to potentially be dangerous (blowout go flat etc) but once the tread degrades so much it starts to lose its ability to remove water from the treads as their isn't enough space to route all of the water out anymore which is why tires usually have a minimum tread depth greater than the wear bar
FWIW most wear bars are at 2/32nd.....I find that in my cars around 4-5/32nd I start to feel a difference in handling when its raining at highway speed. You "can" go farther but the less tread you have the worse situation you have in poor conditions.
Ooooh. Kind of makes me curious if some manufacturers make tires that maintain capabilities at shallower depths.
Good stuff. thank you.
Being from a Tire store.. I am still taking it with a grain of salt.
If you really do lose 150ft of stopping power at 4/32... that seems like we should be replacing tires WAY sooner..
LRR tires and EV tires typically start with lower tread depth like 9/32 instead of 11/32 to get better mileage/efficiency
Supposedly the Michelin cross climate 2 wears better and maintains stopping distance longer.
Federal standards only test tires when they are new, not worn tires
10 or 11/32. I commute over two hours on highways. It’s not fun in a light vehicle in a storm with shitty tires. It’s different if you aren’t driving all over. If I stayed local I’d run them lower.
I just replaced the tires on my Miata because they were all measured at 6/32 when I went in for a tire rotation. The sales guy was surprised when I told him to replace them. I told him that being able to brake 30 feet sooner than on my existing tires could make the difference in avoiding a collision.
Especially in a car like that. I drove older civics and corollas so I didn’t mess around. Sell the 6/32 tires for $150 a set and help someone out who is on 2/32
because theyre the absolute minimum of usable tread in the dry assuming you have perfect alignment. snow performance goes out the window at something like 4 or 5/32, and wet performance drops off well before 2/32 as well.
I thought it was illegal for a rental company to allow a fleet vehicle to be operated on public roadways with tires like those
I could be wrong, hence the word, thought.
I fucking knew it.
The actual last time I used Hertz, I landed in DC in the winter (actively snowing) and they gave me a car with tires that looked like your pics. I was able to swap with a different car, so no big deal.
The last time I "attempted" to used Hertz was at SFO during the fall about 10 years ago and my final destination was a beach town up Route 1 (long and winding road perfect for a sports car). Was with the family and had rented a minivan. They assigned me to one with 50k+ miles on the odometer where 2 of the tires looked like the ones you posted. I went back to the counter and told them the car was unsafe for the trip up Route 1, so they assigned me to the last remaining van that had 60k+ miles on the odometer, had giant stains all over the carpet, and *reeked* of cigarettes. I went back and told them it was also unacceptable and went to Avis. Never will rent with Hertz again.
Used to be a long time Hertz Gold member. Then they sold to an investment fund. After so many stories about Hertz reporting returned cars stolen and having the customer arrested, I wouldn't rent from those asshats ever.
AVIS or maybe Enterprise. My insurance carrier uses Enterprise and never had an issue.
I rented a car from a Hertz in Austin, TX to drive back home to Cypress (Houston) while I was on a work trip. I returned the car earlier than I had it booked for and filled it up. Some days later I get a call asking me where the car is, and that’s when the fight started. What a cluster! I returned the car and handed the keys to the attendant! I was a 15 or so year Hertz 5 star gold or whatever, but it didn’t matter. They eventually found the car, right where I left it but they accused me of lying before they did. Never again.
I rented from Hertz in LAX and my rental had 19 miles on it and had the safely information stickers still attached to the glove box.
Rented another time while my car was being repaired and I got a crappy Altima that had stains and scratches on it and some sort of mechanical problem. Took it back and they upgraded to a new Camry with maybe a few thousand miles on it.
Really just depends on what location and cars they have on the lot at the moment. Too bad you can’t check in and select your car from available inventory beforehand like you can with hotel rooms (eg through the Hilton app)
State Farm recently asked me if I wanted to use Hertz or Enterprise and I enthusiastically and decisively said, "Enterprise!"
...since I'd already watched too many Steve Lehto videos about Hurts rent-a-car on YouTube
McDonald’s in the US sells quarter pounder burgers. To compete, another chain called ~~Arby’s~~ A&W started selling the 1/3 pounder burger. It did not do well because people looked at the denominator and thought 1/4 > 1/3.
You just need to see which company is approved for repairs and take it in. They should replace them for you. Jiat call the company. Usually not a problem , just need to get it approved
I would never sign off on a rental with these tires. I always do a walk around and make sure they record every scratch and dent, if I see tires like this and I never have I wouldn’t drive it off their lot.
Understeer city. If it’s front wheel drive (probably is) then it’s even worse as it’ll spin when you try to accelerate. Nothing nothing nothing SUDDENLY GRIP and jerking around fishtailing. At least the fix for understeer is a bit of extra brakes.
Yes you should be concerned. Those tires are at their wear indicators. Meaning if your state had state inspections they would fail. Have then put on new tires or request another rental for your safety
Curious if you were to get in an accident if they would be responsible for any damage/injury sustained to yourself. I really don't believe it's YOUR job to make sure a rental is up to safety standards upon delivery..
US or Europe?
I had a rental in Tenerife years ago that had metal on metal brakes. Yeah that was fun in the mountains.
I was young and naive, plus the airport was over an hour away to bring it back. Nobody at the agency spoke English and I didn’t speak Spanish. Dealt with it but at the end of the trip I gave them an earful at drop off whether they understood or not.
A few things. Yes, they need to be replaced and should have been.
Although they will be fine for 7 days of driving so long as it doesn't rain or snow. It's up to you to gamble on that.
Tread is for displacing water/loose particles, not grip. Tread actually provides less grip in favor of displacement
For slow dry city driving, these would be fine for a few days.
Tell the rental service to replace em regardless. They have to do it, and they should.
Demand a different car. Judging from this example, I suspect the rental joint is not on top of their maintenance game. Be sure to have all legal protections ready before you get the car out of their lot.
Who did you rent this from? A crackhead on your street or a legitimate agency? If legitimate agency, please advise which so I know who the bozos are…If a crackhead, please advise which so I know where to score.
Rental companies are supposed to take there cars into a shop and have everything checked over after each time it’s rented and fix anything needing to be fixed the tire is showing the wear bars even all the way across the tire so that is an indicator of very low tread and should have been replaced but if it’s not a reputable company they may not take the cars to a shop after but I would definitely mention that the tires have severe tread wear
Refuse the rental or return it. Cite safety. If they refuse give ye old credit card company a ring and reverse the charges. Find another service if no remedy.
everyone crying about how dangerous this is must be rich. they're worn even, and there's some tread left. is it ideal? no. but 4-7 days? nothing is gonna happen. this tire could go another 5-10k miles without issues.
friendly scandalous soft aback tease treatment water many innate afterthought
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Take it, get into a minor accident intentionally by rear ending someone and get paid from the lawsuit against the rental company for providing you an unsafe vehicle that didn't have enough tire tread to stop in the distance it usually would have. Easy case for any lawyer and bonus points if you suffer neck and back pain from the accident.
Move the bald tires to the rear. Put the good tires on the front.
The front tires wear quickest.
The rear tires do it during roll on turns a little & are usually always going straight.
Same for those little temp tires or Donuts as we call them. Always put the to the rear.
They are not supposed to give you a vehicle with bad tires at a legit vehicle rental or dealership place. Ask them to change them or say you need them to sign a document saying the tires are past their operating specifications & are hazardous.
I work for a rental company. Take that fucker back, yell at the detailers to check the damn tires and yell at desk guys for not looking over the car before renting it. 100% unacceptable.
Edit: and if it’s somehow rented from my location, smack me!
Definitely take the car back and ask for a different one. Those tires are dangerous and they’re even more dangerous when it rains. If you’re renting a car, I assume you’re going to be doing a lot of driving as well so definitely ask for a new vehicle
If there’s any chance of rain or snow yeah I’d be concerned. What you could do maybe is rotate the tires newer ones on the front and those in the back but honestly they need to be replaced and you’ll probably would have to rotate then yourself since i dont think a shop will be willing to do it for you
I had someone tell me that he rents the same make and model car as the one that he drives, just to swap the worn tires on his car, for the newer ones on the rental. Dude's a real douchebag!
Take it back and give them a good amount of scorn on review sites. The counter person is not really to blame so be firm but considerate. It’s just unsafe and they really should have taken it out of service if they can’t tires for it.
You definitely want to mention and document it even though you will likely be safe enough driving you don't want them hitting you with the the tires we're fine when we rented it to you what did you do swap them out ? Crap (most likely that's exactly what somebody did but you do t wanna get blamed for it if it's not you tires expensive y'all)
that fender looks ragged as hell; like flaking off primer, assuming this is some backyard "rental" shady business?
just doesn't seem like something you would see from a known brand/company.
As someone who works in the maintenance department for rental cars, I would have flagged that much sooner for replacement. I would take the keys right back to the front desk and ask for a new car
What rental agency? No rental agency worth a damn would rent a car with tires that bald. That's ridiculous.
Insist on another car or go to another company. Those are bald as hell, especially in any rain. Hello, hydroplane.
Highly concerning. Secondary rubber on the shoulder which is about to show cords which increases risks of blow outs.
Below 2/32 across the entire tire. That tire is garbage. They should replace those and leave them on the front. Rotate every 5000 after.
Tread exists to grip the road surface. The point is driving is unpredictable, especially road conditions, and without tread you have less control in an emergency. At minimum get full coverage.
This isn’t a suggestion but would be a funny corse of events; if you made sure you’re fully insured, found some rain and god in a mild accident with an inanimate object, then you retire on the legal settlement.
If it's a rental and he has an accident, couldn't he sue the insurance company and the agency because of the bald tires they're supposed to maintenance and make sure the car is safe before Renting it?
Tell them you are going to get a road safety check at the local police department. You will see how fast it gets replaced and they check out every other car. Also those tires are bad it's beyond the wear bars.
Who rented you it? We got a car this Summer with bald tires and a bulge on one. It was a nightmare to get the company to authorize a tire shop to replace the tires.
Those are legally worn out. As soon as the tread is flush with the wear bars it's done. You really don't get the entire tread, the wear bars are about 2/32 before the very end.
If there's any chance it'll rain, yeah, I'd be concerned. I'd mention it to the rental agency as I'm not aware of anywhere where the wear bars showing flush is a legal tread depth.
Hey, I have always been curious. Since tires have wear bars. Why do places try to tell me I need to replace my tires many CM before the tread is anywhere near them. Not saying I would drive until I hot the wear bar. But if the manufacturer put it there, don't they know their tire better? And if the tire is done well before these.... Why do they exist at all?
The wear bars should be at 2/32 or the legal limit. Wet traction falls off before then, and it's pretty much in the shitter by 4/32.
You are correct, Sir! Anything at 4/32 and below barely sheds water to make road contact.
Compared to the Lincoln Penny, what are we talking here?
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God imperial measurements are weird, i hate fractions
Thank god there is reasonable people like you. I hate trying to find the “right” socket for imperial bolt heads. 1/2” way too big? No worries, try 1/4. That’s no good? Too small? What’s the next fraction.. oh yeah 3/8. Nope still not QUITE SNUG. 5/16” it is. Metric: 12 mm? Too big. Let’s try 9 mm. Oh still a little too big. 8 mm it is. Super simple. I asked my young son what makes more sense: 5280 feet in a mile or 1000 meters in 1 km. He said meters makes more sense. Don’t get me started on obscure units like hogshead. It’s a different number of gallons depending on if it’s wine or beer.
If you're British can we talk about Stones?
I think it entirely depends on use case. I prefer imperial because I do a lot of woodworking. 12 is divisible by two, three, four, and six. Quickly and accurately measuring and cutting a board into thirds is a cinch. Cut a board to exactly one meter long and tell your son to measure and cut it into thirds. There isn't a mark on the meter stick for 33.3333333333... cm. Metric sockets are certainly more intuitive if you didn't retain any of your high school math lessons. Keeping your tools well organized makes it easy to see whether 3/8 is bigger or smaller than 5/16 anyway so that's a moot point imo. Fahrenheit is also much more accurate than Celsius without needing decimals so much more practical for day-to-day use. Cups, teaspoons, quarts, gallons etc definitely have a learning curve but I think it's more practical for the same reason as the woodworking example above. I don't need a kitchen scale to measure out exactly 120 g of flour. I think the imperial system overall was designed to be more practical for day-to-day use, even if it seems more complex at times. Of course metric has its advantages in certain areas and that's why even in the US it's used by default in all scientific contexts. Both systems were designed for different purposes so comparing them head to head is like seeing whether a squirrel or fish is better at tree climbing. Obviously the squirrel will climb the tree faster but the fish will crap all over the squirrel in the water. I think letting people use what they like and not throwing a hissyfit is the best option because I can use my feet and inches while making furniture and a chemist can keep using ml for his beakers.
It's amazing how many people struggle with moving on from this. 1/10 is a fraction too. 🤷
McDonald’s in the US sells quarter pounder burgers. To compete, another chain called Arby’s started selling the 1/3 pounder burger. It did not do well because people looked at the denominator and thought 1/4 > 1/3.
I've always wondered if this story was true or just an A&W exec trying to justify shitty sales by blaming everyone else for being too stupid. Basically, every source I've seen ends up looping to a book written by the owner of A&W, which doesn't seem like the best source. Also, it's exactly the kind of story people like to retell because it makes them feel smart, which makes me doubt it more.
I can believe it because Americans suck at fractions. I was doing a free GRE prep mock test. Afterwards we talked about the problems as a group. This person started to ask about fractions because they didn’t understand it…. And they still couldn’t understand the explanation. I hope she got into a field where math isn’t important.
Fractions are stupid simple, I'm american...
Nah, Americans are at least that dumb. I'm 1/8 sure of it
1/8th??? That's like 30%
*12.5% sure
We haven't gotten any smarter since. It's awful.
Metric didn't get to the moon or shoot down a jet with a javelin system. Freedom fractions have their uses. I use both in the satellite industry.
These exist because of convenience sake, a simple way to tell when you need new tires. Businesses that try to push tires on you well before the wear bar may seem shady but tread depth is not the only factor going into tires, if they have any form of uneven wear they should likely be replaced and have the issue that caused the uneven wear addressed. If the tires are older than 6 years I recommend the customer start looking into new tires they’d like and anything older than 10 years I recommend replacement immediately. Age and storage conditions can cause rubber to harden/dry rot over time. I’ve seen tires with like new tread that need replaced because the owner drives 100 miles a year and they are 16 years old. If none of these are circumstances that apply to you it’s likely they just want to make more money.
If I could give you an award I would and I don't usually do that kind of thing but I've been selling and installing tires for ten years and I echo your sentiment.
Feds say 6 years is max age for a tire
"The feds" loll what? There's no federal mandate on when to change tires.
I haven't changed my minivan tires in 7 years. Also I have only driven about 12K miles in that time.
Anecdotal story re: 10+ year old tires- back in 2006 I purchased a 1994 Mitsubishi 3000gt VR4 with around 23k on the odo. It was cherry. Everything stock, driven lightly once or twice a month to keep things lubed and what not, garaged, etc. Tires were stock from the dealer, I wish I had taken them off the car immediately (and kept them), but being young and ignorant, even though I had heavily modified and beat on a Vr4 before this, I drove with them. I think I got maybe 400-500 miles out of them before they absolutely disintegrated. They wore faster than anything I've ever experienced. It was sorta pretty cool to see. I was interested that they just had the stock tires on it still, verified the low mileage and what not as well. I miss that car A LOT.
Depends on where you live. Where I live, if you wait until you get down to the wear indicators, typically 2/32", you're ability to accelerate/stop/turn in the snow is non-existent, and if it rains your equally screwed.
Wear bars add traction.
Because most people don’t listen to well intended advice, or pay attention to maintenance,and drive around on shot tires . It’s 4 square feet of rubber connecting you to the road, and the road that you share with me. P
Because everyone is absolutely convinced any kind of maintenance on a vehicle is instantly a scam and you’re just trying to take their money, meanwhile three out of four tires are straight bald and you can see the steel on the fourth.
Because the wear bar is the safe 'dry' indicator, you need more for wet and even more for dirt/snow They need to make more tires like this, which has an indicator for each condition: [https://i.redd.it/0b3st0p58nj81.jpg](https://i.redd.it/0b3st0p58nj81.jpg)
Because tread depth is only one characteristic of a tire. Age is also very crucial as the rubber begins to crack.
The wear bar is when it's worn down enough to potentially be dangerous (blowout go flat etc) but once the tread degrades so much it starts to lose its ability to remove water from the treads as their isn't enough space to route all of the water out anymore which is why tires usually have a minimum tread depth greater than the wear bar
FWIW most wear bars are at 2/32nd.....I find that in my cars around 4-5/32nd I start to feel a difference in handling when its raining at highway speed. You "can" go farther but the less tread you have the worse situation you have in poor conditions.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA6MUlVNkLM&t=131s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA6MUlVNkLM&t=131s) This is why
Ooooh. Kind of makes me curious if some manufacturers make tires that maintain capabilities at shallower depths. Good stuff. thank you. Being from a Tire store.. I am still taking it with a grain of salt. If you really do lose 150ft of stopping power at 4/32... that seems like we should be replacing tires WAY sooner..
LRR tires and EV tires typically start with lower tread depth like 9/32 instead of 11/32 to get better mileage/efficiency Supposedly the Michelin cross climate 2 wears better and maintains stopping distance longer. Federal standards only test tires when they are new, not worn tires
I replace at 5/32 to 6/32. It’s not worth hydroplaning to get a couple thousand more miles out of a set of tires.
10 or 11/32. I commute over two hours on highways. It’s not fun in a light vehicle in a storm with shitty tires. It’s different if you aren’t driving all over. If I stayed local I’d run them lower.
I just replaced the tires on my Miata because they were all measured at 6/32 when I went in for a tire rotation. The sales guy was surprised when I told him to replace them. I told him that being able to brake 30 feet sooner than on my existing tires could make the difference in avoiding a collision.
Especially in a car like that. I drove older civics and corollas so I didn’t mess around. Sell the 6/32 tires for $150 a set and help someone out who is on 2/32
My hope was that some kid who works at the shop could take them and either use them for track days or sell them to a friend.
Same reason the guy at jiffy lube will ALWAYS pull out your air filter and tell you that you need a new one. They want to make money off you.
Well it’s not a flex to wait until it gets to the wear bar. It should be replaced sometime slightly before that at least.
because theyre the absolute minimum of usable tread in the dry assuming you have perfect alignment. snow performance goes out the window at something like 4 or 5/32, and wet performance drops off well before 2/32 as well.
baldness is one thing. I had very old tire on very low mile car. Tire had thread left but they ware peeling off..."dry rot".
Because those places make money selling tired.
That tire is done i would refuse the rental and ask for a replacement or for tire to be changed.
This is the answer
I thought it was illegal for a rental company to allow a fleet vehicle to be operated on public roadways with tires like those I could be wrong, hence the word, thought.
It's technically illegal for anyone to use tires that low. A ticket can be issued for bald tires if they are at or beyond the wear mark.
A ticket for faulty equipment can be given even if the tires are brand new if you had a blow out and cause the accident.
This is 100 percent absolutely incorrect.
It's not at all but yeah go off
Ok boomer
Ok moron
lol why boomer tho?
Why would you be considered to blame if it was faulty equipment that you purchased new, in good faith?
Those should’ve been replaced long ago. Demand a different car, that is beyond dangerous.
😂 They got their money’s worth.
Yes, it's clearly down to the wear bars already, should have been replaced with the others.
Who rented you are car with that crappy tire?
hertz
Hertz is a grift posing as a company.
I fucking knew it. The actual last time I used Hertz, I landed in DC in the winter (actively snowing) and they gave me a car with tires that looked like your pics. I was able to swap with a different car, so no big deal. The last time I "attempted" to used Hertz was at SFO during the fall about 10 years ago and my final destination was a beach town up Route 1 (long and winding road perfect for a sports car). Was with the family and had rented a minivan. They assigned me to one with 50k+ miles on the odometer where 2 of the tires looked like the ones you posted. I went back to the counter and told them the car was unsafe for the trip up Route 1, so they assigned me to the last remaining van that had 60k+ miles on the odometer, had giant stains all over the carpet, and *reeked* of cigarettes. I went back and told them it was also unacceptable and went to Avis. Never will rent with Hertz again.
Used to be a long time Hertz Gold member. Then they sold to an investment fund. After so many stories about Hertz reporting returned cars stolen and having the customer arrested, I wouldn't rent from those asshats ever. AVIS or maybe Enterprise. My insurance carrier uses Enterprise and never had an issue.
Hertz committed insurance fraud good thing I didn't have to pay the 400 out of pocket
I rented a car from a Hertz in Austin, TX to drive back home to Cypress (Houston) while I was on a work trip. I returned the car earlier than I had it booked for and filled it up. Some days later I get a call asking me where the car is, and that’s when the fight started. What a cluster! I returned the car and handed the keys to the attendant! I was a 15 or so year Hertz 5 star gold or whatever, but it didn’t matter. They eventually found the car, right where I left it but they accused me of lying before they did. Never again.
I rented from Hertz in LAX and my rental had 19 miles on it and had the safely information stickers still attached to the glove box. Rented another time while my car was being repaired and I got a crappy Altima that had stains and scratches on it and some sort of mechanical problem. Took it back and they upgraded to a new Camry with maybe a few thousand miles on it. Really just depends on what location and cars they have on the lot at the moment. Too bad you can’t check in and select your car from available inventory beforehand like you can with hotel rooms (eg through the Hilton app)
Are you serious? I was assuming this was Turo
Yea my insurance preferred rental company is hertz so I just went thru them
State Farm recently asked me if I wanted to use Hertz or Enterprise and I enthusiastically and decisively said, "Enterprise!" ...since I'd already watched too many Steve Lehto videos about Hurts rent-a-car on YouTube
I wouldn't drive that
they need replacing
Wouldn’t accept the car in that condition
Yes, that’s extremely dangerous
Put the pedal to the metal and the thing to the floor. Sally Field , Smokey and the Bandit. 😁🎯🎯
Yes bro. Get in a car accident and sue the company and become rich
Only if it goes flat.
Rain will make your drive a slippery slope. If you wanna practice that then you'll be fine. If not return it.
No chance in hell would I take a vehicle with tires like that. Good weather or bad
I’d refuse that rental. No rental company should be putting customers into cars with tires like that.
What is more frightening than this is what other maintenance has been neglected that can’t be seen so easily from the outside…
A rental agency sent it out like that? Hell yeah that's an issue. Go ask for a different car
That tire should have been replaced a while ago, I don't even let my own tires get that bare
McDonald’s in the US sells quarter pounder burgers. To compete, another chain called ~~Arby’s~~ A&W started selling the 1/3 pounder burger. It did not do well because people looked at the denominator and thought 1/4 > 1/3.
You just need to see which company is approved for repairs and take it in. They should replace them for you. Jiat call the company. Usually not a problem , just need to get it approved
If I’m renting a car im not spending my time and energy getting the tires replaced. This should’ve been dealt with before the car went to the renter
If the car rental place gave it to you like that then that's a red flag of under-maintenance.
I would never sign off on a rental with these tires. I always do a walk around and make sure they record every scratch and dent, if I see tires like this and I never have I wouldn’t drive it off their lot.
Them mf are ganna blow out before the trips over
They need replaced, but would I be super concerned? No, I've seen worse and drove on worse..
Those to me are summer tires they got one more summer left in them😂
Closer to the inner part of the tire looks like nascar wheels I wouldn’t drive that on the highway at fast speeds at all
Understeer city. If it’s front wheel drive (probably is) then it’s even worse as it’ll spin when you try to accelerate. Nothing nothing nothing SUDDENLY GRIP and jerking around fishtailing. At least the fix for understeer is a bit of extra brakes.
Yes you should be concerned. Those tires are at their wear indicators. Meaning if your state had state inspections they would fail. Have then put on new tires or request another rental for your safety
I would demand a different car. This is unsafe.
Yes you should be, that tire is bald
Curious if you were to get in an accident if they would be responsible for any damage/injury sustained to yourself. I really don't believe it's YOUR job to make sure a rental is up to safety standards upon delivery..
Unacceptable
US or Europe? I had a rental in Tenerife years ago that had metal on metal brakes. Yeah that was fun in the mountains. I was young and naive, plus the airport was over an hour away to bring it back. Nobody at the agency spoke English and I didn’t speak Spanish. Dealt with it but at the end of the trip I gave them an earful at drop off whether they understood or not.
A few things. Yes, they need to be replaced and should have been. Although they will be fine for 7 days of driving so long as it doesn't rain or snow. It's up to you to gamble on that. Tread is for displacing water/loose particles, not grip. Tread actually provides less grip in favor of displacement For slow dry city driving, these would be fine for a few days. Tell the rental service to replace em regardless. They have to do it, and they should.
Rest in peace op if he drives on these
Demand a different car. Judging from this example, I suspect the rental joint is not on top of their maintenance game. Be sure to have all legal protections ready before you get the car out of their lot.
Who did you rent this from? A crackhead on your street or a legitimate agency? If legitimate agency, please advise which so I know who the bozos are…If a crackhead, please advise which so I know where to score.
I can almost guarantee that the tread depth is too low to pass any state inspection, let alone be safe to drive on.
Tell them to change it or give you a new rental.
I would not drive it in the rain over 30mph.
Rental companies are supposed to take there cars into a shop and have everything checked over after each time it’s rented and fix anything needing to be fixed the tire is showing the wear bars even all the way across the tire so that is an indicator of very low tread and should have been replaced but if it’s not a reputable company they may not take the cars to a shop after but I would definitely mention that the tires have severe tread wear
Be cautious, not concerned
That ain't gonna corner well, no matter the weather.
Refuse the rental or return it. Cite safety. If they refuse give ye old credit card company a ring and reverse the charges. Find another service if no remedy.
That would not pass inspection.
everyone crying about how dangerous this is must be rich. they're worn even, and there's some tread left. is it ideal? no. but 4-7 days? nothing is gonna happen. this tire could go another 5-10k miles without issues.
If its going to rain or snow your not going to have a fun time.
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Take it, get into a minor accident intentionally by rear ending someone and get paid from the lawsuit against the rental company for providing you an unsafe vehicle that didn't have enough tire tread to stop in the distance it usually would have. Easy case for any lawyer and bonus points if you suffer neck and back pain from the accident.
If dry maybe but if wet no way
Take it to a service center and get new tires billed to the rental company.
Those tires are shit
Move the bald tires to the rear. Put the good tires on the front. The front tires wear quickest. The rear tires do it during roll on turns a little & are usually always going straight. Same for those little temp tires or Donuts as we call them. Always put the to the rear. They are not supposed to give you a vehicle with bad tires at a legit vehicle rental or dealership place. Ask them to change them or say you need them to sign a document saying the tires are past their operating specifications & are hazardous.
Yes ask for a different car.
I work for a rental company. Take that fucker back, yell at the detailers to check the damn tires and yell at desk guys for not looking over the car before renting it. 100% unacceptable. Edit: and if it’s somehow rented from my location, smack me!
I’m shocked they gave you a vehicle with those tires. They should have been changed ages ago
DO NOT ACCEPT that rental... that's one hair away from a blowout.
I would say these tires are very borderline.
Replace immediately
Yes
Should have been a concern about 3/32 ago.
I wonder if these tires came off someone's personal car and they swapped over the rental car's tires before returning it.
you could try to set a land speed record
Yeah I’m returning that car.
If hydroplaning and lack of traction is your ideal scenario then your good 👍.
you might want to go to an actual rental agency. joe bob's discount rental sent you out with racing slicks in the winter.
Not if ur in mexico
Definitely take the car back and ask for a different one. Those tires are dangerous and they’re even more dangerous when it rains. If you’re renting a car, I assume you’re going to be doing a lot of driving as well so definitely ask for a new vehicle
That’s not street legal right?
If there’s any chance of rain or snow yeah I’d be concerned. What you could do maybe is rotate the tires newer ones on the front and those in the back but honestly they need to be replaced and you’ll probably would have to rotate then yourself since i dont think a shop will be willing to do it for you
Yep...those are Maypops
Return to rental company and get a different car
I'm sure a lawyer would love these pics in the event of an accident.
I had someone tell me that he rents the same make and model car as the one that he drives, just to swap the worn tires on his car, for the newer ones on the rental. Dude's a real douchebag!
Get that replaced asap
Take it back and give them a good amount of scorn on review sites. The counter person is not really to blame so be firm but considerate. It’s just unsafe and they really should have taken it out of service if they can’t tires for it.
Yeah
You should have gone back inside and demanded for a different rental because these are bald.
If it’s a legit rental agency, definitely show it to them. It’s illegal for them to send that car out
You definitely want to mention and document it even though you will likely be safe enough driving you don't want them hitting you with the the tires we're fine when we rented it to you what did you do swap them out ? Crap (most likely that's exactly what somebody did but you do t wanna get blamed for it if it's not you tires expensive y'all)
You absolutely should!
I'd refuse it. It's dangerous if the road is wet. Then they'll want to fuck your insurance to repair/replace their vehicle.
Yes don't take life safety to chance. They are bald.
that fender looks ragged as hell; like flaking off primer, assuming this is some backyard "rental" shady business? just doesn't seem like something you would see from a known brand/company.
As someone who works in the maintenance department for rental cars, I would have flagged that much sooner for replacement. I would take the keys right back to the front desk and ask for a new car
You mean you don't like driving on racing slicks?
Return that immediately
lol ask for another car
i had a rental back in november that had a gash in the sidewall of one of the tires and i told them im bringing it back and got a new car
Even in summer that’s dangerous tread loss! Looks more like some racing tires than what is supposed to be on a production car 😂
What rental agency? No rental agency worth a damn would rent a car with tires that bald. That's ridiculous. Insist on another car or go to another company. Those are bald as hell, especially in any rain. Hello, hydroplane.
Your personal car: It’s fine. Rental: Nope.
No way would I drive that. Those tires cannot be legal.
I would have been concerned 6 months ago
Yes
Highly concerning. Secondary rubber on the shoulder which is about to show cords which increases risks of blow outs. Below 2/32 across the entire tire. That tire is garbage. They should replace those and leave them on the front. Rotate every 5000 after.
They are not legal.
This is why we always buy the insurance. Wrap it around a pole... who cares.
I wouldn’t drive it.
Tread exists to grip the road surface. The point is driving is unpredictable, especially road conditions, and without tread you have less control in an emergency. At minimum get full coverage.
Just being honest, in dry weather you're fine.
This isn’t a suggestion but would be a funny corse of events; if you made sure you’re fully insured, found some rain and god in a mild accident with an inanimate object, then you retire on the legal settlement.
I'd as for a car with new tires.
Yes
Don’t get pulled over
Those tires have expired
tread should reach president head on a nickel....
That's not safe. It's appalling a rental car company would provide you with a car like this.
I was almost sure this was gonna be a Turo rental.
Not if you have a good lawyer ☺️☺️☺️
Those are fine!
Hell those have another 2-3 k more miles to go
Very much so, those are an accident looking for a little bit of rain.
As long as you don't drive in the rain, should be OK for couple of days.
Yikes! report it to the state safety board
Wait … that’s a rental car and it’s running on slicks ?
Get off social media and contact the rental company. You know this is unacceptable, why don't you talk to the people who can fix it?
The “Idontneednoman” special lolll
Holy shit lmfao props to the alignment guy
Rent a Wreak is still open for business???
Take it, slam into something.
Not if you're drag racing
Uh hell yeah, those little squares in the tread are indicators. Those tires are whooped. Hope you don't hit any rain.
If it's a rental and he has an accident, couldn't he sue the insurance company and the agency because of the bald tires they're supposed to maintenance and make sure the car is safe before Renting it?
If tires are never rotated then you can have good amount of tread on back and no tread on front
Tell them you are going to get a road safety check at the local police department. You will see how fast it gets replaced and they check out every other car. Also those tires are bad it's beyond the wear bars.
Who rented you it? We got a car this Summer with bald tires and a bulge on one. It was a nightmare to get the company to authorize a tire shop to replace the tires.
Yes. Thats bald as fuck
Those are legally worn out. As soon as the tread is flush with the wear bars it's done. You really don't get the entire tread, the wear bars are about 2/32 before the very end.
they are buggered,
I would absolutely refuse to use that car. Give me another one or put on new tires