Hello,

I've recently purchased a new set of tires, however, Costco will not install them on my Z. I'll explain.

The manufacturers specs for the OEM tires I have are
245/40/18 93W; and
265/35/19 94W (Grand Touring rims).

The tires I purchased were: PILOT SPORT A/S 3+ (W- OR Y-SPEED RATED)

245/40/18 97Y;
275/35/19 96Y.

As you can see, the rear tire load rating is lower than the front. Costco is stating that you cannot install tires on the rear axle with a lower load rating than the front (rear 96 vs front 97). Have you ever heard of this issue? I was of the understanding that as long as you exceed the manufacturers load rating, everything is good.

I spoke to Michelin this morning, and the customer service advisor stated that my thoughts were correct, however, below is what I just received from Michelin (not even addressing the issue):

"Thank you for contacting Michelin Consumer Care. Based on your conversation with one of our representatives, we confirm that the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ 245/40ZR18/XL ASY 97Y for the front (part number 02550) and 265/35ZR19/XL ASY 98Y BSW for the Rear (Part number 86759) are replacement options recommended for your vehicle by Michelin.

We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing Michelin."

Look forward to your input.

Thanks!

 

get tires, take elsewhere to have mounted

/thread

 

What travlee said. And I think Michelin did answer your question. They only recommend the 245 and 265 tires for your car.

 

Find yourself a good independent tire shop to do work like this, and alignments for you in the future, and avoid the big chains with poorly-trained, poorly-paid, revolving-door employees. Might take a while to find one, but a small shop will do better work, treat you better, and remember you when you come back.

 

This. /end thread

 

I wonder if it's store policy or stupid employee

 

In my experience, it could be either, one, or both. Tire stores might adopt very “safe” policies that interfere with innovative installations/setups. Simply put: The store wants to limit their liability. I certainly understand that.

 

This thread is more about Costco than load ratings. Costco is a large retail organization and its tire operation is only a small portion. They strictly limit their liability by practically following every OEM spec on a particular vehicle's tire. This is much different than a small, privately-owned tire store that specializes in rubber.