Tires for '99 Impreza OBS we're selling - fix the shimmy?

[regaignon]

We have a '99 Impreza OBS and replaced the tires at about 40k miles (lots of flats living in the city). We replaced them with Goodyear Aquatreds, and after about 15k miles started to notice some serious shimmying at 50-70 mph -- mainly noticeable in the steering wheel. We took it in to the dealer (Middlesex, in Somerset, NJ), and they said that these tires commonly wear unevenly, causing this shimmying and that it was nothing to worry about if we could live with it.

 

Now we're trying to sell it (asking $6500, has 87k miles on it, and we're in Edison, NJ, if anyone's interested) and several buyers have been concerned by the shimmy. It's been enough of a pain that we're thinking of replacing the tires to sell the thing, but we want to be sure we fix the problem before plunking down several $100s to fix it.

 

... so: Has anyone else had this problem? Did new tires fix it? Which new tires would be sure to deal with it?

 

Thanks, all.

 

Best,

Greg

[stevetone]

We have a '99 Impreza OBS and replaced the tires at about 40k miles (lots of flats living in the city). We replaced them with Goodyear Aquatreds, and after about 15k miles started to notice some serious shimmying at 50-70 mph -- mainly noticeable in the steering wheel. We took it in to the dealer (Middlesex, in Somerset, NJ), and they said that these tires commonly wear unevenly, causing this shimmying and that it was nothing to worry about if we could live with it.

 

Now we're trying to sell it (asking $6500, has 87k miles on it, and we're in Edison, NJ, if anyone's interested) and several buyers have been concerned by the shimmy. It's been enough of a pain that we're thinking of replacing the tires to sell the thing, but we want to be sure we fix the problem before plunking down several $100s to fix it.

 

... so: Has anyone else had this problem? Did new tires fix it? Which new tires would be sure to deal with it?

 

Thanks, all.

 

Best,

Greg

Couldn't you rotate the tires and see if the shimmy changes or is eliminated?

[BigMattyD]

I just had the same problem fixed with a new set of tires. The steering wheel had a pretty noticeable vibration above 60 mph. I was almost positive I had some worn steering component, but when I got new tires, The problem was solved.

 

 

Matt

[ferret]

Replace the tires. We had the Aquatreads on a 96 Caravan we had. After about 6 months and 12K miles, they became very loud and I had them 'spin balanced'. Didn't help. We sold the van last year, depite what others experienced, we got good service from that 96 caravan 157K when sold, no major repairs.

 

Just before we sold it, I went to a local tire store with a $200 special tires which would fit. Done Deal. Became a selling point....New tires, one less thing for the next owner to worry about. Granted they were cheap, but most new factory tires are also.

Love the Jersey Shore....!!!

[avk]

I do go to Somerset a.k.a Middlesex Foreign Cars for tire rotation and balancing, and their work has been good. A few months ago I replaced our other, "big" car with a van that had shimmy starting at about 75 mph. It also has Goodyear tires but a cheap brand. I took it to Bill's Ineffable Automotive Rehabilitation in Metuchen. Their did R&B which included flipping two tires on the rims (I suggested doing it on one that showed some edge wear) and also adjsuted toe-in. The shimmy is gone.