I recently bought a used 2015 Camry XSE from a Toyota dealer located in Tysons, VA. The car has 37,000 miles and is in very, very good condition. The color is Pre Dawn Gray Mica and has some parking lot dings, but that is to be expected on a 7 year old car. Heated seats but no sunroof. Now to the point of my post or thread: This car has 18-inch wheels with brand new GeoTour tires, 225/45-18s. These were installed by the dealer (emphasized by the salesman when I was looking it over.) I think I am noticing a slight wump-wump from the driver's side rear tire. Obviously, I will drive it a little more to see if can drive out any potential flat spots in the tires and take it back to check the balance of all wheels and tires, but beyond that, what should I be expecting from these low-profile tires? I am guessing a rougher ride and shorter mileage life span. Anything else? Will a a 17 inch Toyota rim with a taller tire fit the XSE? Not sure what the "sport tuned suspension" on the XSE does to wheel fitment and tire choices. Just at the curious stage right now. I actually like the 17-inch rim that fits the SE model, but I am not at a point where I just want to switch everything out. Thanks in advance for any insights.

Jim
2015 Toyota Camry XSE - 37,000 miles
2001 Toyota Tundra SR5 - 212,000 miles

 

Welcome to CF.

The tires are stated to be a good value entry level tire. Car dealers do install them.

Check the tires for bulges and ply shifting. Swap the fronts for the back.

All Camry are built with the same chassis, Toyota then adds the options. Rims up to 19 inches can be used with low profile tires. The internet has sites with where one can input the car specs then mix and match tire and rim size to determine chassis clearance.

Sites like Tirerack.com display what tires will fit based on car model and rim size.

The XSE is the V6 version of the SE which is the Camry sport model. Sport tuned has stiffer struts, larger sway bar and 18 inch rims.

 

- Thank you, ToyoMoHo. I made an appt. with the dealer for tomorrow to have it checked. I went to a local tire shop to try rebalancing and rotating all 4 tires. They showed me on the balancing machine how one of the tires had a slight side to side wobble, but "balanced" just fine with wheel weights. They said all 4 tires were spot on with balancing. I will go to the Toyota dealer tomorrow armed with this information and see what pans out. I will post my results when I have new information. Thanks again.

 

Thank you, toyomoho.

After weeks of back and forth trips to the Toyota dealerships (more than one in the area), and tire stores (it has been quite an odyssey for me), there is finally agreement regarding what is causing the "wump wump wump" noise coming from the rear of the car. It is a bad right rear wheel bearing or hub. It took the regular, independent repair shop that I use for all of my other repair and maintenance work to diagnose it. Toyota dealer and tire wholesaler were pointing fingers at each other with regard to new tires that were installed. After a re-balance of the new tires using a Road Force tire balancing machine (not covered by the extended warranty), Toyota said it was at least one bad tire, possibly two, that took too much road force to level things out. These tires were causing the sound. Back to the tire store. Tire store rechecked all 4 tires, said tires are fine, within tolerances and specs for a passenger tire of this type. The sound is coming from something other than the tires. It should be noted that there is a warranty from Toyota involved in the mix here. All mechanicals, bumper-to-bumper, that I purchased at the time I bought the car a month ago. Another note - The selling Toyota dealer service department advisor said I just needed to get used to some noises with this car due to the low profile performance tires. This was visit #1. I finally went to my independent mechanic for a third opinion (not always a good idea) and he test drove the car with me in it, heard the noise, put the car up on the lift and ultimately found a bad, right rear wheel bearing. He allowed me to watch the troubleshooting process and allowed a hands on to see and feel the bad right rear vibration. He also informed me that in general, a bad tire will have a slight vibration that you can feel while driving, not just a rhythmic sound, which is the case here. Since the car is covered by the Toyota extended warranty, I took it back to Toyota with a copy of his findings. Toyota looked at the car once again with another technician and concurs with my independent mechanic's findings. New bearing or hub to be installed under warranty this Tuesday. Only six (so far) visits to the different shops outlined above to come up with this determination. All requiring scheduled appointments so multiple trips back and forth to get yet another opinion. Just a little bit of frustration on this end. I really like the car, but I had forgotten the dealership mentality of having you just keep bringing the car back until they get it right (each visit entailing at least one hour of labor cost.) They will either eventually fix it right, or you will eventually throw your hands up and stop coming back. This is what happened with me regarding the selling dealership. I have the extended warranty and will continue to exercise it as needed. I just hope that any future issues can be remedied with less headache, heartache, and miles on my car as I (they) try to chase down future issues.