Scion iA: Odd Tire Size?

March 28, 2016 3:07 PM

Is the Scion iA's tire size non-standard?

I had insomnia last night, and since I am buying a car, I spent the time poking around the internet to find information about the cars I'm considering. I can't remember where, but somewhere someone said that the Scion iA's tires are non-standard, and you have to buy tires from the dealership.

Right now, I'm mostly deciding between a new Honda Civic EX and the Scion iA. I have enough money for either, but what with the Scion nameplate being discontinued, they're priced quite low ($15,266 with 0% financing). I like the Civic more, but considering they're $4k more without a promotional finance rate, I'm having trouble thinking it's worth the price bump.

But this tire thing gives me pause. I know Toyota will continue to support the car, but if it's a non-standard tire, I'm just imagining the pains I'll have down the road. Tire puncture outside of Barstow? I had that two years ago, and it was annoying. But having to get tires from a dealer? That would mean a ruined vacation.

I can't find anything online now. When I go to the America's Tire website, they say I have to take the car to a store. At Just Tires' website, it doesn't even properly bring up the car. Does anyone have any idea if this concern is valid, or if I'm just worried for no reason?

posted by Pacrand to Travel & Transportation (12 answers total)

The iA is a new for '16 model, yes? The retailers probably just haven't gotten it in their databases yet.
posted by hwyengr at 3:15 PM on March 28, 2016

Best answer: Yes, they appear to be an odd size (Tirerack only sells one kind). So yes, this is unlikely to be something that tire stores can get on short notice.
posted by ssg at 3:16 PM on March 28, 2016

Best answer: Tire Rack to the rescue!

But it is odd that they only have one selection. In an emergency, only the diameter is super important. You can fudge the width and aspect ratio to be close enough with only minor consequences.
posted by hwyengr at 3:18 PM on March 28, 2016

The iA is a rebadged Mazda 2. Try looking it up that way?
posted by JoeZydeco at 3:20 PM on March 28, 2016

somewhere someone said that the Scion iA's tires are non-standard, and you have to buy tires from the dealership.

As written, this is almost certainly not true. Dealers get tyres from tyre manufacturers (not car manufacturers) so if there is any supply issue it will be purely because they are not a common size, but there's no way it will be 'dealer only' for a tyre. There are no 'non-standard' sizes being used, but maybe just a slightly more unusual size.

So, in some respects you are worried over nothing. Unless you foresee needing a tyre on very short notice (which is unlikely in most people's usage) then it's not an issue. Their availability will increase as the cars become more common, and the worst case is likely a day or so delay while a tyre shop gets them from a central warehouse.
posted by Brockles at 3:21 PM on March 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

But this size is very close to 205/55R16 (0.8% bigger) and 195/55R16 (1.2% smaller), so you could easily replace with one of those sizes once you wear out your first set.
posted by ssg at 3:21 PM on March 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Mazda2 owner here. We purchased a full-spare to counter the non-standard tire problem. I just wish we'd learned about this situation before encountering a flat tire, over Christmas, 1500mi from home. (many calls later, we found a place that had one tire, because they'd misordered it).
posted by bindr at 4:03 PM on March 28, 2016 [2 favorites]

We have a Mazda 2, and when we had to replace the tires (major puncture on one, the rest needed replacing soon anyway) they were not a size that Discount Tire had in stock. Current tires are fudgily close in size but not exact.
posted by LionIndex at 5:58 PM on March 28, 2016

Response by poster: Thanks all. I know I'm not crazy. About this anyway.
posted by Pacrand at 9:07 PM on March 28, 2016

This is probably obvious... But why not buy a cheap set of rims that takes standard, run of the mill, cheapo tires when you need your first set? I've had cars in the family that were available with multiple wheel sizes as a dealer/trim options and some of the rims took CHEAP readily available tires, while some took exponentially more expensive/uncommon ones.

I'd definitely be considered some new rims to put cheap tires on if I was in this situation...
posted by emptythought at 9:16 PM on March 28, 2016

Just as a data point, we got a Scion iA for our daughter's first car. It had the weird tire size. They were the low profile ones on really good fancy rims. Nothing but nightmares. After multiple flat tires on different wheels– several in precarious situations – we scrapped them all, bought four new standard rims and tires and moved on. Dealer supported it, but they even admitted they had trouble dealing with them. She's since sold the car and bought a used Prius.
posted by lpsguy at 7:03 AM on March 29, 2016

Yeah, if it's anything like the Scion xD, I had to go waaaaay out of my way to find the tire size I needed. After calling EVERYTHING in my area, I ended up getting in touch with a local Pep Boys and they were able to pick up a new set from one of their satellite locations and truck them in, but if I had known these tires were going to be such a hassle, I might have gone with a different car. Or maybe not. Because I love my Scion. :)
posted by helloimjennsco at 12:31 PM on March 29, 2016