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Yeah I have a 2005 AWD limited and I am lucky to get 16mpg HWY. I get about 14 around town with 91 octane fuel. I really wish I would have bought a Chevy suburban. They get almost 20mpg HWY and have a whole lot more power. All I can tell you is carry a spare tire on long trips because if you get a flat on the HWY your screwed! To hell with toyota. I will never buy another one!  

I appreciate reading these comments. We bought a Sienna XLE AWD last May'05 and I was dreading the day I would have to deal with replacing the Dunlop run flats.  We made it cross country towing a tent trailer without problems. But at 19k miles the tires were really getting smooth on the edges.  I was hoping that my dealer the "Second happiest place on earth" would have things figured out.  The rep went over the 20k repair with changing the oil, replacing a belt and mentioning the front brakes were at 30%.  Nothing was mentioned about the tires...I asked what about the tires? Oh, they need to be replaced.  I spent the next half hour talking to the service manager that said he hadn't heard of any issues..they didn't cover tires and call Dunlop.  Dunlop said I needed to go to a certified dealer and gave me a reference number.  A day later, they authorized 50% credit because the tires should last 40k mi.  So, this new set of tires cost me $740..and there is no difference with the original tires...
Bottomline is that these tires wear out 3 times faster and cost 3 times more than regular tires...and good luck if you loose a tire outside of a major metropolitan area..next time around, they're getting replaced with a regular (quality) tire.  

Just heard from my local dealer and was told they want to replace the tire that got shredded on the interstate last year but they won't give me a spare wheel. I guess they are only going to put a bandage on the problem instead of doing the responsible thing and FIXING the problem. They offered to sell me a wheel. LOL. I told them it will be a cold day in hell before I pay toyota for a spare wheel that I should have received with my new $40,000 minivan in the first place. In all fairness to Bend Toyota's service manager, I felt he did everything in his power to help me out. It's Toyota that I have a major beef with.  

I forgot that Toyata Sienna have speed sensors that work with your ABS. Not valve sensors. Which is called an indirect system. It still should not srcew with anything though.

Moto2000  

Kindda offtopic but this thread was the most related!

anyonna yall seen Taxi

QL mentioned something about wheels that can still one for about 2 miles after being puncture! apparently better than runflats. are they for real, what cars have em now and what was they called again? totally forgot.  

I have not joined in here in months but I was one of the first to respond to Iron mike.
Here is my update. After two very unsafe, inconvenient, expensive and stranding
me in the middle of the night hundreds of miles away from home flat tires with
my Run Flats with less than 15,000 miles - I took off ALL
of my Run Flat Tires on my 2004 Toy Sienna AWD Limited and put on regular
tires. I upped my towing coverage with AAA and drive without a spare.

I drive in snow, construction zones, long distances, high speed,rough roads,
without daily checking my tire air pressure, heavy loads, etc.
since I made this decision 26,000 miles ago.My regular $110 each tires
have not let me down. I have even had ONE flat. No warning
light went off but I noticed it low on air, went to the regular convenient
tire place where they pulled out
the nail, repaired the tire for a small fee and I am riding on all 4 of my
regular tires still and they have plenty of tread left and are wearing
evenly.

I have copied my story to as many places as I could, continue to contact
Toyota - who are of no help - and work with San Francisco Channel 7 News
7 on your side and Randall Yip. I was able to save three of my Run Flat Tires
as "evidence" and will patiently wait until Toyota is willing to do something or
a class action suite succeeds.  

moto2000

i see how you love these tires..but from the sound of it they are junk they are too new and agree with the posters that it will throw off your allignment and wear on your tire if you continue to drive with them while going flat.  I also think the sensors are flawed if they have a varience of 10 to 15 ponds of air for detecting a flat...and remember you have to maintain the tires..well how can you maintain them and drive 50 miles or so everytime you get a flat..we are told to drive them to the nearest tire repair shop..but during that time you are low on air and the alignment weight distrution are out of whack.. and luckily for you you can prob get them right away as for us we will have to hunt them down and wait for several days...lets face it these tire are to new to be sold to the public for now and should still be in testing phase to make them better...also the detection method of a flat should be better than what some of these posters claimed..10-15 pounds thats just too much...

i personlly thinks these tire monitor stuff or whatever are junk..and bet they won't be around for long...

i have just bought the sienna xle 2005 and had it for 3 months but luckily no prob yet as i only have 3000 miles on it..but if i have known what i know now i would have bought an odysey  

I think Toyota might finally be listening!

I am new to this, I just came from my toyata dealership and thought i would take a quick look online to see if others where having problems with their runflats.  Three months ago the dealership told us that the tires were wearing bald and should be replaced, and they were not under warrenty.  Well we didn't want to spend $1200 for new tires just 14 months after buying a $40,000 Sienna 2004!  So I decided to just keep driving until they got really bad, now the bands are showing and so I took it in.  Here's the weird thing, they were really nice and helpful, and said that they would replace all the tires free of charge with new Bridgestone runflats, which are the same brand that the van came with.  And since they didn't have the tires in stock, they gave me a Sienna rental for the week, free of charge.  So after seeing everything written here, maybe they are finally listening, or maybe I just have a really nice dealership!  But after reading all the things on this board, I'm not sure i want the runflats on again, unless they are going to replace them again for free in 20,000 miles!  Also, when i got in the rental sienna, i couldn't believe how well it drove, very smooth and easy compared to the one i've been driving, i think mine used to feel that way last year!

Anyway, hopefully they are listening and every one will get help now!  

I am sorry to say that I do not think toyota is listening.  I felt that one of my tires was running low at 20000miles, brought it to the dealership I purchased it from, at which time they told me it was fine and that I should only worry when the sensor light goes off for the tires (which it had not).  I put air in the tire myself as I checked the pressure and saw it was low.  A few weeks later there was an awful noise coming from the tire area of the minivan, and I brought it in again (again, the sensor light had not come on), at which time they told me I would have to replace all 4 tires because they were worn out and that I did, indeed have a flat.  They told me they wore unevenly because I did not rotate them and that I did not keep the proper pressure in them....when, in fact, I brought it to the dealership every time I even suspected a problem because the safety of my children depend on the minivan.  They finally agreed, after alot of arguing and threatening on my part, to change the tires(which were bridgestone) to the dunlop run flat, but that I would have to pay for the alignment.
I do not feel that I should have to pay for the alignment, as it was not my fault that the tires had to be changed.  So, unfortunately, I had to fight for safe tires on a minivan I bought a year ago, and no one at Toyota would listen to me or seemed to care that my children's lives were in danger because of their incompetencies.  Had They disclosed the cost and short life of the tires when I was considering purchasing it, which they should be required to do, then I NEVER would have purchased it.
If there is any lawsuit in Massachusetts, I would be happy to speak up and join in the fight.  

Hi everyone,

My name is Kerri Krivelow and I am a television news producer with NewsProNet, a national news syndication company. Our stories air on local TV stations across the country, including stations in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. They are special reports you would see on a 6:00 PM or 11:00 PM newscast.

I am currently producing a story on run flat tires, and in doing my research I came across this message board. I would love to talk to someone about their experience with run flat tires and possibly set up an on camera interview. We can shoot anywhere in the country and our client TV station in your area would travel to you! I am on deadline, can be reached by phone or e-mail, and look forward to hearing from you.

Best,
Kerri Krivelow
Producer, NewsProNet
(978) 902-4255
KKrivelow@newspronet.com
www.newspronet.com  

I have the same problem with my 06 330XI BMW. My dealer has just informed me that I have a cupping problem with my run flat tires at under 9000 miles. I have to replace tires already...this car is going to be very expensive. BMW told me that the can not do anything about it. I wonder if this might be a car problem as well? Why wouldn't they go after Bridgestone? Any ideas on fighting this?  

They were on a 1992 Buick Roadmaster I had a few years back.  They really worked as claimed.  Nails didn't phase them!  
I've tried getting them for other cars I've had but were told they are custom.
They weren't called run-flats, they had a catchy name, but darned if it doesn't escape me now.
Perhaps you could check with a Buick dealership or a tire dealership that's been around for awhile and dealt with high-quality.
If I remember the name, I'll click back here.
I keep thinking 'royal gold' but that doesn't quite sound right.  Or 'blue royals'.  
It was because of them that I was sold on the Sienna and her run-flats.
(=  

The first comment above was in answer to the 'off-topic'.  I thought it would attach itself.

Anyway, I'm writing to say that I received a recall notice in the mail a few days ago from Toyota, called my dealership, went in today, and they replaced all 4 of my Bridgestone run-flats with new Dunlops - for free!!!!!!  I just paid $15.99 for a rental so I wouldn't have to wait there.

I'm in Ohio.  I bought my '04 Sienna XLE AWD with 7 miles on it, back in June, 2003.  I have just under 32,000 miles on it, and the run-flats were showing wear, but didn't see the bands yet.

The dealership said that I was the second customer to call about the recall notice.  (officially it is called "2004 through 2006 Toyota Sienna All Wheel Drive Supplemental Tire Warranty Coverage/Run-Flat Customer Support Program".  They're offering it for 3 years or 36,000 miles, for uneven or premature tire wear for Dunlop sp sport 4000 Dsst P225/60R17 or Bridgestone B380 RFT P225/60R17 Run-flats.

This is for warranty work done only at a Toyota dealership.

They'll also issue a refund if you've already had the work done prior to the notice.  Just send a copy of the repair order showing reason, proof-of-payment, and proof of ownership to the main HQ - Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. - Toyota Customer Experience, WC 10 - 19001 South Western Avenue - Torrance, CA 90509.  There's also a phone #1-888-270-9371.

For the record, I had tried getting these replaced back in February but the dealership basically told me I was out of luck.  I was going to hold out until the Fall, so imagine my joy when I recieved this notice!!!

Hope this helps somebody else.

Take care all!

(=  

Okay, back to the name of the self-sealing tires.....they're called 'gold seal'.  Do a google on them and you'll find some posts, etc.
They would self-seal when punctured.
They were 70 wide and that's why they wouldn't work on other vehicles I had.  
(=  

What is a run-flat tire?