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Front tires are wearing faster than the rear tires. Do I need to replace the struts or are Kumho Solus KR21's junk?

So I took my 2005 front wheel drive Chevy Malibu for an oil change. I get the call back that the car is done and the front tires have an unusual amount of wear on them. I purchased four new Kumho Solus KR21 85,000 mile tires from this shop 9 months / 13,771 miles earlier. The shop says my struts need replaced. Because of the unusual wear they said the manufacturer will replace all four tires for $20 a piece, totaling $80. Struts and alignment are going to be around $520. This all just seems fishy. I know front tires wear faster than the rear tires on a front wheel drive vehicle. But with the amount of tread left on this tire I don't think the rears or the fronts are going to make it to anything close to 85,000 miles. I think these tires are more defective than my struts, but I'll let you pros determine that. I bought the car used at 53,000 miles, and I am not sure if the struts were replaced before I purchased it. I have not replaced the struts yet either. What should I do? Tell these guys they are crazy and the tires the recommended for me are junk? All answers are greatly appreciated, this could be an unnecessary, costly mechanic trip.

So I started Googleing reviews on these tires and I found some pretty nasty reviews, many about short tread life. Here is a page from consumer reports.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/tires-auto-parts/tires/all-season-tire-ratings/models/overview/kumho-solus-kr21-99026491.htm

Here's the facts.
All four tires purchased new at 80,229 miles.
I'm at 94,000 miles for a total of 13,771 miles driven on them.
Right Front Tire Tread Left: 3mm
Left Front Tire Tread Left: 3mm
Right Rear Tire Tread Left: 6mm
Left Rear Tire Tread Left: 5.5mm

Photos of the KR21's against a penny.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7Gu80BRY43I/Tk18r8kI_JI/AAAAAAAAAtc/TqqQUKW1dVw/s800/kumho-kr21-front-left-tire-13771-miles-driven%252520%25255B640x480%25255D.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-GsdB5ZeeElI/Tk18swDEisI/AAAAAAAAAtk/li_ZRIDE93w/s800/kumho-kr21-front-right-tire-13771-miles-driven%252520%25255B640x480%25255D.JPG

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4aQ7L8neA5I/Tk18rxaGR2I/AAAAAAAAAtY/DzIuyALNlSs/s800/kumho-kr21-rear-left-tire-13771-miles-driven%252520%25255B640x480%25255D.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-OogjrxBfraA/Tk18s0S3k6I/AAAAAAAAAtg/ZswmJzg-_4I/s800/kumho-kr21-rear-right-tire-13771-miles-driven%252520%25255B640x480%25255D.JPG  

there is a forum member who will give you a great answer in a few days.. he drops in once in a while..

i have seen other kumho tires. where the tread material is made of a rubber that is VERY soft and sponge like..  almost like they blended it at high speed and incorporated a lot of microscopic air bubbles..  think of a dish sponge..   looks good.. won't last..  when i dug my fingernail into the rubber i passed..   got a different brand.. a brand i was used to getting.. i just noticed i am about 10 K miles.. and the fronts are also worn down.. but i have a twin I beam ford van that i push around hard..  hanging corners in a 7,000 pound van is hard on the front tires.   time for another finger nail test before i buy the next set.. the rears still look new..  

First, if you google any particular tire, you will find lots of bad reviews - even on tires with overall excellent reviews.  It's just the nature of people to complain when they have problems - and lots of tire complaints are really the vehicle or something else.

For example, it is well known that southern Florida uses young limestone for its road surfaces - you can still see the seashells!  They cleave with sharp edges - and that just cuts bits of rubber of the tires.  But there are other places that also experience rapid tire wear due to the road surfaces.

Further, most tire wear occurs in the cornering mode.  Put another way, straight ahead driving is practically free.  So if you live and drive in the city, you won't get as good tire wear compared to if you live and drive in the country.  I think it ought to be obvious that "spirited" driving is also detrimental to tire wear.

Vehicle aligbnment is also something that can adversely affect tire wear.  Unortunately your photos don't show anything about the wear pattern.  If they are not worn evenly, you have an alignment problem.

As you point out, the front tires on a front wheel drive wear more rapidly than the rears.  My experience says its about 2½ times faster.  I did some calculations based on the tread measurements and your tires fit that pattern.  I think this means that you probably do not have an alignment problem - but iof you do, its affecting the front and the rears equally.

What this means is that tire wear is highly variable.  I've seen the same tire deliver less than 20K miles and an identical set get over 100K, and the only differences were as noted above.

OK, that's the background on tire wear and how variable it can be.  Let's talk about treadwear warranties and how they work.

In order to qualify for consideration for treadwear warranty, 1) the tires have to be worn evenly across the tread face (that means the alignment was good), 2) the tires have to equally worn (the tires were rotated regularly), and 3)  the tires have to be "worn out" (meaning 2/32nds remaining - 1.6 mm!)

You have a problem.  Tires are supposed to be rotated every 5K to 8K miles in order to keep the warranty active.  You are now at the point where you need to replace the front tires.  If you rotate the tires now and try to get another 15K miles out of the set, so that the tires are worn more or less equally, the rears tires are so worn now, the the vehicle is not really safe, and any tire dealer worth his salt would not rotate the tires because of the safety issue.

In your post, you seem to allude to some uneven wear - and if that is the case, this is just further complication.

Your best bet is to return to the tire dealer and talk to them about it.  Recognize upfront the rotation issue and be prepared to have that brought up.  My guess is that they will not give you any warranty consideration.

Your next step should be to call Kumho's 800 number.  Again, be sure to explain the whole situation - but emphasize that inspite of the rotation issue, the tires just aren't wearing up to the warranty claim.  You might even ask the tire dealer to call while you are there!

What might happen - if Jupiter aligns with Mars - is that they (either the tire dealer or Kumho corporate) will give you a break on the cost of 2 tires - which you should put on the rear.
 
I know that Kumho won't agree to this, but perhaps the tire dealer will agree to put the price break into a different brand.  This is where your negotiating skills will really come into play - and if you don't have any, this will be a good learning experience.  

Hankook Tire is focused on research and development with the use of a compound of silica advanced tread pattern offers improved performance all-season, more wear and less rolling resistance for better fuel economy. Thanks to the best of modern technology for the design and manufacture, Hankook continues to manufacture tires with traction and handling that is unparalleled.  

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