1 new tire today - should I be concerned?

[chief88]

Wife went in today to get the tires rotated. Discount obliged and wanted to replace the valve stems as they were showing cracking. All sounds OK up to this point. The tires are less than a year old. Anyway rotation performed and on the way home she gets a flat. She calls the shop and they say come back in - so she puts on the spare and takes car back. Discount says old tire has runflat damage and gives her a new tire.

I get the status report as she is driving home again and am alarmed that one new tire is now on the car. So, I called back the shop and walked him throught the all wheel drive and best to have same size tires on lesson. Over the phone he is claiming that old tires have 8/32's of tread remaining - and the new tire is 10/32's and that this is within manufacturer tolerance....

What do you guys think - is this probably OK?

[Blessyouboys]

What year car is this? It isn't an issue on the '03 and new XC70's, it might be an issue on a pre-haldex car.

[chief88]

Oops sorry - it's a 2002

[JRL]

Physically MEASURE the tread, if more than 3/32" you should consider biting the bullet and getting 3 more new tires.
I would put the new tire on the FRONT for now. Normally I recommend the rear but not on these cars as you want the rears to be EXACTLY the same, side to side more so than the fronts if you must...

[chief88]

thanks JRL -

good point to confirm the tire-shops measurement. Also thanks for the advice on where to put the new tire - as luck would have it it's on the front right now.