Poethius

The owner's manual says tires should always be rotated front-back without switching sides. Why? Not all tires have directional treads. I have the 15" Eagle LS all-seasons; does it matter in this case?

Actually, it's more complicated in my case. I had a flat at 22000 miles and had to replace the rear left tire. Manual says I should always replace 2 at a time, but the dealer said it would be OK since it was on the rear. But subsequently they said I shouldn't rotate them at all, because I shouldn't have a mismatch in tread wear on the front tires. So I didn't. Yesterday I had the 45000-mile service, and they rotated the tires without asking me. When I complained, they put them back (and didn't charge me the $35 they were going to). But they didn't get them back where they were! The (newer) left-rear is now on the front right! So they have been crisscrossed. Should I care? Has the newer tire worn enough in 25000 miles that I can rotate it to the front, along with the other rear tire? But should it go back on the left side?

RangeR BoB

<p>99.5 1.8Tqms Laser Red
97 Jetta ]I[ 2.0 GL Gold
88 ZX-10 Red/Black

Poethius

Not important . . . but is it actually bad?