My wife's FL TDI estate has worn through its first set of tyres after only 23k miles. We have had the car from 14k miles when the dealer swapped front and rear tyres. Had he kept them the way they were the fronts wouldn't have lasted past 15k miles.

I have to purchase 4 new tyres now, but is this common? My Mk1 TDI gets about 25k out of fronts and 40k+ from rear (not very easy driving)

Thanks

The mk2 has a rear wheel alignment issue. Many will exhibit uneven wear on the inside of th tyre. It's advisable to get an alignment check by a reputable 3rd party. Full alignment, not just tracking and not by the dealer as what is in tolerance is not good enough.

Get a 4 wheel alignment check done on a hunter rig.

What sort of driving does she do? Lots of town driving really hammers tyres.

Had one of my fronts not been destroyed by a pot hole last week, i was anticipating them going to about 25-30k (225 40 18 dunlops on a vrs cr) based on the wear rate they had shown.

Our mini will be lucky to see 12k at it's current rate (town only driving)

What sort of driving does she do? Lots of town driving really hammers tyres.

Had one of my fronts not been destroyed by a pot hole last week, i was anticipating them going to about 25-30k (225 40 18 dunlops on a vrs cr) based on the wear rate they had shown.

Our mini will be lucky to see 12k at it's current rate (town only driving)

Most of the driving was done before we bought the car (14k miles). My wife does short journeys mostly, but not to see 20k out of a set of tyres is shocking in my experience.

I don't know if there is any uneven wear. i will get a closer look in the day light, but from a quick look before it looked the same wear across the tyres.

It is running Dunlop Sport i think. Would these be a soft, quick wearing tyre?

Mine were Dunlop Sports. I think they are softer than some (being a 'sporty' tyre) but not overly soft. I was quite pleased with the wear rate on mine.

Yes, town driving does hammer tyres. I'm lucky if I get 10-11k out of mine. (2.0 tdi). It's mostly to do with the 'cheese grater' surfaces of my local roads. I'd describe my driving style as smooth and frugal too. I was on goodyears but now on Nexens with a higher wear rate number. I'll see how these fare. Local taxi driver sees about 8-9k if he's lucky.