Can tires be rotated at different milage?

When I took my 03 CRV EX for maintenance at 10,000 miles, they did a
4-wheel rotation. I think they should have rotated all the 5 wheels so that
all the 4+1 wheels will be worn evenly and I can throw them away and buy a
new set of 5 wheels from a different spec/brand when it will be time to
change tires. Is it too late to rotate all the 5 wheel when I'll go in for
service at 15,000 or 20,000 miles?

TIA

 

Why rotate all 5 wheels? I mean when they eventually wear down, you
will have to replace 5 tires instead of just 4. A spare tire is
just something you will use in an emergency. Under normal driving
conditions, you may never have to replace your spare tire. That
will save you hundres of dollars over the life of your vehicle.

You should rotate your tires every 10k miles or so but it doesn't hurt
rotate them more often.

 

The idea is that a 5-tire rotation will cause the tires to last 5/4
as long (while costing 5/4 as much to replace a set, of course, so
the cost comes out to the be same over the very long term). The
advantage is that the spare tire will always be matched with the rest
of the tires, and there will be no questions about when the unused or
barely used spare tire is questionable due to age-related deterioration.

The disadvantage is that some tire and vehicle companies recommend only
front <-> rear rotation that keeps tires on the same side, some tires
are directional and must stay on the same side, and a few vehicles
recommend not rotating the tires at all or have different sizes on the
front and rear.

 

Rotate 5, but keep the best old one as a spare when you buy 4 new
ones.

If you pay for a rotation, though, they may charge you for rotating
the 5th tire. After a few times you've effectively bought that 5th
tire anyway, so there is no real savings. You may need to do this
yourself. And it is a lot of work.

If the spare is put on the ground at, say, 10K miles, it is likely to
be your spare after you buy the 4 new ones later -- it will have the
most tread. But above all, the one you keep as a spare should have no
patches or plugs or other damage, even if it has less tread.

As far as resale value, your used car looks a little more like a
creampuff if the spare and jack have never been used. Assuming that
the rest of the car's appearance bears this out too.

JM