But wouldn't a flat spot due to braking be straight across and not in a diagonal pattern? Now granted, I'm not disagreeing with you as it was a female college student in a ford focus with multiple other problems, but I can't recall if this was a ABS car or not. And a toe out condition where the tires are never rotated can cause a diagonal swipe across the tires. This is due to extreme neglect of rotation as well as an out of aligned vehicle. And this tire was on the left rear. I will take a picture of the other tire (the right rear) and you can see that it is not worn like the left rear. I included the tire size straight off the sidewall so you don't think that I just took a picture of another worn out tire. I know they are two different tread patterns and brands but these are the exact tires that were on the car. Now are there other issues that could have helped this??? yes, I'm not saying there aren't. Oh and thanks for the reply I like to discuss these things so that other people are aware of what's going on with their car and don't get screwed over by dishonest shops.