I think it depends a lot on your driving habits and especially on the condition of the roads you travel.
Around here the roads are very rough with a lot of broken pavement from frost damage and logging trucks. Our tires and the tires on our friends cars always seem to wear out well before what they are rated for.
The truth is the majority of people never cash in on the pro-rated mileage warranty on tires. They just say they were no good and buy a different tire the next time.
I would have recommended these:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....96&autoModel=L Hancook H727
We put them on our daughter's '97 Outback and they were excellent. When we sold the car after 3 years with the snows on it, they still had tons of tread left. We sold them to a friend of hers who drives a '97 Legacy GT.