tex..for what it's worth, here's my bubble story.

Last week noticed a bulge on the right front tire sidewall, right above the rim. Rim was umarked in any way.

Called the DC dealer. They said that they do not cover the tires, that Michelin warranties them and that I'd have to go to one of their dealers. Up to this point my DC dealer had bent over backwards on every issue I'd had with the car, I asked if they could help this process at all.

My DC dealer said to go to Michelin first, and if I had any problems to let my DC dealer know.

Went to an NTB I've been doing business with for 5 years. In that time had bought complete sets of tires for my Nissan Pickup twice, Pathfinder once, my wife's Stratus once, and a total of 4 other tires replaced due to nails in sidewalls over that time.

The NTB Manager took one look at the tire and said "Road Hazard, not covered. We can order the tire, but you have to pay for it." Knowing the car had never hit anything bigger than a tar strip, he and I got into a brief, going nowhere "it's road hazard" "no it's not" exchange.

Finally, he said they'd take the tire off the wheel to examine the inside. He said if it's bruised on the inside, it's road hazard, and he said 99% of the time it's a bruise. I said, again knowing the tire had hit nothing, that regardless of what's inside, there had been no impact to that tire.

He said he'd take it in and break it down. I asked if, once the tire is off the rim, would he put the tire back on. He said no, they would not re-install the damaged tire. That's when I asked him if he wanted my car on the lift for the days it would take to get a tire, 'cause there's no spare.

We agreed he'd order the tire, and once in we'd do the exam so the new tire could get mounted regardless of warranty outcome.

He looked in his computer, and could not find the tire listed at all. While I stood there, he called Michelin and was told by Michelin they had none of those tires in stock at all. The dealer had no suggestion on how to get the tire.

I then drove directly to my DC dealer, and the service manager directed me to a Merchant's Tire store nearby that they refer folks to. THAT Michelin dealer WOULD NOT EVEN COME OUT FROM BEHIND THE COUNTER TO LOOK AT THE TIRE. He just said if there's sidewall damage, it's road hazard, and that's that. He also could not find the tire in the computer, and also called Michelin and was told they were out of the tire.

Went home and called Michelin, using the 800 number in the Michelin brochure we get with the car. They also told me that they had none of the tires in stock.

Per my other email, I called Tire Rack and got them to ship, for $208 plus shipping, one of their last three PS2's in that size.

Per AZ's post in another thread, I called Michelin again this morning, and spoke to a Senior Manager in the Warranty area. He said they'd see what they could do to help, but the tire does need to be inspected before they could determine what could be done. The interesting thing is that he said Michelin has an ample supply of the tires set aside for Chrysler owners, and that the two dealers and the Michelin rep I spoke with Saturday were all mistaken about the availability of the tire.

The upshot is that I'll have the tire later this week, will try to get it mounted over the weekend, and at that point I'm at Michelin's mercy regarding to what extent they will reimburse me.

DC is out of the picture.

Long winded, don't know if it's helpful. My problem is that I KNOW I haven't hit anything with that tire, but if it IS bruised as they say, it means these tires don't take much of a beating, which concerns me from a safety perspective.

I like the adhesion of these tires, but I'm pretty sure when these wear out, something else will go on my car.

I wonder if Metzler makes tires in these sizes...