How many XF owners have suffered sidewall bubbles or other faliures with the OEM Michelin Pilots? I'm thinking of contacting a lawyer to try to get my money back. I've had two go bad. No potholes, just normal use.

 

ive got a sidewall bubble on one of mine. i havent looked into warranty options yet. keep us posted.

 

I don't know of any Lawyers that will Pay You!

You might try your dealer.

 

I have two and they denied my claim because its a road hazard! I have the big one ( front ) replaced for $318 from Discount Tires. I'm keeping the small bubble ( rear ) for now as I'm thinking of changing my rims pretty soon and my car is not a daily driver anyway.

Michelin should make tires that can withstand potholes because every road in America always had one! If someone dies because of their inferior tires...they can't defend themselves saying it's the pothole that cause the blow out ...it is their inferior quality tires!

 

I got a sidewall bubble in my front right tire. I called Michellin on it & they sent me to a authorized dealer. I have an appointment next week for him to take the tire off & for the dealer to inspect it. I was told if it a defect they will replace the tire, if it is due to road hazzard they will pro-rate the tire for me. only thing is once the tire is off he will not put the damaged tire backon, he will only replace it. Since the car is a daily driver I gotta take care of it, sibce we got no spare. I will kepp you guys posted on how I make out. Hopefully I won't have to lay out the full amount.

 

I had a sidewall bubble on a front tire within 3 months of owning my Crossfire, <2500 miles at that time.

There is a thread on this board from two years ago, if it's still there, that discussed this topic pretty thoroughly.

I contacted my dealer, he told me I had to go to a Michelin dealer. This was my only disappointment in my dealer out of many very good experiences (have been told that good experiences are rare at DC dealers). Disappointment because folks in that old thread stressed that Chrysler dealers qualify as Michelin dealers.

Anyway, took it to a Michelin dealer from whom, over the last few years, I'd bought maybe 10 sets of tires for various family vehicles. He took one look w/tire on car, said 'road hazzard, no warranty' and stood firm despite my protests that I'd never hit anything.

Went to another dealer recommended by the car dealer, also said road hazard, saying I must've hit something. I told him I was the only one to drive the car since I bought it new, and I know that I never hit anything. He said 'Sorry, road hazard.' I continued to protest. He stood firm.

Went to a 3rd dealer. He also said road hazard, and that he'd prove it to me by taking the tire off the rim, and would show me inside the inevitable bruise or sidewall separation indicating hitting something. He did that. There was nothing there. He scratched his head, admitted that the tire was flawed, submitted the paperwork, I got a brand new tire under warranty.

You may have road hazard, in that case you're SOL. If you can get your dealer to take a look inside, you MAY have a tire with a genuine blemish and have a case.

Good luck.

 

Resolved my problem today. Went to a Michellin dealer, took my tire off to inspect, there was a tear in my sidewall due to road hazard, Bottom line... SOL! $360 later for a new tire & NYS inspection. **** sucked, but I knew I hit a pothole, firgured I take a shot anyway. This won't be the only time, it will happen again, roads are **** around here!

 

I would still consider it a workmanship / material flaw on Michelin who makes tires that can't withstand potholes! When Michelin sells our tires, with the price we're paying for it, it should be able to handle potholes but they use poor materials on it! There is no big difference then with their product compared to others that are $100 less in price!

Plus, why support the French?

 

hey guys I had this problem in january and got an adjustment on my tires. michelin knows there are some defective pilots out there. my answer is to nevery buy another michelin, and discourage my family and friends. this works, just like changing the channels on offensive programs. keep talking it up, spread the word. CONSUMER POWER.

 

I agree with the French thing!!! But the tires do handle nice!

 

I don't see why they can't handle pot holes....I think these Michelins are just for show! Pirelli may even perform better!

 

I just put Goodyear's on and am very please with traction, low noise and ride. Not tried the wet yet but as soon as it rains, I'll let everybody know.

 

I had a sidewall bubble within 6 months of having the car. Eventually it just burst while I was sitting at a light. I switched to Pirelli p zeros, no problems so far.

 

Goodyear's are quieter than the pilots and work very well in the rain.

 

Which Goodyear's did you put on? I may be needing tires in the near future.

 

I guess I am one of the lucky ones. I too had BOTH my front tires get "bubbles" along the rim. They were found when I switched from the Continental-Winter to the Michelin-Summer tires. I had the work done at NTB in my area. They happen to be a Authorized Michelin Center & called Michelin for me. Ten minutes later I was told that I was getting 2 NEW tires ... at no charge.

I gotta tell you, NTB has been amazing !!! In an earlier thread (by me), I talked about NTB's willingness to "match" tires prices on Tirerack.com for the Continental Tires, and I was able to get NTB's Road Hazard Warrantee.

Good luck to anyone that has a problem with their Michelins!

 

My first experience was extremely negative, dealer wouldn't do anything, Ok what did I expect from Alan Sammuels Dodge Chrysler? So I drove to Discount Tire in town and the salesman this trip apparently didn't want to fiddle with a roadhazard exchange so he printed me out the Michelin credit information and I called Michelin and they told me to take it to National Tire & Battery, there they said it was a roadhazard issue and gave me 40% towards a new PS2, The balance was a whopping $229.50 with NTB's supreme mounting & balancing charge...
Second scenario, I took the rear wheel & tire into Discount Tire for a sidewall bubble and the steel belted radial was showing thru. Mike helped me at Discount and said why don't I get Discount Tires extended roadhazard warranty? $ 120.00 later if a bubble showed up they would replace the front tire for $32.50, the cost of the extended roadhazard warranty for the new tire they were about to install, (that was a no brainer .....)
This past Sunday I noticed another bubble in the right front sidewall and it was the tire N TB replaced. Because I like Discount Tire and they treat me right I took my newest sidewall bubbled tire into them and Mike greeted me at the door and said could he help me ? I told him about my problem and Mike said no problem, he sold me Discount Tire's extended roadhazard warranty about two months earlier and said he thought he had a Michelin PS2 18" tire in stock so pull it into Bay 1 and we'll get started on it..... Discount Tire's extended roadhazard warranty paid off this trip. The cost of the roadhazard warranty for the front tires is $2.50 each and $38.50 each for the rear tires so it was worth spending a little extra and getting Discount Tire's roadhazard warranty. If your tire has a sufficient amount of tread left Michelin will allow 40% credit and you pay the difference....

 

Hello,

I just read this posts- now I know I was not the only one having problems with my tires.
I bought the car and took it out, just one day out on the street and I noticed it had a bubble, I took it to the dealer and they said to go to Michelin as when they examined the tired they said I didn't hit it with anything or that it didn't look like road hazard. Went to Michelin, they took it off and said it had some yellow color inside the tire, so that it looked I hit it with something, but how could it be painted from inside? I have no idea! Anyway I had to stay like that and keep driving. Mexico streets really suck and sometimes you can't avoid holes. So I had both front tires, each with two big bubbles, the ones on the back seem to resist road hazards a lot more. The bubble on one tire kept getting bigger everytime, it got huge I was afraid would explode. I went to a club and when getting out at 5 am, I was gonna take my car and yeah guess what flat tire! So I tried to use the tire repair thing but that didn't fix it, so I had to tow it. The tow guy said he had to leave the car with the dealer I said to leave it on my place, I asked the dealer and they said it'd take about a week! I did it by myself and it took me two days to get the tire (they ordered it and took one day to get here), so I had my tire bout about 350 USD with a "super discount". Anyway I think this tires suck as they get bubbles with even the smallest road hazard, they are made for German highways or something, guess they didn't realize we do not live in Germany. The funny thing is that I went to the dealer for other thing and I saw a white crossfire that had been there for two weeks, had the same flat tire and he had it the same day I did, but it seems the dealer still wouldn't get the tire for the owner!

 

Gentlemen,

Here is one solution.... Put your glasses on ole' timers!

Regional Offices of Discount Tire Co. www.discounttire.com &
Americas Tire Store www.americastire.com 888-774-6560

Over 530 locations in 18 States.

- Arizona - California - N. California - S. California - Colorado - Florida - Georgia - Illinois - Indiana - Ohio - Michigan East - Michigan West - Minnesota - Nevada - New Mexico - The Carolinas N. & S. - Texas - Utah - Washington - Oregon - 888-774-6560

Take you vehicle in and have the salesman look at your tires. If you have a bubble no problem, your going to have a investment, roughly $200.00 if you have sufficient tread left to have Michelin to honor
their 40% road hazard allowance policy. Michelin has a 800 number for this very reason. While you are at Discount or Americas Tire Store ask them about their road hazard program. I don't know if it is Company policy State Wide but in Texas here's what they offered me, $32.50 per front tire and
$38.50 per rear tire for LIFETIME ROAD HAZARD... Do the math! Sure beats laying out three dead presidents every time you walk into the tire store.

OK... For $142.00 I HAVE LIFETIME ROAD HAZARD ON ALL 4 TIRES - Plus I had to pay roughly
$200.00 for a new Michelin PS2 front tire so I my out of pocket expense was $342.00 but when I took my Crossfire in last week for that bubble in the sidewall of the front tire only cost me $32.50 for a new replacement?

So you say your Sick of those Michelin PS2 soft compound tires and want to go to Pirelli or Goodyear or Whatever? Make the Switch and while your at it add the Road Hazard Warranty at whatever the price they quote you. It was an expensive learning process but someone had to take one for the team! Just in last month though it's paid off for me...

 

To be quiet honest I'm going to run my current Michelin's until they bubble up again or wear out, plus the two rear PS2's I just picked up on Ebay and weigh the odds of Pirelli, Goodyear, and a few other brands. There was a thread in another forum about the Michelin's sidewall bubbles and Michelin Tire Co. using inferior materials when manufacturing the rubber tires.... With all the people experiencing the same problems one has to wonder? Michelin cutting corners this week trying to save a dollar or two by using inferior materials in their products? or overlooking quality control and turning their heads knowing their going to only offer you
40% kickback anyway on a road hazard warranty? Food for thought.
I just finished looking at a set of Pirelli's on a XFire over in Garland Tx. and rode around in the car and did the test and so forth.