Junk car tires at 17K miles!

[cabinfever]

We purchased a 2012 Ford Fusion this past July. The car only had 11,500 miles then and 17,000 now. The low tire pressure warning came on so I went to check the tires and found all 4 with dry rot!! The tires are Michelin Energy Savers. I will be calling the dealer tomorrow to see what they say, besides sorry! LOL Just thought I'd share because seems no matter the tire or application, tires today are lacking for quality.

[Festus2]

Can't help but asking..... are these "junk tires" made in China and similar to the infamous trailer"China bombs" that we constantly hear about on the forum or are they made elsewhere?

[Laredo291OH]

Had a 2004 GMC truck that came with Goodyears, they were wore out at about 22,000 miles. Friend was the parts guy at the dealer at the time, he said I did pretty good. :( I have had Michelins that I bought at tire stores and have had very good luck. I think the tires that are on new cars are very cheap, no matter what brand, kind of like buying a John Deere from Lowes and buying from a JD dealer, a huge difference.

[cabinfever]

Can't help but asking..... are these "junk tires" made in China and similar to the infamous trailer"China bombs" that we constantly hear about on the forum or are they made elsewhere?

http://www.michelinman.com/faq-detail.page?REDR=1&categoryName=Technical_Info_and_Definitions&faqId=1D87B0D6469B0001C851E310C2B8C280

[Desert185]

My son just had a low mileage, fairly new Goodyear blowout on his Tundra. Believable for me, but hard to believe a Michelin failed. That's all we use on the wife's car and have never had a problem.

[Festus2]

cabinfever -

After reading the information in the link you provided ---------

Methinks the Michelin Man speaks with forked tongue. After reading Michelin's answer to "Where are the tires made?", I have really no clue where they are made. They could be made in the US, Canada, Mexico or in one of "74 plants in 19 countries around the world". This leads me to believe that they could be made in China.

They are made, of course, to "Michelin's highest standards".

[cabinfever]

Festus2...I agree LOL Also after reading some more I believe I will be told it is ozone cracking, therefore no warranty. I have an appointment at the dealer we purchased from Wed AM. It was a certified used Ford Fusion so interested to see if that gets us anywhere also.

[wahoonc]

We purchased a 2012 Ford Fusion this past July. The car only had 11,500 miles then and 17,000 now. The low tire pressure warning came on so I went to check the tires and found all 4 with dry rot!! The tires are Michelin Energy Savers. I will be calling the dealer tomorrow to see what they say, besides sorry! LOL Just thought I'd share because seems no matter the tire or application, tires today are lacking for quality.

Well the tires are at least 3 yeas old and may be over 4. Check the DOT date codes (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=172&s_kwcid=AL!3756!3!57604993693!p!!g!!dot%20tire%20c ode&ef_id=VI6-eAAABRjYQSGm:20150112142112:s), while you are there check the manufacturing plant code too. A huge factor is where they were stored and obviously they didn't get exercised much. 17,000 miles in 3-4 years is only about 4500 miles a year.

Aaron:cool:

[bsmith0404]

Depending on when the car was built, and then add into when the tire was built these tires could be 5 years old or older. Regardless of miles, tires age. What is the date code on the tire?

Additionally, when I bought my 2011 new I took it to Discount Tire and bought new Michelins, less than 1,500 miles on the OE Bridgestones. When trying to work a trade in deal, the DT guy told me that the OE tires are not the same quality/standard as the resale tires. Not sure how much truth is in that, but based on tire life performance of new OE tires, I would have to think it's accurate. Sounds like the high volume auto manufacturers have worked a deal with tire manufacturers for a lower quality/cheaper version tire.

[poncho62]

We just took the original tires off my work van. It was loaded up pretty good most days. ...130,000 km (78,000 miles)....They were Hancooks

[{tpc}]

On my old car - 08 dodge avenger, the original tires took me to 102k miles. I want to say they were bridgestones but I can't remember. The second set were Altima...lol my memory sucks as to the brand...but those had 65k and still going strong when I traded her in.

The brakes on the other hand sucked past the original oem which only made it to like 40k or something. Swear it needed a set of pads and rotors every 15k miles.

[cabinfever]

Went to a Michelin dealer today and was told it is ozone cracking. The tech said they see dozens of this same problem every month and seemed to think my tires were not severe enough to be warranted by Michelin. I decided I will just replace the tires with a brand other than Michelin. I read many reports of Michelin tires doing this and do not want to replace and have the same issue in a couple years.

[bsmith0404]

Good luck. I've seen sidewall ozone cracking on just about every brand of tire I have owned. BFG, Firestone/Bridgestone, Yokohama, Good Year, Michelin, Pirelli. Fortunately for me, I put enough miles on that the cracking usually started occurring about the time I needed to change the tires anyway, 3-4 years.