Michelin Brand Warrenty MEANINGLESS!

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I've been planning on making this post for a while and just a warning, it is a bit long. I have been out of the country for a few weeks and just got around to posting.

I posted on here before asking about the best economical tires to replace on a Acura TSX. This was mainly the front 2 tires that had strange feathering on them. My previous post

Well, I ended up buying Mastercraft STRATEGY 215/50 R17 95V XL TL BSW TIRES on Ebay for about $68 per tire. Then I got them installed at Walmart. No problem whatsoever.

The NEXT morning, I made sure the air pressure was right and the lug nuts were tight. The front new tires looked great! But then I saw that the rear passenger tire was really flat. I looked down and saw there was a crack on the tire, big enough that I could put my fingernail into it. But it wasn't a hole. I assumed maybe when the tech put my car up with the jack, the combined weight of the car on the back tires made the crack worse.

I chalked it up to possibly curbing since I don't own the car and don't know how it is driven. However, when I went to take the wheel off to replace with the spare tire, here is what I saw:

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These were Michelin Pilot HX MXH4. They have a 50K miles, 6 year warrenty. I found the receipt which showed it was bought and installed at Sam's Club in Nov 2010, at $174 a tire! The car came in at 95k and right now has only 122k on it so that is way less than 50k. The tread was 6/32.

First, I went to Sam's Club but there was nothing they could do. They said to call the Michelin, so I called Michelin. They wanted me to take it to the nearest authorized Michelin dealer which happened to be Sears Auto. I went there and had to wait for about an hour before being able to speak to someone since they were understaffed that day.

The mechanic came out and looked at the tire and told me that it definitely is a defect.He said he has seen several MXH4 brand that has the same problem. Also said it is normal to get some dry rot since this is the south but this was way too deep for the age of the tire. Not to mention, there were cracks on the inside where no curbing could have occurred. The best he could do is offer me the same tire at a prorated rate which still came out to $96 a tire with the ~$75 prorated credit. But with installation and other charges it came to about $130 a tire.

I called Michelin back and basically said if I can get that prorated credit in the form of a check and I'll return the tires to them. I told them I just didn't trust in their products anymore and for the price they are offering me, I could buy 2 non famous brand tires online! In the end, the agent basically gave me a fax number to submit my request and wished me good luck. He pretty much said there was no procedure in place for this kind of request.

The funny part about all of this was that in the 3 phone calls I made to Michelin, not once did they ask me to send the tires in. This is clearly a defect but they didn't seem to care.

In the end, I just cut my losses. I doubt the time I will spend on writing up a request and faxing all the evidence will do anything. I had already wasted 3 hours of my time and a gallon of gas. I bought 2 more Mastercraft on Ebay and got them installed 4 days later. Never again will anyone in my family buy these overpriced tires. I'm not saying I'm going to be buying some random name tires but there are several brands without the marked up pricing that gets good reviews.
 
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Is the car sitting in direct sunshine for months?? What did the other tire look like?
 
I thought the pro-rated credit was a good deal.

Sounds like your tire store guy was trying to take care of you.

Good luck getting 50,000 miles out of the Mastercrafts.
 
I'm not sure I am understanding the point of the OP. Are you saying they are not following the terms of their warranty or that you don't like the terms of the warranty? As far as I can see they are following the terms of the warranty.
 
Great deal on the Mastercrafts. They're a very good tire imo. Any pics of the new tires? Nice to have a matching set on the car.

Were both tires like that or just one of them?
 
Look to me like it was run underpressure for long time to heat-up the sidewalls like that. Surprised they didn't blow out sooner.
Lasted 3.5 years and 27k of mistreatment. good tire.

"since I don't own the car and don't know how it is driven" - How is it that Michelin owe's you anything other than the time of day ? Sounds to me like Michelin being pretty generous offering you 1/2 proration for tires you didn't pay for and don't know anything about.
 
Cooper/Mastercraft/StarFire tires are nice. Seems that because they don't cost ridiculous amounts like Michelin tires, people don't buy them as much.

My father has a set of 13 year old Goodyear Workhorse tires that sit in the sun a lot and they aren't that bad ...
 
Meaningless seems a bit harsh, they pro rate like every other company.

I have Michelin on the SUV and Cooper on the Van. The Coopers aren't much cheaper. Both were top of the line tires and are performing excellent.
 
Surprised Sams couldn't do anything for you. Costco definitely would.

Had a set of BFG's on the Wife's Escape. Rotated by the book at Costco. They ended up wearing out well before mileage limits. Costco saw that, said "you get a $xxx credit for them". Ended up with 4 new Michelins.

Is it too late to escalate at Sam's?
 
I'm done with Michelin. My 4Runner came with Michelin Cross Terrains and they were excellent tires that went over 80K miles. At replacement time I found they were discontinued. The replacement tires were difficult to balance and wore in an uneven pattern even with the alignment checked twice. The dealer tried to help and all the tires were replaced at least once at different times with no change in the problems. At under 50K they make noises and they were done. I was offered a prorated replacement but after all the time messing with these tires I'm done. The replacement Firestone Destination 2's are doing just fine. The wear is even, they balanced with very little weight and they are quiet like the original Cross Terrains. Something is changing at Michelin. I've been a long time customer and never had a problem, ever until now. A friend at work is going thru problems right now with a sidewall failure. Thank goodness the tire went down very gradually and he was able to pull over with no problems. The same Firestone dealer that made me a good deal is now making similar deal with him. Maybe every other tire Michelin makes is good but I've lost faith in the brand.
 
Quote:
First, I went to Sam's Club but there was nothing they could do.....

That stinks. So Sam's isn't considered an "authorized Michelin dealer". Guess I wouldn't buy any Michelin tires at Sam's then.

Otoh, had an OE BFG get a nail in the sidewall, non repairable area. Took it to Discount Tire, they got on the phone to Michelin got a respectable prorated price on a brand new BFG Rugged Trail TA tire. DT went out their way and I hadn't even purchased the tire there.

So Sams's sells them, but doesn't stand behind them.
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nothing but praise here for Michelin. I buy several sets each year and they tend to perform flawlessly for us.

The OP's photo suggests severe under inflation, not a warranted issue.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
nothing but praise here for Michelin. I buy several sets each year and they tend to perform flawlessly for us.

The OP's photo suggests severe under inflation, not a warranted issue.

Looks like premature wear on the shoulder, and down to the wear bars. I can't think of any tire seller that will warranty a tire with tread down to the wear bars. One look at that and it's pretty obvious that it wasn't properly maintained.
 
Originally Posted By: sayjac
Quote:
First, I went to Sam's Club but there was nothing they could do.....

That stinks. So Sam's isn't considered an "authorized Michelin dealer". Guess I wouldn't buy any Michelin tires at Sam's then.

One location I've been to is specifically listed on Michelin's website as a dealer. Whether or not they're "authorized" is another matter, but legally a warranty claim can't be denied based on where a tire was sold. They get distributed through wholesalers. Even a Firestone-owned shop can get any brand through a wholesaler.
 
Sam's does service Michelin tires, and will replace them as needed as long as warranty criteria are met. I've had no issues with both Sam's and BJ's servicing the tires they sell.

I do agree with some others here on two points: first, the tire appears to be worn down so far, at least at the outside shoulder, that the warranty pro-rate would be nothing. Tires require proper maintenance, and if the tire was so underinflated that it is down to the bars at the shoulder and has 6/32" at the center, that shows a lack of proper care. The fact that the OP replaced only the front two tires with another brand tells me that the tires were not regularly rotated (if ever), and it's likely that air pressure was not maintained regularly either.

Second, I think the pro-rate offered by Michelin, taking the above into consideration, is extremely generous.
 
Sounds like buying cheap tires makes sense. I read the other thread, so I understand it's not the op's car. Seems odd to use cheap tires tho. But it may be a decent move, esp for a car which may age out tires anyhow.

That tread wear tho seems like it was ran under inflated. That would not have helped any predisposition to cracking.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Sounds like buying cheap tires makes sense. I read the other thread, so I understand it's not the op's car. Seems odd to use cheap tires tho. But it may be a decent move, esp for a car which may age out tires anyhow.

That tread wear tho seems like it was ran under inflated. That would not have helped any predisposition to cracking.

I've never had cheap tires on a car. Or at the very least never some funky brand like Prime Well. I got some Falken tires for my wife's car at an extremely low price, but I consider them to be reputable since they're owned by Sumitomo.

I frankly see a lot of luxury and expensive high performance cars with these oddball branded tires here. I mean - someone spent upwards of six figures for a vehicle and then cheaps out on the tires? I suppose the status for them is the vehicle, and they don't think anyone will think they're cheap because they had some cheapie tires installed.
 
Let me see if I have this: We are talking about the used Michelins in the photo. You aren't the one that bought them. They are worn to practically smooth on the edge (which is either under-inflation, or poor alignment). The tread depth there is less than the 2/32" which is the lower limit of tread depth in the pro-rated warranty. So they're past warranty. They're worn out, abused, used tires....that you bought...the only defect that I see is tires that have been run under-inflated, or with a poor alignment...but you don't drive the car, so you don't know how they've been treated...

And the problem is the manufacturer's fault?
 
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