Bad Michelin Defenders ?

[Smokescreen]

I had defenders on my Corolla...they didn't last 1/2 as long as rated and my driving pattern remained the same commute, verified alignment and carefully maintained psi.

...I have since went back to Coopers where my money is more well spent.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
I had defenders on my Corolla...they didn't last 1/2 as long as rated and my driving pattern remained the same commute, verified alignment and carefully maintained psi.

...I have since went back to Coopers where my money is more well spent.


Certain sizes seem to have bad reviews for poor tread life.
Also Tires are checked monthly or more often and it has TPMS. Which has never went off.
Usually run them about 34psi front and 33psi rear

I'm not a michelin hater.. worst I would say about them in the past is their Price/Value ratio is bad ie. overpriced.

These tires are puzzling.. they were the last set I was expecting to put on this car... but hey I love tires will get to try out some altimax rt43's now.

 

[moto94536]

Guess what. No more Michelin tires for me. I paid $550 total on Michelin premier a year ago. I order general rt43 from Walmart. After I get them installed, I will tell you the difference. Michelin tires are too expensive for me. It turn out rt43 have great value. I will keep you guys an update.

 

[CapriRacer]

I suspect you have a toe in problem - not a huge one, but enough to cause wear issues.

Also, I note you are driving the car under 10K per year. That's usually a sign that the car makes a lot of turns compared to how much it is driven in a straight line - and straight line driving is practically free! It's the turns that cause tire wear.

You might also want to review the way you drive. Accelerating in a corner tends to chew up tires as well.

 

[ccap41]

Originally Posted By: Rand
First off let me say if it was anything obvious I would have mentioned it in the original post.

The oem tires which are known to be short lived and terrible made it 30000 miles before a combination of low tread, bad wet performance, and 6 plugs did them in. They were replaced at 4/32 tread.

All tires have worn even. The michelin xice xi2 are also wearing even and slower than the defenders.

Tires are rotated 1-2x a year which is every 5000-9000miles.

Nothing wrong with the car they are just wearing like they are made out of warm butter. Tires still perform ok.

I'd expect DT to at least give me full credit on the odo reading..
I have a full log of when tires were put on and taken off and both sets of tires were bought from DT.

DT is known for their superior customer service so who knows.

Worst case scenario I'll get around a 68% credit. for going
I've also bought 6 sets of tires from DT/DTD so may count for something.

These were purchased in march 2013 and they are also showing some minor "overheating" type markings on the edges of the outside tread block. Which is odd for OHIO.

So, I'm leaning towards bad batch of rubber.


With all that stuff being answered.. it sounds like you won't have any issue getting a fair amount back/off of your next set. I know I've always helped returning customers a little bit extra so I would hope they would as well. (buy 6 sets o tires..get a little discount on the 7th!).

Either way, let us hear back when you do take them in. Best of luck.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
I suspect you have a toe in problem - not a huge one, but enough to cause wear issues.

Also, I note you are driving the car under 10K per year. That's usually a sign that the car makes a lot of turns compared to how much it is driven in a straight line - and straight line driving is practically free! It's the turns that cause tire wear.

You might also want to review the way you drive. Accelerating in a corner tends to chew up tires as well.


So the oem tires lasted the expected mileage, The winter tires are also wearing the expected amount.

Why would alignment only affect defenders? Sounds not logical.
I don't drive the car often its hard on my back.. made for a 5'6" person.

The previous tires made it through 30000+ miles and 15000+ were paper route duty... pretty sure thats harder on tires than driving on a 2 lane road at 35-55mph.
The Oem tires were expected to last around 35000-40000 miles. They were replaced before worn out.

Now I have these 90000mile rated defenders wearing out in under 25000miles why are we still blaming the car?

The xice xi2 40000mile rated tires do the same driving cycle and are wearing slower.

 

[moto94536]

Guess what ? I got the new rubber and it smell good.. The good new is I saved $140 going with rt43 over Michelin.

 

[Nick1994]

It probably depends on the car and the conditions it is driven. On my Beetle it had Michelin HydroEdge tires (what the Defender replaced) and they were also rated for 90k miles. They were replaced at 63k miles and still had 7/32" tread on them, they totally would have went further. It went that far and the car even had alignment issues for a while (still does, need to work on that). But they were replaced due to being Michelin garbage. Got Pirelli's now, much better

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: moto94536
Guess what. No more Michelin tires for me. I paid $550 total on Michelin premier a year ago. I order general rt43 from Walmart. After I get them installed, I will tell you the difference. Michelin tires are too expensive for me. It turn out rt43 have great value. I will keep you guys an update.


What went wrong with your Premiers?

 

[moto94536]

I never have problem problem with Michelin primacy mxv4. I got about 44,000 miles from Michelin premier. Why should I pay $550 if I get only 44k.

I had Bridgestone Turanza serenity. They were good. I got about 65k.

I want to save money by going with general rt43. So far so good. It is very smooth and quiet. I drive 3000 miles a month. I will give you guys an update on wear and stuff.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: moto94536
I never have problem problem with Michelin primacy mxv4. I got about 44,000 miles from Michelin premier. Why should I pay $550 if I get only 44k.

I had Bridgestone Turanza serenity. They were good. I got about 65k.

I want to save money by going with general rt43. So far so good. It is very smooth and quiet. I drive 3000 miles a month. I will give you guys an update on wear and stuff.


Interesting. I only have 8k on my Premier A/S but they have been wearing as I expected. At this rate, I would guess that they should make it to 45k without any problems, which is about what I expect on a Prius anyway.

 

[moto94536]

Good for you. I am not saying Michelin are bad. I do have Michelin x ice xi2 winter tires on my suv.

I choose rt43 because it only cost $410 total. I will give you guys mpg in about 3 days.

 

[ccap41]

Originally Posted By: Rand
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
I suspect you have a toe in problem - not a huge one, but enough to cause wear issues.

Also, I note you are driving the car under 10K per year. That's usually a sign that the car makes a lot of turns compared to how much it is driven in a straight line - and straight line driving is practically free! It's the turns that cause tire wear.

You might also want to review the way you drive. Accelerating in a corner tends to chew up tires as well.


So the oem tires lasted the expected mileage, The winter tires are also wearing the expected amount.

Why would alignment only affect defenders? Sounds not logical.
I don't drive the car often its hard on my back.. made for a 5'6" person.

The previous tires made it through 30000+ miles and 15000+ were paper route duty... pretty sure thats harder on tires than driving on a 2 lane road at 35-55mph.
The Oem tires were expected to last around 35000-40000 miles. They were replaced before worn out.

Now I have these 90000mile rated defenders wearing out in under 25000miles why are we still blaming the car?

The xice xi2 40000mile rated tires do the same driving cycle and are wearing slower.


People, including myself, continue to blame the car because tires don't just wear out in less than 30% of the warrantied mileage unless something causes it. And the toe in could be the case because our winter set is driven on snow to where there won't be that kind of accelerated wear. Just my opinion though because I still don't have an answer, I just don't think you have bad rubber compound because that would be causing a lot of issues I would think. Also, There would have probably been a recall or notification of such bad rubber. Did you register the tires?

 

[ryanschillinger]

The Defenders are the top rated all season tire by consumer reports, with excellent tread life. Of course, your results may vary. Hope not for me though! Just got a set of 4 from costco on my civic. I should put my tread depth gauge to them to get an initial reading. Didn't think about it. So far, I really like them.

 

[N3OO]

Glad I found this posting!!!!
I have Defenders on my 2005 Camry and they are grinding down to nuttin fast : approaching 23k and down to 4/32.
Tires are wearing even....rotated every 5k with paper work date and mileage rotated from purchased dealer .....even the tire dealer is puzzled.
SOooooo I guess soon I'll be getting new tires....but what Michelins do I get now? Sure don't want another set of Defenders ?!?

 

[Rand]

if you google it I'm not the only one with this issue. Quite a few other people are reporting them as "done in less then 30000miles"

Fyi in NE ohio the winter tires are on dry pavement at least 80% of the time.

And Ohio has some of the most longevity friendly roads out there.. no "sharp pavement with fossils" no massive summer temps like arizona, relatively flat, etc.

Had a free alignment check done and it was in spec. They didn't give me a printout though.

I talked to Michelin and they said they would replace them early if I wished.. but its a much better deal if I wait until fall and they are worn more. They are still performing fine so I'll wait till black friday most likely and stack with a double rebate for some free altimax rt43's at DT.

Originally Posted By: ccap41

People, including myself, continue to blame the car because tires don't just wear out in less than 30% of the warrantied mileage unless something causes it. And the toe in could be the case because our winter set is driven on snow to where there won't be that kind of accelerated wear. Just my opinion though because I still don't have an answer, I just don't think you have bad rubber compound because that would be causing a lot of issues I would think. Also, There would have probably been a recall or notification of such bad rubber. Did you register the tires?

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Rand
Had a free alignment check done and it was in spec. They didn't give me a printout though.


How long ago was this, and do you think they'd still have a record of that in their alignment machine? An alignment can be in spec and far from optimal for tire wear at the same time. Data like the alignment numbers mean much in a discussion like this.

 

[Rand]

here are a few random reviews of these tires. warning: copy paste from tirerack.com

Miles Driven on Tires:
21,000

21,000 Miles on Tires
May 18, 2015
These tires have something wrong with them. Mine need to be replaced after 2 years. They advertise a 90000 mile life. It all over the internet,people having the same problem. I be always bought Michelin tires. But I am going to have to switch to another brand. Had a set of Michelin x tires before that went over 80k. Don't know why they did this. Still advertising it as aa 90000 mile tire even though the average seems to be around 30000. Stay away. Definitely not your typical Michelin




Miles Driven on Tires:
37,000
Location:
GLEN CARBON, IL
Driving Condition:
Mostly City
Driving Style:
Average

1 out of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Initial Review:
37,000 Miles on Tires
May 14, 2015
Not sure if it is the Odyssey being so hard on tires or if it was a poor rubber compound on these Defenders, but they wore down evenly to 2/32" - 3/32" on all four tires at 37,000 miles. I was very satisfied with ride comfort and road noise with the Defenders, but extremely disappointed with tread wear. Not sure what Michelin did when they replaced the Harmony with the Defender, but I had previously had 2 sets of Harmony's on a Dodge Grand Caravan and both of them held up extremely well and I ran to the warranty (80,000 on the first set) and sold the vehicle with 30,000 on the second set and they still had more than 50% tread life left. Michelin - Bring back the Harmony model, please.



Initial Review:
38,000 Miles on Tires
May 07, 2015

I 've had these tire for 2.5 years and they must be replaced after only 38,000 miles. Most of my driving is on the interstate. The noise from these tires has gotten worse over the past year...now can hardly talk to person next to me without having to raise my voice. Would not buy again or recommend.


Initial Review:
30,000 Miles on Tires
May 06, 2015

Tires were great when new. After 30,000 miles the tires are bald. Not great for 90,000 tires. I won't spend this kind of money again.


Initial Review:
45,000 Miles on Tires
April 06, 2015

Paid a premium based on the 90,000 mile warranty. I will be lucky to get 45,000 miles from these tires in spite of regular rotation. I would be OK with these tires if they were about %50 less expensive.


nitial Review:
25,309 Miles on Tires
February 23, 2015

I have put 25,309 miles on these tires and they are almost to the point of needing to be replaced. I perform a standard tire rotation with every oil change which is about every 5500 miles on average. I also check the tire pressure quite often and also check the tire wear with a depth gauge to ensure even wear and look for any abnormal wear. There is no reason for these tires to be at 3/32" tread depth already. The only thing good is that they have been a quiet tire with great ride quality and stopping distance is exceptional as well. Being my second set of Michelin tires, and a set of BF Goodrich (Michelin owned) that haven't lasted very long I'm not even going to bother with the pro-rated 90k warranty. Considering the money I paid to have a top rated tire on the family vehicle, I'm very disappointed with the short tread life of these tires.

 

[CKN]

I'm going to bookmark this thread next time the Cheerleaders on BITOG.com recommend Michelin Tires. BTW-you can get many posts on the Internet about the newer Michelin Tires with widespread dry rot issues as well.

 

[FSully1]

First Michelin Defender separated before 24,000 miles, replaced under warranty...and had to fight for the replacement. Second seperated at 28,000 miles. Both Michelins on the front removed and installed Sumitomo HTR ENHANCE on the front. The Sumitomo's are quieter than the Michelin.
However the Michelin X radial from Costco with approximately 45000 miles ride still have life in them.