Michelin tires with cracks and only 7k miles on them - safe to use?

[danmm7_blt]

Hello All!

Very recently I bought this 2019 Chevy Bolt EV with only 7k miles on it. Car has been sitting at a GM dealer for at least 2 years waiting for new Lithium battery. They replaced the battery 2 months ago and the car was listed for sale.
It came with new looking Michelin tires but they have been manufactured in 2018 and likely because they were not driven much, 3 of the 4 tires have visible cracks close to the thread area. See picture.

I am thinking that these tires need to be replaced ASAP, however a local tire shop told me that these look like “surface cracks” and should not be high risk. Common issue with Michelin tires but they should be safe for awhile.

What do you think looking at the picture? Lots of thread left on these tires but the cracks are very visible too. Am I being paranoid?

 

[hrv]

I would contact Michelin about this. If it were me I would want them replaced ASAP....

 

[Bailes1992]

I wouldn't drive on them. I'd be asking the dealer to replace them.

I may be wrong, but I'm sure there's anti-oxidation additives in the rubber that require the tyre to be used so that it is stretched and squeezed for these additives to work. When they are sat then they stop working and this happens.

 

[Lubener]

I wouldn't use them. Time for new tires to keep you safe and others on the road as well. You could consult a Michelin dealer. The worst thing that can happen is they say no warranty coverage.

 

[doublebase]

Your dealer should 100% replace those tires for you, that’s dry rot, and very common with Michelin’s. Michelin should give you a discount on your next set if you were to complain enough, because that’s unacceptable. But that dealer should replace those tires, that would fail inspection in most states.

Now, do I think it’s unsafe to drive? Could be, then again maybe not. But if that were a car I just purchased, I don’t want to deal with this. Now, if someone gave me those tires for free, would I use them on my own daily driver that I commute in? I might, but I’d be taking a risk (not sure I’d want to deal with that).

 

[demarpaint]

That's dry rot. I gave up on Michelin tires years ago, after having problems with them more than once and getting a lot of BS stories when I complained about them. Good luck getting anything out of Michelin, maybe the dealer will cover them, maybe.

 

[hrv]

That's dry rot. I gave up on Michelin tires years ago, after having problems with them more than once and getting a lot of BS stories when I complained about them. Good luck getting anything out of Michelin, maybe the dealer will cover them, maybe.

Never had an issue with Michelin at all...now firestone and goodyear a totally different story...

 

[1 SX]

I'd replace them. The tires were manufactured in EARLY APRIL of 2018. Yes they "only" have 7K miles, but have near 6 years of time of them... for me it would not be worth the risk to start using the vehicle daily and have tire separation/blowout or even a flat at the worst possible time.

 

[DuckRyder]

Paging @CapriRacer to the white courtesy phone....

 

[demarpaint]

Never had an issue with Michelin at all...now firestone and goodyear a totally different story...

Maybe it's the luck of the draw, Goodyear and Firestone have been good for me.

 

[Trav]

I have had Michelin tires over the years and never been impressed with them, you a lot for the name but the name for me is not worth 10c. Since the shenanigans and outright lies they pulled with Honda I will never buy another Michelin tire, they are far from being a reputable company IMO.

 

[MParr]

Michelin dry rot cracks. Pretty common. I haven’t noticed any in my four year old LTX M/S2 truck tires yet. It seems that the higher the tread wear rating, the more likely that there will be cracks.

 

[demarpaint]

I have had Michelin tires over the years and never been impressed with them, you a lot for the name but the name for me is not worth 10c. Since the shenanigans and outright lies they pulled with Honda I will never buy another Michelin tire, they are far from being a reputable company IMO.

Same here, overrated and overpriced imo. I forgot about Honda, but they have quite a fan base here.

 

[MParr]

Another thing to consider is that those are energy focused tires (LRR). I had a set of those came as standard equipment on a 2017 Ford Escape. I got about 36,000 miles out of them. They were horrible when new. Very bad in rain. Not real good traction in dry weather either.

 

[Taildragger]

Barry's Tire Tech

Barry talks about Tire Aging and Weather Cracking.

barrystiretech.com

 

[MSCH]

if it were me, it would depend on how far and how fast I drive how long I would use those tires before I replaced them..

 

[supton]

Might not be “unsafe” but they sure don’t look safe either. I’d use only for in town. And would be making plans to replace.

I want to say I’m surprised that the dealership would sell it like that. But its a dealership…

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Tires age and these may be getting a little old.

 

[Trav]

Same here, overrated and overpriced imo. I forgot about Honda, but they have quite a fan base here.

Yes it was soon forgotten but both Michelin and Honda were sued over the Pax tire scandal. With Honda putting crap like this out and also in owners manuals.

Honda recommends that owners of vehicles with the PAX system do not change to conventional wheels. Chris Martin, a Honda spokesman, commented that vehicle suspension is specifically tuned for the PAX tyres, and switching to conventional wheels “would compromise the ride and handling.”

Yet when doing a little research, the struts, springs, mounts, control arms, tie rods the Pax and non Pax vehicles had the same part numbers. Some years later they came out with a TSB saying to use regular tires, wheels and Pilot TPM sensors. We had already done that at 19K when the tires were showing threads.

Michelin were just as big scumbags, they stated every dealer would have a Pax machine, very few were ever delivered, instead owners had no option but to buy complete exchange used wheels and new tires already mounted from them for almost 3K a set, average life for these tires was 20K or less.

Michelin Phasing Out OEM Supply of PAX - Tire Review Magazine

Last year’s speculation that Michelin’s feelings towards its PAX run-flat system had somewhat cooled appears after all to contain substance.

www.tirereview.com

 

[demarpaint]

Yes it was soon forgotten but both Michelin and Honda were sued over the Pax tire scandal. With Honda putting crap like this out and also in owners manuals.

Yet when doing a little research, the struts, springs, mounts, control arms, tie rods the Pax and non Pax vehicles had the same part numbers. Some years later they came out with a TSB saying to use regular tires, wheels and Pilot TPM sensors. We had already done that at 19K when the tires were showing threads.

Michelin were just as big scumbags, they stated every dealer would have a Pax machine, very few were ever delivered, instead owners had no option but to buy complete exchange used wheels and new tires already mounted from them for almost 3K a set, average life for these tires was 20K or less.

Michelin Phasing Out OEM Supply of PAX - Tire Review Magazine

Last year’s speculation that Michelin’s feelings towards its PAX run-flat system had somewhat cooled appears after all to contain substance.

www.tirereview.com

I remember you telling me about that nonsense. I had cord separation and got a lot of BS nonsense when trying to warranty them, two different cars two different times. They pulled the pothole card, I mean I do have a NY zip code so why not, even though I never hit a pothole with them. LOL I'm done with them for good. FTR I did hit a pothole or two with Goodyear and Firestone, and several other tires over the years with no detrimental outcomes.