How to get compensated for defective tires on new Prius (all 4 have tread separation at 30k miles)?

just checked my 2012 OEMs.. have about 57k on them now.. and judging from tread wear these things look like they will last till 80-100k

 

wow! what kine of car you driving?

 

2012 Prius

 

thanks! you should change your profile.

 

There is a big difference between a little surface "checking" and actual cracks.

If the "cracks" are any deeper than 1 mm, I don't think the tire is fit for "general" service any more.
That is a sign that the compound is drying out due to age.

A tire that has lived it's whole life outside in the elements might be shot at 6 years.
I personally don't think one that has lived 6 years with 16 hours a day inside is going to be anything to worry about at 6.
Unless maybe they were really cheap tires to begin with..........or maybe you are in the habit of doing 90 on the Interstates.

 

coming back to the OP's question, tires can have "slipped" or damaged internal belts not just from manufacturing defects, but also road hazards. It happened to me once in a subaru that fishtailed on ice, rotated 180 degree and landed in a ditch backwards. later i discovered the 2 rear tires that were noisy, vibrating, and uneven diameter.

 

You ever had a tire blowout at 60mph? Or 70mph or even at 80mph? I have on the HWY. I've also seen blowouts at that speed on i-95, I-75, alligator alley and HWY 1 on the way to Key West. It's dangerous and can cause an accident. I don't know the condition of their tires at the time of those accidents that I've witness or helped out in, but I tell you from my own expierience. Running on very old tires at high speeds 50+mph is very dangerous situation. You can be the best driver in the world, but that doesn't mean you can stop a bad situation from happening.

So this incident just backs up my claims that driving on old tires is dangerous. Yes they were in accesses of high speeds and supposedly racing. Who knows exactly what they were doing that caused the accident, but one thing that was proven was the old tires were part of the reason.

 

I gave the inital post some thought. Who would say they need to have ALL 4 of the tires replaced?? I know who, a tire shop!! I have walked into plenty of tire shops for one tire and have them attempt to sell me 2, 3 or even replacing all of them...plus balancing, plus alignment...

 

If you rotate, balance, align and repair as needed you should need 4 tires at a time.

 

There is a point to this. The vehicles I have had in the past have never needed all 4 tires at a time. Perhaps, because a previous owner didn't maintain the tires or perhaps the alignment or balancing is off...

 

YOU don't know that. It is an assumption.
What evidence exactly "proves" that ??

I won't argue this "point" any longer. It depends on what you mean by "old" tires.
If they are old, cheap and abused tires sure you are right.
If they are good quality tires that have been properly cared for, then your blanket statement probably is NOT right.

Done.

 

i think alignment on the prius can be an issue, which sometimes causes one or two tyres to need replacing before the others.

 

It wasn't an assumption. After the investigation was over it was determined that it was and I have no clue why you're wasting time arguing about anything I posted. Old tires can be dangerous and old tires after x amount of years sitting, storage, used, etc.. Causes the tire to eventually go bad and you've been arguing that. I've provided proof even from tire manufactures and car manufactures and you choose to argue their professional facts and opinions. If you have a problem with their expertise then you need to contact them and dispute their claims. Not waste time trying to prove me wrong.

If you want old tires on your car just because its a good name brand then by all means have them on your car. Your car, your money, your choice. Not my problem. It's your car not mine.

 

my dakota tyres are about 10 years old. you're causing me to rethink my strategy.

 

Was there something wrong with the story he posted earlier?
New Report: 93 MPH Speed, Old Tires Caused Paul Walker Crash

"A new report by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department has concluded that the crash that killed actor Paul Walker last November 30 was due to speed and 9-year-old tires.
According to the report, the car was traveling 93 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone when it crashed and killed both Walker, 40, and the car's driver, his friend Roger Rodas, 38. The report also determined that mechanical failure did not contribute to the crash, but two 9-year-old tires did. ..."

 

IMHO You always want the front two tires to match. The back two you can get away with. Tread, size and all should match in the front. Rule of thumb is when you replace tires it's always a great idea to get your vehicle aligned. Unless it was recently aligned. Always go with the lifetime alignment and tires should be checked to see if it needs to be balanced. I don't see anything wrong with what those tire shops told you. Be safe than sorry. Now if you go to the shop for tires and they say you need some blinker fluid then I can see a problem. ;-)

 

No I absolutely have NOT.
I have been discussing the TIMING; that is, how long it takes for that to happen.
You seem to think you can put a hard and fast number on it and I think it is not that simple.
We disagree. That's life.

Yes. Not enough details; none in fact.

Maybe the problem was that all or most of the tread was gone, which can happen to a tire at any age.

He is assuming that the tires "failed", as in came apart.
I think that is unlikely that two of them failed in that manner at the same time.
That is an assumption too.

You should inspect your tires regularly, or have it done.
You should, in my opinion, not just automatically throw out tires because they have passed some arbitrary age limit.
My opinioin.
Your opinion may be different.

 

Sounds like everyone can agree that it is best to avoid going 93 MPH IN a 45 MPH zone.

Oh, and doing so on crappy tyres makes the Darwin Award a gimme rather than just a foregone conclusion.

 

I'm at about 39k and the OEM Ecopias are just about done. They'll be replaced next month when Michelin goes on sale at Costco.

 

It's not so much what was being sold, but the fact that the original poster seemed like he had no other choice. I have always gotten 1-3 tires replaced at a time. It's about personal need.

It's amazing how many people have run out of blinker fluid on the CA Freeways!! You'd think with as simple as it is to refill, people would never run out.