So I was barreling down the interstate on my way to watch a movie yesterday, having a grand old time when I had a tire blow out. The right-front tire totally went out. I pulled over to the side of the road and had a look at the tire and it looked pretty bad so I called the dealer and they advised me to have the car towed, which I did.
I got to the dealer service department and they looked at the car and told me I needed both front tires replacing because the left-front was worn down to 2/32 of tread at the deepest point and bald on the outside edge.
Hmmm, says I. I have about 23K miles on my car. Seems odd that the tires would be worn out so quickly.
The guy in the service department said that it would happen if I did not rotate the tires every 5-7,500 miles.
That was the first I had heard about rotating the tires. Perhaps I need to learn more about cars, but it would have been nice to have been told this since I am not an auto-mechanic. I have read the owners manual and don’t remember seeing anything about this in there.
I asked if it was in the owners manual and he said no because it was covered under a different warranty. The service guy said we should have been told this by our salesperson but we weren’t.
Because the problems with the tires were due to wear and tear and incorrect maintenance he said the probably wouldn’t be covered under the extended warranty we bought specifically because we were told it would cover the tires (seeing as how they are over $300 apeice). And we asked if they had any non-run flats but they said no, they only supply the run flats.
So, $850 later, I have two new tires and learned a heard lesson. :mad:
Yep, it’s a basic maintenance item to rotate tires. It helps them to wear evenly. I get mine done every 5K miles.
That said, 23K miles seems very low to have had a blowout due to regular wear regardless of tire rotation. I would have the alignment checked. If your tires continue to wear at such a rapid rate, there may be something you can do to get it covered under warranty.
No, I don’t really think so. Alignment can go out as you pull out of the dealers’ parking lot and hit that first pothole. They’re highly unlikely to cover it IMHO.
I used to work at a dealership (for 14 years) so my curiosity is piqued.
What kind of vehicle is this?
Where do you get your regular maintenance (oil changes) done?
Actually, I wasn’t thinking of warranty covering an alignment issue, but perhaps some other problem that would cause accellerated tire wear. Sorry I wasn’t more specific. I work for a dealership and have seen excessive and early tire wear problems covered under warranty because of a manufacturing issue. Find out if other vehicles of your make, model, and year are experiencing a similar problem. If it is the alignment, then Purplekid is right, it wouldn’t be covered under warranty.
Yeah, I would have to agree, there are some other types of manufacturing defects that might cause the tire wear. That’s why I was wondering what kind of vehicle it was.
Are you sure it doesn’t say to rotate them in the manual? I’ve only looked through Dodge manuals, but both my Dakota and my Charger have tire rotation on both the “A” and “B” maintenance schedules.
Based on your description, it sounds like something is seriously wrong. 1/16" at the deepest part is ridiculous. I’d take the car back at the next possible opportunity, and have them diagnose the root cause, if they haven’t already, because you’re going to be looking at the same problem at 46K if you don’t.
I have had the Regular maintenance done at the dealership. I was told that should just follow the indications from the onboard computer, which told me the interval between my first and second oil changes would be about 15K miles.
Hi Opal, indeed.
This is my third car and my wife has owned several, too.
In my imagination, the movie was great, but unfortunately we did not get to the movie theatre
As for the manual. I have just downloaded and checked a digital copy of the manual and it does not mention tire rotation at all. It does mention checking tire inflation pressure and it also mentions checking tread depth, but nothing about rotation.
I always thought u didn’t need to get your tires rotated. If everything is running properly you should get even wear. And if your alignment and balance is out that causes uneven wear, and for the sake of 50$ you can get them fixed. That would be the only time you would get them rotated.
The Mini Cooper S comes with run-flat performance tires. They don’t last very long. You should research what kind of tires you want to replace them with. Also, I was told by Mini that the tires should not be done in a normal X pattern rotation, as they are directional tires (although you can rotate them front to back). The dealer said otherwise, but in these cases I side with the manufacturer or an independent mechanic.
I replaced my original Dunlops with Pirelli’s at 30,000 miles on mine. You bought a sports car, not a Honda, you need to come to grips with that. If it bothers you, you should sell your car.
