Stock Tire issue

[joshb003]

Hello,

My mazda has almost 5k miles on it, and the rear passenger tire just blew today. There is an inch long hole in between the treads of the middle of the tire. Like a vertical cut inside the ridge of between two adjacent treads.

You guys think this type of thing is covered by warranty? I've never had a tire go bad, and I definitely wouldn't assume a brand new tire would behave this way.. bringing to dealer tomorrow.

And on top of that, the guy from roadside assistance put the jack in the wrong spot and bent/made paint chips on the underside of the car. So had to make a damage claim on that too.. crappy day haha.

 

[arcxer]

You convinced me not to let goons from roadside assistance near my car. I can put on spare myself.

 

[DrWebster]

Ouch. Yes, that should be covered under warranty, but remember that tires are prorated so it won't be completely free (but certainly won't be the full cost of the tire).

The only thing I'd allow roadside assistance to do would be to load my car onto a flatbed tow truck...and even then, I'd be watching them like a hawk.

 

[joshb003]

I'm bringing it to the dealer tomorrow. It literally looks like the tread just separated ride down the line in between adjacent tread.

I've also submitted a damage claim with road side assistance against the idiot who did the spare tire. The reason I didn't do it myself was because I couldn't figure out how to hook up the handle to the jack (yes stupid, but it was cold and I knew I had roadside so I figured might as well use it).

Just for clarification, where exactly is the jack supposed to go when changing a spare tire?

 

[Jenemap]

really cool!

year, that's really cool !

 

[SonicBoy]

There are notches in the pinch weld seem where the jack is supposed to go. There is a diagram in the user manual where to place the jack.

As for coverage for a tire, as stated, this is a wear and tear item. They can claim that you ran over something that tore the tire. If you bought a tire warranty then it is covered otherwise it would be goodwill by the dealership with whatever they wanted to help you out with.

Only exception is that you can prove there was a defect with the tire.

When the weather gets warmer, you should do a dry run with the factory jack and change a tire just so that you are familiar should this happen again.

 

[joshb003]

Yeah I plan on doing that SonicBoy, I know how to change a tire, the issue was I couldn't figure out the jack handle operation, but I read the manual and now understand! I'm hoping this goes well, because it seems pretty odd that the tread would separate right down the little line between adjacent treads due to "wear/tear" seems like a defect to me.

 

[dsgrey]

Most times the dealership will shrug their shoulders and say you need to contact an authorized service center for the brand of tires. Mazda doesn't have to do anything here since the tire warranty is covered by the tire manufacturer and not Mazda. That being said, I did have a Ford dealership provide me with the tires of my choice one time when I kept having vibration problems (less than 1000 miles).

Without seeing the tire it could go either way on whether the tire store will cover it since they could claim it was a road hazard issue and not tire seperation.

 

[joshb003]

Yeah I plan on calling Yokohama also tomorrow, they were also closed for the weekend. I will likely call the dealership too to see what the coverage is before I go about wasting my time bringing the vehicle in.

 

[joshb003]

Well I called Yokohama and they really had excellent customer service. They've instructed me to go visit a local discount tire store to get the tire verified "defective" and then they'll give me a tire for free. So let's just hope that they deem it defective lol, I'll keep ya guys updated on how this all pans out.

The more I've thought of it though, the more certain I am that this must be a defect of some kind. Because if my tires were slashed, I wouldn't have been able to drive 24 miles home without TPMS alerting me. Additionally, I'm fairly certain I didn't drive over anything that could cause this type of damage. But we will see.

 

[DrWebster]

If they told you to take the car to Discount Tire, then they'll fix you up. I've always had good service there, and they even give me free tire rotations on my 2 (since I bought a few sets of tires from them for my 3).

 

[joshb003]

Hope so! I'm going to the one in Bloomington though because it's closest to my apartment. I'm about to leave now! I'll get back with a full report on why the tire blew up, and how they fixed me up haha.

 

[joshb003]

Well damnit, I guess somehow there was a piece of metal lodged in between the tread. What are the chances of that?! Vertically lodged in between adjacent tread... well anyways experience at discount tire went well.

I purchased for 60 dollars a lifetime rotate/balance packagke along with lifetime road hazard warranty. For 60 bucks, I think I"ll make that money back easily with the rot/balance alone, with the road hazard as a bonus! You guys think it was a good idea to buy?

 

[arcxer]

Well damnit, I guess somehow there was a piece of metal lodged in between the tread. What are the chances of that?! Vertically lodged in between adjacent tread... well anyways experience at discount tire went well.

Anything is possible really. The "regular" nails and bolts also don't usually stick out of the road -- they lay flat. Yet, they get launched by the other cars/wheels and get caught the "right" way to penetrate a tire.

I purchased for 60 dollars a lifetime rotate/balance packagke along with lifetime road hazard warranty. For 60 bucks, I think I"ll make that money back easily with the rot/balance alone, with the road hazard as a bonus! You guys think it was a good idea to buy?

Depends on whether you're going to religiously rotate and balance them. The road hazard -- anybody probably had sets of tires which were punctured multiple times, and other sets which just wore out in peace without any trouble.

 

[joshb003]

Yeah I'm definitely going to get them rotated and balanced every 5k to get my money's worth. And it's nice knowing if this crap happens again it won't cost me any money.

 

[arcxer]

And it's nice knowing if this crap happens again it won't cost me any money.

Well, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Typically -- don't know your contract, of course, but typically road hazard coverage is prorated on the tire wear. So, if you puncture a tire which has about 50% of protector worn, you'll get a new tire half price.

Also, usually, when the replaced tire is well-worn, they like you to replace a pair on the same axle -- don't think road hazard warranty covers that.