Just finished a 1 week trip to Utah in the TL-S; a very enjoyable ride and achieved 31-32mpg, even while cruising at 75-80mph. Navi was helpful, but doesn't seem to know about some short-cuts.

Anyway, after driving about 10.5 hours I noticed a small bubble developing in the side wall of one of the tires. Drove another few miles then contacted a local Acura dealer for advice (Note: TLC apparently only handles literal road breakdowns, not something like my problem). Acura dealer advised me to call a BigO Tires store in the area and they would handle the problem.

BigO removed the defective tire for examination. They claimed the bubble was caused by a "road hazard" like a pot hole or something (Note: There was no mark on the rim by the bubble). Only 2,800 miles on the car.

BigO called Michelin N.A. for a warranty authorization. They had warned me earlier that someone else had a similar problem on a new car with only 1,200 miles and Michelin would only allow a $50 credit towards a new tire. They said the highest allowance they've ever seen at that store was a 50% credit.

Sure enough, they get Michelin on the line and Michelin starts talking with the BigO manager about "maybe" at best a 50% allowance. I told BigO to remind Michelin that the car was an Acura TL-S, bought new in June, only had 2,800 miles, and the rim had no visible damage.

Minor negotiation tactic must have worked! Michelin authorized a 100% credit for a new tire; ie, I only had to pay $16.41 for mount and balance. BigO manager said he has never seen this kind of allowance before from Michelin.

If you experience any "road hazards" with your TL-S OEM tires, please keep this info and approach in mind; maybe it will help you as it did myself. Of course, maybe the Acura Automobile Division has told their suppliers about the expected service for their new TL-S model. In any case, once the Michelin rep understood the car was a TL-S, the conversation's direction took a turn in my favor; otherwise the cost for a new MXM4 tire would have been a nasty surprise.

Note: By the way, the local BigO store didn't have the tire in-stock; they had to ship it into their store from Salt Lake City (~60 miles away) and commented that I was lucky they even had one in the state.

 

Thanks for the headsup .

 

Thanks for the tip.

I must have hit something, because I noticed a bubble forming on my tire. I don't have a clue where it happend.

 

FYI, bubbles in the tires should be taken care of immediately. This is usually a sign of a broken wire or some other breach of the weave that holds the tires together. Don't wait until you get a blowout!

 

& you just saved $165.

 

something to bear in mind

 

damn..that MXM4 is an expensive one...

 

Glad you didn't roll over. "you don't ask, you don't get"
Neil

 

I have a small bubble in one of my tires also. I have not checked with my local dealer but I expect that I would get a similar response that most people are getting. I live in an area with few potholes and I don't remember hitting any of them. I consider this a tire defect and worthy of a tire recall. I have only had one other tire in my 40 years of driving get a bubble. This is clearly a sign of poor bonding between the rubber and cords and seems to be a common defect in these tires.

I would think that the lower the profile of a tire the more susceptible it would be to this type of defect. Have any of you out there that have changed your tires experienced bubbles in your side walls with the new ones?

 

i was not so lucky when this same thing occurred a month or so after buying the car...america's tire gave me 50% discount.

 

Thanks for the headups. That is good to know.

Mr
03 ABP TL-S
New Jersey

 

Thanks I wish I knew that 2 tires before. The stock tires suck.

 

The tire will bubble even if you park with the tire pushed up against the curb, this will stretch the sidewall belt. Very many passenger side front tires are the ones that need replacing. This would explain why your rim was not scratched.

 

It is gonna get ugly when Michilen gets the **** sued out of them like when that one company had all those problems with their SUV tires blowing out.....lots of people died because of that **** and I am sure that hurt their rep.

Smitty

 

One of my tires developed a bubble, the dealer said I must of run over a pot hole or something. And told me to take it to a Michelin dealer, basically they couldn't have cared less. I havent been to the tire store yet but the tires have over 20k miles on them so I dont see them doing much about it. If this tire blows out on my steer axle, where it currently resides, should I sue Michelin, Acura dealership or both.

 

No sidewall bubbles in my Toyo T1S 235/45-17. I was "stunned" by the difference in the sidewall construction and the tires are 2lbs lighter than the 215/50-17 MXM4s...

Go figure....

The difference in sidewall construction was night and day. And the Toyos are lighter...

It may be possible (I really don't know for sure), that Michelin goes with a very "thin" sidewall on the MXM4 (the new OEM tires are sitting up the street and the sidewalls are pretty wimpy) to "help" to give them great gas mileage. (When you deform the rubber in the sidewall, you expend energy...)

BTW, a member or two with Toyos have gotten bubbles but claim they hit some "nasty" potholes...

IMO, if you find a bubble, get it fixed ASAP.... Tires and brakes --> top safety items

 

The tire bubble thing is a standard industry practice, here how it works.

It is called an impact bubble and is usually covered under road hazard warranty (which most if not all tires carry these days).

But wait there's a catch. You get a new tire but you have to pay for the % usage of your old one at MSRP!!!!

eg. MXM4 selling price may be $150 but MSRP is $350 or so so if you've used 20% of the tread, you pay $70 plus a $10 admin fee plus a mounting and balancing fee.

So basically once you're tire is 50% worn, you effectively have no warranty.

I agree with EricL, the MXM4 are a crappy design.

I would recommend one of the following three:

Toyo T1S
Dunlop SP9000
Firestone SZ50 (basically a rebadged S02 for much less)

 

I have a bubble also on my left driver side tire, i will check with my dealer.

 

FYI, Bubbles on the outside of the tires are quite obvious to see. I had one on the inner sidewall (sidewall that faces under the car).

 

I had exactly the same problem on my 1999 Acura CL with the stock Michelin tires. One day I noticed a bubble about twice the size of a jawbreaker on one of the tires. I was told it was probably from some road hazard. Got stuck for cost of the replacement tire, think it only had about 20,000 miles on it at the time. I have never experienced this on a tire before.

 

I guess it's time to get on one of the "trains". I have a 2003-tl-s just turned 1400 miles, and I have an "egg" in the sidewall, I do not recall hitting any pothole of significant "holy crap" value. I have contacted the michelin manufacturer, and I am getting a "goodwill" reinbursement of 50% of cost of tire. I took it to a local michelin tire dealer that they recomend, and the tire rep says " yep, It's an impact break...boy, so finally he gets down on his knees and looks at it, and sees no rim damage, or sidewall scuff or damage, just the egg itself. But since he said it's an impact break, they only pay 50%. I tell michelin, I want a second opinion, they send me to another tire rep, who starts complaining about this is the 5th car this same type with same tires with SAME PROBLEM. We call michelin back, he informs of no rim damage, sidewall damage, and why are they hassleing me about getting a new tire. Michelin wanted him to dismount the tire, and check the inside for "cuts" in the inner bladder, which replaces the tubes which used to be in the tires. If you get a cut in "bladder" the air will seep out at the cut and bulge the outer tread. This guy refused to dismount the tire and inspect since they only give him the cost he pays for the tire, and he has to wait 3-months for his money. Soooo, michelin says he is a disgruntled dealer, and now wants me to go to a third dealer, if I still want to dispute their claim.........Which I do....I want 100% reimbursement for their crappy tire, Hell, buy back the other 3 from me, and I will get some new better tires. I also called Honda motor co (acura) and filed a complaint for an "ACURA"...luxury car, not coming with a road hazard on the tires....what does it run....$25 a tire....I am on fire about this issue.....I will also send a letter to the DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION, about this issue.....considering the firestone fiasco, I'm sure they will listen.

 

Damn I'm glad I got Kumho's...

 

i just got a bubble also...but there isn't much tread left on that tire, i would probably have to replace it by winter anyways...

do u think michelin will be able to cover part of the cost b/c of the defect, since so many people have complained about it?

 

odds are yours isnt a defect but was caused by a pothole or curb, which wouldnt be covered

 

This post was started 4 yrs ago, and it is very very very rare to get a bubble covered under warranty since 99% of the time it is caused by a pothole or road debris which is not covered under the standard warranty.

 

Had two tires replaced. 50% coverage. Cost $108 each.