I have a 2002 TLS with about 42K miles. I have the original tires on them .. or I should say, HAD the original tires on them. I just replaced my third tire on this car ... and not because of tire wear.

You see, living in New England, you constantly run into pot holes. However, I've never had as many problems with tires in NE as I have with the Acura.

Last year, I noticed a huge bubble on the outer wall of the front passenger tire. Had to get that replaced. Dealer said it from hitting a pothole or curb. $250.

This year, about 2 weeks ago, saw a flat in my rear driver tire. When I took the tire off, i noticed a cut on the inside wall of the tire and another bubble. Evidently, a pot hole or something cut the inside of the tire. Another $260.

Then, this week, I came home from a trip, went to my car and saw ANOTHER FLAT!! Boy, was I upset. This time, as I tried putting air in them and hear a hissing sound that was coming INSIDE the tire. This time, I went to a local tire dealer to see if it could be fixed. He said that it was leaking inside. The tire formed an air bubble inside from an impact, again either a pot hole or curb, that caused an air bubble which was leaking. Another $230.

In any event, it seems that the Michelin tires are not very durable. The dealers who replaced the tires said that due to the low profile, high performance nature of the tire, they are not going to be forgiving with impacts.

Anyone had any similar experiences to this with their Michelin tires? Are there better quality, low cost, tires I should consider int he future?

Thanks ...
John

 

stock michelin tires sucks balls....the bubble problem has been discussed since 1999 when the damn TL first came out...paying $230 to get it repaired/replaced with another bad stock tire is a sad mistake in my opinion...better to just dump it and get a diff brand/style.

 

Thanks ... for future reference, what do people recommend for replacement tires in place of the Michelins?

 

I a lot ppl get cheaper replacements like used ones or another brand. @ $260 I would of sold u mine for like $100 lol

 

Strange... I've never had any problems with my stock Michelins - regardless of how uninspiring they are in terms of performance. Actually, I've been using these tires since 1992 since our Volvo used 'em.... never had to replace a tire unless it was due to normal wear. Aren't problems with the sidewall, etc. covered under the tire warranty? I was just told that that's what the whole warranty is for. Also, don't forget to keep an eye on tire pressure and do it regularly!!

P.S. Having said that, I'm switching to a new brand of tire for my 'new' 1999 TL! ...See my current post!

 

dude, dont spend another dime on those crappy michelins. there are many alternatives. some of the more popular ones are the sumitomo htr+, continental conti extreme contact or something liek that, and if you want performance, toyo t1s.

 

our oem tires in a word siht

 

yes, join the club, especially in the north east - these tires bubble way too easy. Try searching many people have switched to sumitomo htr+ and to continental

 

This is what I went with and have no regrets.
For some reason, the Michs on the TL's are just horrible in all ascpects.

 

Oem suck....i replaced 2 already...one blew out on the highway and one had a bubble...this weekend the last 2 pieces of crap are coming off.....i will have them replaced with Yokohamas avs es100....so far no problems......hopefully these will last longer than the Michss!!

 

My friends GS400 have Sumitomos and it's noisy. It has this flopping noise.
Stay away from Nankang and low end Bridgestone tires. I think any tire you buy for less than $100 will give you a problem.

 

the michelin tires i had went out of round so fast it's crazy, but i'm just glad the service people were able to figure out the problem.

damn vibrations.

 

 

I replaced all of the Michelin tires. I am really pissed after i replaced them I found out Costco has them and cover them for 60k miles. It is better that i dont even get them regardless so i dont have to deal with the hassle. Yep, i had all 4 tires with bubbles, they suck. Worst overrated tires ever.

 

I say you buy a set of Toyo's. They have the been the #1 rated tire company for like 7 years in a row so they make quality tires.

 

I've got the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S and I absolutely love them!! TWO THUMBS UP FOR ME!

 

Yea it could be a rock, but the tow truck is on the way here now. i will find out soon enough. later man.

 

Now I am willing to bet all you complainers about these tires are young and drive your cars hard. I for one had them on my 98 Accord and my TL and have been an excellent well wearing tires.

 

 

There are way too many people on here with sidewall bubbles on the Michelins. You just have been the lucky one. Go to tirerack.com and see for yourself, there is a shitload of complaints. Fuck Michelin. Good luck with your tires.

 

I also had them on my 99 Accord and now my 99 TL. I replaced the Accord tires with Yokohama tires rated for the same performance. (sorry, don't remember the model). When I took the car on the freeway, it felt like someone had deflated the tires to 20lbs and spread foam rubber all over the road. It was very unsettling.

The tire center (TireForce) I bought them at let me trade up to the Michilins and pay only the difference even though I'd already worn the nips off the other tires and special ordered them. I wish customer service like this wasn't so rare!

So the michilins, for the average consumer, are a great performance tire. For someone with an s-type who really gets after it, you'll need to talk to them... I've heard that TOro is incredible. As far as potholes, I have read that lower profile tires are less forgiving to potholes and such.

Here's what I did. I got a great stereo and slowed down to make the ride longer

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by BLEXV6

Now I am willing to bet all you complainers about these tires are young and drive your cars hard. I for one had them on my 98 Accord and my TL and have been an excellent well wearing tires.

FYI, I'm 37, 2 kids and a wife and I treat my car with so much care, I can be labeled ridiculous. I pick and choose where I park and where I drive my car. I avoid construction areas and very meticulous about my car and paranoid about dings scratches and other damage. In short, I've NEVER hit a pothole or curb. I noticed a bubble on one of my OEM Michelins (HX MXM4 215/50/17 93V) when I took them off last November for the winter. I brought the tire to 3 Acura dealers and 2 Michelin dealers, all of whom "claimed" that I hit a pothole or a curb without even looking at the tire. I was forced to buy a new tire at $314.00 canadian, With several calls and e-mails with Michelin and Acura, I finally got my $190.00 back (prorated at 10,000 kms).

This unpleasant experience along with the numerous opinions on this forum about the state of the stock Michelin MXM4 leads me to believe that the tire fitted for the TL Type-S is either defective or not suited for the car. The same type of tire is on the TSX and the RSX Type-S.

However, the Michelin Energy MXV (205/60/16 91V stock OEM for the TL-P) was what I used over the winter and I can't say anything bad about it. It was better on gas and much more quieter. Although losing some performance qualities if used with the Type-S.

 

Remember to do a search on old posts. Michellin seems to generally have a goodwill discount of 50-60% off new tires for Acura -TLS with bubbles. I had all 3 tires replaced for 100 each. Not a bad deal. But there's is definitely something going wrong with the tires and our model. Try to complain to Acura customer service and see if they can do anything about it. Just remember to mention your make and model, they've been getting many of these cases.

 

If you go to Acura/ Honda, they will NOT warranty the tire that came with the car. They do not want anything to do with it. I got that straight from the service advisor. Anything you buy after that is warrantied except for the factory tires. It seems this is the way Honda gets a decent deal on the OEMs in bulk so neither Honda or Michelin will actually back the product up with a warranty when it fails.

The only way I got money back was that I bitched like hell about the extra "bumper to bumper" warranty that I paid on top of the price of the car. My argument was- that the reason why I bought the extra warranty is for peace of mind. And that if they weren't gonna warranty the tires, then they should have told me that in the first place so I would not have picked up the car or went to another car brand that will warranty the tires like Lexus. I wrote them a nasty letter about their products, reputation, selling practices, etc... and I guess they worked out who was gonna shell out the money for the defective product.

Taught me more lessons- make sure that EVERYTHING on the car is covered before you sign that offer for extra warranty, and research a product thoroughly before buying.

Goodwill discount or no goodwill discount, I will NOT get another Michelin after finding out this practice. Heck, I might not even get another Acura. This is just the tires, wait till my tranny goes, then they'll surely feel my wrath...

(Just letting steam off, guys bear with me.....)

 

YIKES!!!! I sure hope Vicman17's tranny doesn't go
:chainsaw:

 

You can't beat the bang for the buck of the Conti' ExtremeContacts. I paid $86/each on tirerack.com. Consistant 2.1 60' times at the track too

 

Add me to the list of people with a bubble on the sidewall. I was shocked to discover a bubble on my left front tire, even though I don't ever remember hitting a pothole, and I really don't drive too aggressive. I've had a few cars now, and I've never had these to any of the other tires I have used. Obviously this is a problem with the tire as whole, and not with the drivers.

I would be interested to know how many of these tires blew out and how many people were hurt (or died) as a result of these tires.

For Michelin, this is a really good way of losing customers, since I for one won't ever buy Michelins... :thefinger

 

Again, not all Michellin tires are bad quality. Just the models on our TLs that are complete shit. The Pilot Sports are great tires..and it's from Michellin.

 

I just got a set of Yokohama Avid V4S tires. Wow. . what a difference. Much quieter, better handling and also a great price compared to the crappy Michelins. Got em for $118 ea. . . Sweet tires. . .

 

 

If tou are gonna replace Michelins on your car make sure it is a V rated tire. The Contintentals are WR rated. Thats why they wear out so fast.

 

I've had my Conti's for nearly 30k miles and they are wearing wonderfully. I've also made 30+ passes down the track. They still have at least 50% tread left.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrsteve

I've had my Conti's for nearly 30k miles and they are wearing wonderfully. I've also made 30+ passes down the track. They still have at least 50% tread left.

Were they the stock size? Coz they look wider in the photo. Also what's the treadwear rating on the Conti's?

 

I have a sidewall bubble on the oem Mich pilots that came on my 02 tl-s.

Would be interesting to get some sort of survey or petition going on this site since there are SOO many people with the sidewall bubble problems.

Any takers????

 

lol I still have my oem tires and I have about 63k miles on them.....they are bald as **** though. Worth every penny to me so far. I need to replace them asap and get some new brake pads though...starting to make noises when I brake moderately.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by White-tls

I have a sidewall bubble on the oem Mich pilots that came on my 02 tl-s.

Would be interesting to get some sort of survey or petition going on this site since there are SOO many people with the sidewall bubble problems.

Any takers????

I think what most members are doing are just ridding themselves of a known problem and switching to another brand. This might send a message one way and Michelin loses Acura TL owners to another brand but might sell their inferior products to say Nissan or Mazda and God forbid the high-quality North American brands so the problem goes on.

I think a petition would make more sense for as consumers, we should be able to voice out opinions, experiences and comments about a certain product or service and possible get something tangible out of it. As I said before in a previous post, although Michelin makes some good tires, this OEM tire seems to be crap. And for Acura/ Honda to wash their hands of it and not want anything to do with the tire that comes with the cars they sell, maybe they should change also this practice. Why would they include tires on their cars that they would not back up with a warranty??

If an Admin/ Moderator would agree, this should be a sticky.

 

What sucks is that my Michelins can't have more than 8K miles and I got a bubble in one of them over the weekend. I'd like to go with another brand, but my other three are practically brand new, you can't have the tires not matching. I'm in a pissing match right now with Michelin corporate. I refuse to drop $203 to replace my tire.

 

I'd like to know what size those are too. Hell, for that price I'd dump my Michs right now!

 

After my 2nd bubble, I dumped the Michelins as well. I bought 2 Sumitomo tires from tirerack and replaced them. I'm just hoping I don't have the same problem with these tires...

 

I also have Contis 235/45/17 on stock rims, and they are awesome. Only had mine for about 10000 miles, but good wear, I think the treadwear is 400, maybe 320. Tirerack is a great lookup for the ratings and general info on tires. Good Luck