Vicman17

Last week, I switched to my winter use tires and noticed that one of my stock 17" Michelin MXM4s had a "bulge" on the outer sidewall. I called the dealer (Downtown Acura at Front St.)where I purchased the car from. The Service tech right on the phone said "Michelin doesn't warranty sidewall damage because you hit a curb or a pothole" He didn't even listen to my explanation(never said I hit a curb/ pothole) and was "no, no, no you have to buy a new tire, that one is no longer usable".

I e-mailed Michelin and stated my case. I had a reply back :

"Thank you for visiting our Web site and sending us your e-mail.

The Michelin Limited Warranty covers defects in workmanship or material for the
life of the tread or six years whichever comes first.

We would recommend taking your 2003 Acura TL S to an authorized Michelin dealer
to inspect your tire for warranty eligibility.

You can locate an authorized Michelin dealer in the yellow pages of your
telephone book under tire dealers.

If you have additional questions, please respond to this email
or you may call us at 1-800-847-3435 (toll-free) between
8:30AM and 6:00PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday to allow
one of our Consumer Relations Representatives to assist you.

Michelin North America
Consumer Relations Department"

Went to 4 different Michelin tire dealers (Active Green and Ross) showed them the e-mail and all said that according to their experience, Acura should have been extending warranty on the tire since the car has only 10,500 kms, didn't eben want to look at the tire.

I went to an Acura dealer close to my residence (Terrace Gate) and a service tech simply looked at the tire, asked me if I wanted a new one and arranged an appointment for me to have it done. This one stated that I had to pay the $280.00 for the tire but he will fill out a warranty claim form so I can get my money back.

Maybe Michelin should consider improving their product to have it ssuitable for city driving and Acura should know better than to deal with an inferior tire company.

Maybe we should start a petition on these defective factory stock Michelins, I know a lot of TL-S owners in this forum had a problem with the quality.

kman156

almost all the manufactures have the mass production line for the auto makers, mostly the all season overpriced line, and then they have their high perf /racing divisions that make the sticky we like! as soon as your stock tires are done , go high performance! you will feel and love the difference!

LargeOne

I took my tires off at 14k just to get rid of them... they were horrible... I love my new ones... been driving on them 20k now with no problems and great grip...