Soooooo.......... What are you going to be driving on while you send the suspect tire back to Tirerack??

 

Sounds like a total royal pita.
Sorry to hear, I know now I will never get tire racks road hazard policy.

 

Maybe you can grease the skids with Sonny??

 

Just making short errands on the spare with VSA off. The replacement tire will be at the UPS facility in town tomorrow, so I'm going to see if TR will have it held there for pick up so I can get it a day early (not scheduled for delivery until Friday).

I may have to make a road trip tomorrow morning, though. If so, I'll slap my other set of tires/wheels on for that.

It's not their fault if it's not road hazard... Nothing they can do about that. It falls back to the manufacturer now. If they find some road hazard damage that Sears didn't, then they will ship the tire to Sonsio.

It's all part of the process, it's just a PITA. It would be the same if I had bought the tires in town, because no one stocks those tires. I'd still be waiting for a replacement tire...

 

So, the experts at TireRack say it was indeed road hazard damage: impact damage. I don't remember hitting anything and the tire shop had no issues balancing that wheel, so I dunno.

At any rate, my refund will now be coming from the warranty company and not TireRack. I'll close this out when I get my check.

 

Long drawn out process, but I guess it is seemingly going your way.

 

I apologize for not seeing this sooner. Never hesitate to contact me direct. I am always glad to assist.

 

Sonny, I certainly know that. I wanted to let the "system" work. If I run into a jam, I wouldn't hesitate to contact you. Thanks for chiming in

Love these tires and the wheels as well!!! I almost like the wheels better than my stock chrome wheels, and maybe I actually do?

 

Good thread. FWIW, I'm in Colorado and run DWS tires during most of the year, and Blizzaks during January/February. The DWS set worked well in the snow for their first winter, but after 20k miles or so, they just slid on the snow/ice. So my theory is that they are fine for their first 1 or 2 winters, and after that they are still fine for Spring/Summer/Fall use.

 

^^^^ That would seem to make sense as the "S" in the DWS would disappear first as the tire wears.

 

I have had 2 sets of dws and drive them year round and agree. They are usually good for a winter or two depending how late in the year I installed them and after that they are terrible in snow. They just seem to wear down pretty quickly. I have about 40k miles on the current set and my wife recently had to use my car, she was quick to say my car was terrible in the weather. She drives an awd mdx so drastic difference for her. Figure I have managed through 90k miles without dedicated snows so I haven't been quick to buy anything for the bad 3 months of the year in Chicagoland. I do however need new tires and believe I will look for something else besides the dws this time around. I drive like an old lady the older I get and just need some good all season tires with good tread, not so much the ultra high performance summer tires.

 

So, here's the final chapter:

The warranty company, Sonsio, looked at pictures that TireRack sent them of the tire. Sonsio claimed the pictures showed no evidence of "impact damage" and demanded that TireRack ship the tire to them. When Sonsio received the tire, they still claimed there was no road hazard damage.

In the end (I believe largely due to Sonny's intervention), the two companies agreed to split the claim, each paying me half. So, I received a credit card refund from TireRack and a check from Sonsio which covered the cost of the new tire plus shipping.

These tires/wheels continue to have no issues and I continue to be extremely pleased with them. I highly recommend both if they fit your needs.

And thanks again to Sonny for mediating/expediting a satisfactory outcome to this issue!!

 

So in the end, it seems to have worked out, but it did take awhile to get sorted.

 

No problem, glad to help! Keep me updated if need be.

 

I got DWS's installed the first weekend in January and have put a whopping 25 miles on them (driving home from the shop). Car's been sitting since then, but I really should try them out before the snow's gone. I've only been averaging around 1,000 miles the last couple winters, and I run summer tires the rest of the year, so they shouldn't wear down the "S" for awhile, lol. My Continental DW summer tires don't last much more than 16-17k though. I replace them every other spring. LOVE the DW.

 

This thread seems to have gone way OT. For anyone considering an all season in the winter of Upstate NY, or anywhere else that gets decent snowfall, get a dedicated snow tire. All-seasons handle completely different in sub-freezing temperatures than snow tires. Anyone who lives in a place that gets a lot of snow should have a set of winter tires and a set of summer tires for all their vehicles. FWIW, many parts of Canada require (by law) you to run snow tires in the winter, and for good reason.

 

I had DWS for one winter and they were "ok". I now have a set of winter tires, General Altimax Artics (recommended by fsttyms1) and I love'em, they don't cost a lot of $$ and grip very well.

It's a very popular choice for the snow tire class for ICE Rally X

Here's my TL on ICE

 

^ Another shining endorsement for the Altimax Arctics, although they were on our Mitsubishi Endeavor, not my TL (which had Yokohama IceGuard ig52cs, which I do NOT recommend). The Altimax Arctics made this pretty brutal winter very manageable on the Mitsu compared to previous seasons in Toronto where we had run all-seasons on it.

 

I have used the following all season
Nokian WRG2 - best all season - expensive
DWS - Good all season - the S wears off and the snow traction was low
Falken Ziex ZE950 A/S - very good all season

 

Mfr site says discontinued? Nokian WR G2 - The WR G2, Nokian Tyres? third generation in the unique line of ?All-Weather Plus? tires, offers the best performance in every season. / Nokian Tires

 

As said above if you are in the upper parts of the snow belt like upstate NY dedicated snows like Blizzaks or Nokians are a must. And these brands have upper end performance oriented models in our sizes.

Closer to NYC there is snow of course, but nowhere as bad. I wanted something that will go from November to April with the majority of days without snow on the ground and still have no compromise with performance instead of a dedicated snow tire. I went with Goodyear as well. I have been VERY happy with the F1 All-season tires. If you liked the Assurance triple-tread, think of these as the ultimate version of those: Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season - Super Street Magazine They have carbon reinforced sidewalls, so the car still handles like it's on rails. They work good with rain and dry as well.

I've been wanting to replace these with the same but the problem is they are out of production. The new series started in 2012 and they are not the same and are asymmetric. Because my car is lowered and I flip and rotate, I'd prefer symmetric. The problem is most good tires in this category are asymmetrical nowadays. This is a very niche category and there are few choices. I have never been a fan of Continental.

I narrowed it down to this model now: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes I had BFG Traction TAs on an old car and was happy with them, they are an under-rated brand. I am seeing polarizing reviews about this one though. Very good and very bad. I dunno what to think.

 

It's now called the Nokian WRG3 should be better
I have used the WR , WRG2 , they only get better..

 

I live in Colorado and just drove through my first winter with a set of Nokian WRG 2s... I absolutely love them. Only drawback is they are expensive, especially at my 19" wheel size. Snow, rain, and dry handling are all excellent. Honestly I'm amazed.