Xerxes480, I just started to believe this since a few days ago...


BTW, if anyone isn't happy with their original PVC EL42s and think of trading up, why not to get those so-called "new" TU2 EL42s and get some discount from tire shops? Under this situation, no matter TU2 is equal to PVC or not, the new tires would give you the fresh start and leverage to talk the trade/swap.

 

Xerxes480,

The BS dealer could only put on a PVC, the TU2 is only sold to Acura, that is how they determine where the tire originated from.

Actually I think you have 30 days to swap a tire that you bought at a BS store, I forget where I read it, call the place that you purchased it from.

Have you opened a complaint with Acura and BS ?

 

Bridgestone store manager and district manager told me the same thing- that the old and new EL-42's are the same tire with no change... I had the original EL-42's, then the 'new' El-42's and now the LS-Z's, which I got for free. As I posted before, contacted District Manager, he made me and appt. at Firestone store. They determined the first two tires they checked had too much movement on balancer... didn't bother to check the other two tires when I mentioned the LS-Z's, just ordered me four new tires.... They do seem better, handles better. Seems quiet, but my EL-42's were as well, just vibrated. Vibration is also better, but I still have the steering wheel slightly rock a little back and forth on some interstate roads. Other posts suggest I may need alignment checked and a Roadforce balance to maybe help... I did notice these LS-Z's were made in Japan, while the EL-42's were made in US, maybe a good thing.

 

dheel, roughly when did you have the tires swapped ?

 

dheel: How does one contact a district manager?!

 

I'm not sure actaully how many ppl have called to Bridgestone (BS). And, how many ppl called have obtained the similar results as those receiving the upgrade tires in exchange of EL42s?

BS may stand firmly with their policy and continuingly help Acura customers for new tires. But BS now seems to change their policy right away after there are overwhelming Acura customers making phone calls to ask for swap of tires.

Besides dheel in NC and KeithL in Atlanta, I haven't seen anyone getting free swap to BS's top model of tires. Am I right?

 

RonA from FL got the swap for I think $150

 

Give this a try

http://www.mastercare-usa.com/servle...rict/baltimore

 

I got the LS-Z's installed last Friday, I had contacted the District Manager the week before and had an appt. at the Firestone store on Friday of the that week. Took a week to get tires in, truck comes only on Friday's.
I didn't have one bit of problem getting the new tires, things may be different now that more people are doing this? I probably had around 500-600 miles on the set of the new EL-42's they replaced.

 

Short veriosn (long verision is ina thread somewhere here):

Called Bridgestone opedn a case, they sent me to Firestone store. They didn;t know what to do so I called Bridgestone back, they had district mgr call me. We talked 10 min and without a hassle he gave me LS-Z. Had them over nighted in and then on the car. I was armed with much info about all the reports that Acura knows there is a problme and such, he was not aware of it. My guess is they might be catching on now. If they want more than say $100-$15 for the set of LS-Z then spend your money on Falken for around $100 a tire or if you swing it the Michelins. Personally I proabbly will ditch these for Michilins next Winter becasue I see they flat spot a tad now, will probably be more in winter, maybe not as bad as EL42, but I was not ready to drop $800+ on new tires before my first car payment.

 

Not all BS tires have 30 return and OEM tires do not.

 

I got mine the first week of April so in the last 3 weeks I am sure BS is getting many calls. I would guess they are catching on and informing their stores and DMs, they want to save face more than Acura so they either give them free or minimal charge to help customer out.

 

roadman already answered. But that is the way I contacted my area Bridgestone District Manager. Contacted him, explained my problem with the second set of EL-42's and stated maybe they could offer a better designed tire suited for my car. He made me an appt. at a Firestone store, he notified the store manager about me. After they determined two tires had too much movement, I suggested the LS-Z's. I said I hear they are suppose to be a lot better designed tire, (look at technology design specs on the BS website on LS-Z compared to EL-42, which has nothing listed!) He then ordered me the LS-Z's.

 

undefinedundefinedundefinedundefined

 

Let's keep fingers cross.

I'm pretty sure you guys are only two getting free swap so far... wish I'm wrong here.


Hopefully BS would make all Acura customers happy. But I really doubt it. It'll be good if we cannot get free but just pay the small amount of difference.

 

undefinedundefinedundefined


Purchased my Acura also from Sunnyside Acura in Nashua NH and made a complaint about the tires to Bridgestone and Acura. Bridgestone sent me to the local store in which they checked the air and said the problem was corrected. Noticed the vibration and flat spots and notified the dealer who in return is setting up a date/time for the factory rep to check out the problem.
In any case, I am not too crazy about getting anymore Bridgestone products but again, do we have a choice?

 

Guys... and gals.
Like I said, I would report back on the "new" (TU2) vs "old" el42s.
Yesterday on my way to the dealership, I noted the vibration... at 49 degrees. I had 7,320 miles on the old Bridgestones.
They put on the "new" EL42s (whatever those are) They are a slightly different looking tire as the bead actually sticks out farther than the stock wheels. My old ones did not do that.
This morning, at 45 degrees, with the newer tires, I noticed nothing at 50 mph. I did notice very slight vibes at 80mph but no where near what I experienced from the previous tires. So... different or the same, softer or harder (was told the new were slightly harder), the ride was better with less vibration. Like many, I would have liked the Michelin Pilot sports but hey, I got 7K extra miles and it rides better at equal or lower temperature... So I guess that's the best I can do.

 

I remember a post by dshahs in MA who got the free LS-Z's as well. Guess that makes three of us, good luck to all.

 

BS is getting definately getting calls acording to the DM I spoke to. I am surprised that the TL has been out 6 months or so and all of a sudden people are complaining about the tires. The Flat Spotting issue must have been horrendous in Jan and Feb when every day temps were in the Teens.

My dealership has given me mixed info, the Service Mgr and Sales Mgr say that a lot of people are complaining. The salesman, Parts Mgr and GM say that I am the only person that they heard of with a problem. ACS of course says that they never had a single tire complaint prior to mine.

 

We should all agree to go to the same dealership and complain so all of us will not be "the only one" the dealership ever heard of.

 

Sorry, my fault. He is one of you guys.

Threesome now.

 

It's weird and satirised. BS claims tons of ppl calling in, however, Acura refuses to admit of the truth and says only a very few ppl complaining this EL42 issue so far... (although Acura denies any wrong doing with EL42s, they still actively give me so-called "new" TU2 EL42s)


Otherwise, I have to mention this again. Way back to the end of Nov., I and a few ppl in this forum called to BS customer center without any success. The answer I got was to go back to my dealer and find the solution from Acura instead of BS. BS told me our EL42s, OEM tires of Acura TL, should be dealt by Acura dealers directly and any warranty issues should be addressed by performed by Acura instead of BS.

If I don't see those three ppl (dheel in NC, KeithL in Atlanta, and dshahs in MA) above successfully getting the free replacement as well as Ron A is dealing with his case in FL now, I wouldn't like to try this again... Also, roadman, you're the one I have to thank, too. Let's see what's going on soon...





Remember, this forum may only have 1% of 04TLers involved, we still don't know what's going on in the real world. (So far I know three of 04TLers never participating in this forum, there are more on the streets)
:o

 

Well, spoke to my dealer today and they have ordered replacement tires for me. Will be here this Thursday. I can't believe that they did this without a fight. I am looking forward to seeing what difference it will make.

 

It's almost laughable. The mechanic who drove with me and recommended new EL42's mentioned that he had recommended new tires for almost every person he ended up driving with. When I returned to the dealer, the service manager was SO surprised that I needed new tires because she hadn't seen it before. Later, she said it would probably take six weeks for my tires, because that's what it had been taking for the previous orders she'd placed for new EL42's. Orders she'd placed before.....for a problem she said she hadn't seen before.

 

They are exactly the same, the difference you will feel is the perception that you have new and improved tires.

You can call BS and check prior to going to the dealer

 

[QUOTE=roadman]Here is the scoop on the 'Old" EL-42's.

First PVC and TU2 are identical tires, no changes at all between the 2. An old TU2 would be a TU1. The code stands for T=Turanza, U=Dealer code, 2= version #. BS provided the info on the codes. They did offer the breakdown of PVC.

Would you mind telling us exactly where you have obtained this info?
I have read too much crap on the forum that turns out to be BS (and I ain't speaking about Bridgestone!)

Thanks,

Eneg

 

Bridgestone Engineering and a District Mgr.

Here is the Albany Area Mgr #, you may have to search for your exact area.

http://www.mastercare-usa.com/servlet/district/albany

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman

Bridgestone Engineering and a District Mgr.

Here is the Albany Area Mgr #, you may have to search for your exact area.

http://www.mastercare-usa.com/servlet/district/albany

Hi Roadman,

Just to make sure that I understand you, do these people
all work in a Firestone store?

Thanks,

eneg

 

DS is the Mgr of many stores, the other is in Engineering. They work for Bridgestone/Firestone Coprorate. They do not go to work in a tire store directly.

 

Okay. This is just my opinion, but you have probably been given the wrong information by people that probably aren't even aware of what is going on with the TL.
There is a post that is a down a few from yours that states that the new tires have a slightly different look than the old tires.
He probably knows more about the tires than the "experts" at Bridgestone.
Just a guess on my part, but I don't think that Acura would play these types of games. . .

Eneg

 

Eneg,

Could be, who knows, but they seemed to know a lot of info and they work for BS, they had no reason to give me mis-information. If there was a reformulated tire then they would have told me to get that one free from Acura.

Today I was in a tire store to see if I could swap my tires for some other brand, and he told me that the EL42's were on clearance so their value as a trade in was nill.

Has anyone tried a 235/50-17 on the TL ? This size seems to be in stock at couple of places that I called. It would be a slightly taller tire than OEM.

 

This has been beaten to death, but maybe this will help those of you with flat-spotting/vibration problems.

I went through the whole rigmarole of calling the dealer, calling ACS, blah blah, for two months. Finally last week the dealer put "new" EL42s on, which solved the flat-spotting somewhat, but I still had a pretty nasty vibration at 60MPH. I was still not happy, so I took it back yesterday.

They kept it until today and they said the "new" EL42w were also bad because, even after balancing them, the vibration was still there around 68 MPH.

Here is the twist - they pulled new tires AND new rims off an April production car and put them on my car - Problem solved. I have not seen any threads about bad rims, and all the focus has been on the EL42s.

Maybe the EL42s were partly to blame, but maybe they had a rim problem as well. Either way, the car is smooth as glass now.

S

 

s54:

Thanks! Could you put your comment as a new thread so that people can see?

 

30 DAY TEST DRIVE
All Bridgestone and Firestone passenger light truck tires except: runflat, sealant, winter, and temporary spare tires, sold through an authorized dealer are covered by the 30 Day Test Drive. If a retail customer who purchased eligible Bridgestone or Firestone tires is not completely satisfied, they can return the tires to the location from which the tires were purchased within “30 days” of purchase for a full refund or exchange. Original proof of purchase is required. Tires received as original equipment on new vehicles are not covered by the 30 Day Test Drive. See retailer for details.

Does not apply to OEM

 

 

has anyone switched rims but kept the EL42's?

 

I wanna know, too.... :o

 

:lol1:

No offense...
I would think anyone willing to drop some serious bling on rims would ditch them crappy tires!!

 

I have an 04 TL (600 miles) with upgrade BS EL-42's and have noted vibration when first driving the car in the mornings but the problem seems better after driving for a half hour or so but the tires are not acceptable.
I avoided the dealership and called Bridgestone directly and they put me in contact with the local Bridgestone dealer and I was told to bring the car in on the same day. They took the car in immediately and balanced and checked the tires. The manager told me that everything was ok and he would exchange the tires for another set of EL-42's. I told him that tires had a known issue and that I didn't want more of the same. He gave me brochures showing other tires (Turanza LS-Z) and told me to make a decision and call him back. After scanning the posts, I decided on getting the Turanza LS-Z's,and called the manager. He will have them installed Friday morning. (I will check the posts about LS-Z's Again)
After owning many cars in my like I realize this type of exchange can really get nasty but I have to admit that Bridgestone was professional and willing to do the exchange without problems. That is a positive sign for a company.
Since the tires are expensive to replace, I will buy road hazard protection.
Sure, I would rather have Michelins or another brand but Bridgestone is being easy to deal with on this issue and I can't really complain.
I still have a 02 TL with a potential defective transmission and wish that Acura would treat the customers with the same courtesy as Bridgestone.

 

that would be foolish. spend the xtra cash to get 18's