CJinNOLA

I purchased a certified 2013 TL (Base w/ Tech) in late January of this year. It had a little less than 35k miles with the original Michelin Pilot MXM4 tires as far as I can tell. It came to Louisiana from Florida. Got a nail in a rear tire two days ago and took it to the Honda dealership that did my last oil change and rotated the tires to find out if they could fix it. Was told no, due to two factors, nail was too close to the outer part of the tire and the tire had significant dry rotting. When I asked about the other tires, he indicated that they all had a significant dry rot issue. I've emailed Acura about the issue of a certified used car having significant dry rot issues at the time of sale and if that should have prompted the dealer to change the tires before selling it as certified. I certainly do not want to pay $1200.00+ for a new set after having the car less than 6 months. I have heard back from them via email and they have assigned a case manager to give me a call in the next 2 business days but wanted to get opinions from this forum.

If any of you have had an issue with buying a certified car only to find that something wasn't properly inspected, please chime in on your experience and what, if any help Acura has given to you. Additionally, when I reviewed the Certified Pre-Owned Inspection Checklist that I was given a copy of, no problems with tires were noted but the inspection also noted that items "met standards" for some options that weren't even on my car, like remote start and a couple others. The Honda dealership also told me that the hood struts needed replacing as they failed when the oil change was completed. Seems like that would have been noticed in the certified inspection as well. Wondering how thoroughly this car was inspected. I'm no expert; the tire tread looked okay but I did not have the knowledge to check for dry rot when I purchased it.

If I do end up having to purchase new tires, what tires are you using and why? Originals are expensive but pretty highly rated. Besides the original tires, I've looked online at Turanza Serenity Plus, EL-400 and a few others. All have good reviews and bad reviews so not sure what to get if I have to. Live in New Orleans with hot humid summers, warm spring and fall and winters are mild with no snow, ice. We do get a lot of rain storms with heavy rain on the roadways during those.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

A few thoughts:

• Dry rot on four to five year old tires, especially down South, isn't terribly surprising; especially on a low mileage car (driving actually helps prevent dry rot).
• Given how many bogus claims of tires in jeopardy of imminent failure (for any number of reasons) I've heard over the years, I would strongly recommend a second opinion.
• As a general rule, dry rot is relatively easy to pick out on the sidewalls of your tires (refer to the following picture).

CJinNOLA

Thank you for the input! And for the pic as an example. When I bought the car, the tires were pretty "armoralled" up so it might have been hard to notice even if I knew to look for it, lol. And the dry rot is more significant on the tread than the sidewall. The car was initially sold in late March, 2013 making it close to four years old when I purchased it but I would've thought Michelin tires would have held up better than most. Even if the dry rot is somewhat normal for a tire of that age, I would think they would've replaced them prior to selling the car as certified.

I did get a second opinion from a local mechanic after they put the spare on. They would've had to order the tire(s) anyway as it wasn't in stock and that gave me the opportunity to contact Acura prior to having to purchase something new. Mechanic had the same opinion on the tires.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the feedback; sounds like a new set of tires is in your near future, hopefully your CPO warranty will cover them.

FWIW, dry rot is pretty common on cars which spend a lot of time not being driven regularly; when I was shopping for my TL earlier this year I found a 2006 6MT with only 20,300 miles on the clock. The car was immaculate and I really wanted it, but the seller wanted $14,000 for it (and ultimately got that price). That said, the tires were dry rotted all over; had I been able to strike a deal on that car I wouldn't have driven it ten miles before a new set of skins went on.

thoiboi

Contradicting statements

No one tire shine tread.

VanyDotK

iTrader: (6)

You have to watch out for Acura Certified cars. Acura corporate may set the standard but privately owned dealerships may not follow them. I was car shopping about 6 years ago and was looking at a certified 08 TL-S in blue. I took a quick inspection and all four rims were curbed and there were missing push pins from the front bumper. The sales manager seemed pretty douchy as well. I know it's already too late since you bought the car, but this is a warning to others that certified doesn't mean anything and you should check the car thoroughly yourself.

Hopefully they take care of you in this situation, keep us updated!

Anicra

On bright side, at least it did not come with Eagle RS tire. Then you have dry rot and ultra sucky dry performance, noise, rough ride and poor rain performance too.

CJinNOLA

UPDATE: Acura called on 7/18 to let me know that the tires would be replaced at no charge. Acura and the dealership agreed to split the charges. Took it in today and got the new tires (same as originals - Michelin Pilot MXM4). They asked that I pay for the alignment and did so at a cost of $81.77 which wasn't bad. Glad for the help that I received from Acura Client Services!

Thanks to all of you who posted in this thread!

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

I bought a car almost nine years ago which came with Eagle RSAs from the factory; I ordered a new set of Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires that day and had them mounted by the dealer after only something like 400 miles. The improvement in the overall driving experience was astounding.

NBP04TL4ME

Congrats on getting things to work out in your favor However with that said, I would have pushed to have the dealer take care of the alignment as well. You don't put brand new tires on a vehicle without doing an alignment. They replaced the tires, they should cover that alignment as part of the job. They could have argued that it's not necessary, but you don't know for sure until you have uneven tire wear or reset everything by doing an alignment. Did the dealership give you the alignment worksheet showing before and after specs??

hadokenuh

I wouldn't push. I'd want to come back the dealership where they'd want me as a customer, and not "one of those". Plus $80 for alignment is not bad at all, plus he got free tires

OP - congrats on the TL and new tires.