Catastrophic Tire Failure 70mph

[Angelo In Seattle]

Hey guys, I sure had a hell of a day yesterday. Believe it or not, I was actually on my way to Kia in Kirkland WA from work for my 30 day followup appt / have my plates put on. I am driving along, about 7 miles into the 28 mile drive. Doing about 65-70mph then all of a sudden bam, lots or tire smoke, chunks of rubber, vibrations, I was like Oh Sh!t. I safely kept the car under control, pulled over to the shoulder, and assessed the situation. The right rear tire was completely destroyed.

This was on a Stinger GT1 with the 19'' wheel, and the Michelin Pro Pilot Z rated tires. I called the KIA 24/7 roadside assist and they had me towed to the dealer. We went ahead and put the donut on there and they looked at the tire. Long story short I could drive the car on the spare, they have to order a tire, it wont be here until at least the 6th of August, and they are planning to bill me $374 plus dollars for the tire. Now I know that road hazards exist, and that this usually has nothing to do with the dealer. However this car only has 1474 miles on it when it happened and wasn't even 3 weeks old.

I also contacted Michelin directly as it seems the tire failed completely which obviously is not a good sign, and that some other drivers have reported issues with these. I am currently running on the donut know limping at 60mph. I also have Zurich Sheild, I do not know if they will help me at all here but will call in a few hours. Just wanted to vent a bit, as it was very scary when the actual event happened yesterday on the way home. Also think it is good to share anything like this with the community to maybe help the next guy (hopefully nobody else) has to go through this.

Thanks all.

Angelo

 

[Dochidalgo]

Something similar, not so serious, happened to me, the rim pass on some object that I believe was a gravel......

 

[Volvowith18psi]

Sorry this happened to you bro. A blow out is a scary thing. This is a good reminder to always check and monitor your tire pressure, esp. on new cars. I have seen dealers and rental cars @ 46+PSI all around. That is a bomb just waiting to happen.

374 bucks seems pricey, me personally, I would probably be checking on tirerack before pulling the trigger at the stealership.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Hey guys, I sure had a hell of a day yesterday. Believe it or not, I was actually on my way to Kia in Kirkland WA from work for my 30 day followup appt / have my plates put on. I am driving along, about 7 miles into the 28 mile drive. Doing about 65-70mph then all of a sudden bam, lots or tire smoke, chunks of rubber, vibrations, I was like Oh Sh!t. I safely kept the car under control, pulled over to the shoulder, and assessed the situation. The right rear tire was completely destroyed.

This was on a Stinger GT1 with the 19'' wheel, and the Michelin Pro Pilot Z rated tires. I called the KIA 24/7 roadside assist and they had me towed to the dealer. We went ahead and put the donut on there and they looked at the tire. Long story short I could drive the car on the spare, they have to order a tire, it wont be here until at least the 6th of August, and they are planning to bill me $374 plus dollars for the tire. Now I know that road hazards exist, and that this usually has nothing to do with the dealer. However this car only has 1474 miles on it when it happened and wasn't even 3 weeks old.

I also contacted Michelin directly as it seems the tire failed completely which obviously is not a good sign, and that some other drivers have reported issues with these. I am currently running on the donut know limping at 60mph. I also have Zurich Sheild, I do not know if they will help me at all here but will call in a few hours. Just wanted to vent a bit, as it was very scary when the actual event happened yesterday on the way home. Also think it is good to share anything like this with the community to maybe help the next guy (hopefully nobody else) has to go through this.

Thanks all.

Angelo

*WHISTLE!* I did 155 MPH a couple of weeks ago, "messing around". Heh! That blowout would have been, something, at that speed. What?! I wonder what the cause of that failure was. "Rated at 180 MPH+", uh huh, sure; just not THAT particular tire!

(edit: here's the question: did you ever reduce the psi to the recommended pressure on the tag inside the driver's door frame? It says 38 front 36 rear. The dealers seem almost uniformly to leave the tires over inflated anywhere in the 50 psi range. My tires were all four above 55 psi when I got my car. A week later, I was reading in the manual and noticed the recommended psi and checked my tires and discovered the overinflation. My sales rep simply said, "that's above my pay grade"!, when I brought it to his attention. He further said that the tires come over inflated and they leave them on the cars that way. No problems. I beg to disagree. If you were running on say 55 psi that could explain it. But it doesn't explain why the dealerships send buyers happily on their way with over inflated tires!?)

 

[Angelo In Seattle]

The dealer let me leave with 51psi all around. About 3 days later I had a tire shop set them to 40 all around since they were warm.

When cold the TPMS OSD showed about 37-38.

 

[MerlintheMad]

The dealer let me leave with 51psi all around. About 3 days later I had a tire shop set them to 40 all around since they were warm.

When cold the TPMS OSD showed about 37-38.

Wow! What could have caused this then? An actual flaw in that tire? Who's to say one way or the other? The forensics are probably destroyed along with the missing material! I thought that these tires have a warranty. Michelin should honor that and be grateful they are not facing a lawsuit.

 

[Dochidalgo]

The sticker glued on the frame driver's door state (GT2)...36 psi.....even so, the Continental sportcontact 5 blowed out....Dealer and Continental wanted to charge to me a very pricey tire....I replace them for Toyo Sport all around....

 

[Volvowith18psi]

Yea, keep us posted on the response from Michelin. A complete blowout like this on a Z rated tire should be investigated.

Like Merlin said, what if this happened doing a legal 150mph on the autobahn for example? scary....

 

[Rufus]

Whoa! Glad her safe, @Angelo In Seattle ! Were you on 405 when this happened? (That's the dealership we went with)

 

[Angelo In Seattle]

Whoa! Glad her safe, @Angelo In Seattle ! Were you on 405 when this happened? (That's the dealership we went with)

It happened on 167 North about 1000ft from the 405N interchange.

 

[Rufus]

It happened on 167 North about 1000ft from the 405N interchange.

Gotcha. There's been a lot of construction there, but that sure doesn't look like nail/debris damage to me. Again, glad yer safe.

 

[Socalstinga]

that dealer was BS, my car driven off the lot was 36 (37 after I got rolling and temps reached 85). after my first oil change at a different dealer, the psi was also 36 all around.

 

[eflyguy]

This raises an issue that I think deservers a LOT more attention.

Many of these cars are being sold with SUMMER PERFORMANCE tires in regions where those tires should not be driven. There is a lot of info out there, warnings from manufacturers, distributors (tire rack, for example) that you should not drive in temps <45º F, or store tires where they would get below freezing.

There are also many examples of tires of all brands having cracks in the sidewalls from being driven in inappropriate conditions.

The issue is referred to as "glassing", and you can imagine what happens.

Seattle isn't exactly the frozen North, but it *does* get quite cold. If this vehicle was driven in cold weather before you purchased, that could very well have damaged the tire.

 

[eflyguy]

Some of these tires are brand new..

 

[MerlintheMad]

Many of these cars are being sold with SUMMER PERFORMANCE tires in regions where those tires should not be driven. There is a lot of info out there, warnings from manufacturers, distributors (tire rack, for example) that you should not drive in temps <45º F, or store tires where they would get below freezing.

Michelin says specifically "freezing" conditions are to be avoided. Cold above freezing is not a problem. I was probably (ignorantly) risking it on my drive in April out of Utah. Spanish Fork canyon was exactly at 32F up around Soldier Summit for c. half an hour. But the risk was minimal. Such a short time would not damage any tire. Especially when the road surface itself was not at freezing temperatures: made obvious by the way the sleet melted rather than slushing and icing over. I haven't driven in anything near freezing temperatures since. And when we go to winter conditions, the risk will only begin when the road surface reaches freezing point.

 

[Never thought]

Hey guys, I sure had a hell of a day yesterday. Believe it or not, I was actually on my way to Kia in Kirkland WA from work for my 30 day followup appt / have my plates put on. I am driving along, about 7 miles into the 28 mile drive. Doing about 65-70mph then all of a sudden bam, lots or tire smoke, chunks of rubber, vibrations, I was like Oh Sh!t. I safely kept the car under control, pulled over to the shoulder, and assessed the situation. The right rear tire was completely destroyed.

This was on a Stinger GT1 with the 19'' wheel, and the Michelin Pro Pilot Z rated tires. I called the KIA 24/7 roadside assist and they had me towed to the dealer. We went ahead and put the donut on there and they looked at the tire. Long story short I could drive the car on the spare, they have to order a tire, it wont be here until at least the 6th of August, and they are planning to bill me $374 plus dollars for the tire. Now I know that road hazards exist, and that this usually has nothing to do with the dealer. However this car only has 1474 miles on it when it happened and wasn't even 3 weeks old.

I also contacted Michelin directly as it seems the tire failed completely which obviously is not a good sign, and that some other drivers have reported issues with these. I am currently running on the donut know limping at 60mph. I also have Zurich Sheild, I do not know if they will help me at all here but will call in a few hours. Just wanted to vent a bit, as it was very scary when the actual event happened yesterday on the way home. Also think it is good to share anything like this with the community to maybe help the next guy (hopefully nobody else) has to go through this.

Thanks all.

Angelo

I took a 6 inch long bolt to the same tires you have. Was charged $240 for the tire from a local tire shop. They got the tire in about 3 days.

 

[eflyguy]

Believe what you want, experts regularly lecture to performance car owners on the importance of not driving on these tires below 40-45º, and to not even move a vehicle if the air temperature is below freezing. Ambient air temperatures, not road surface.

We'll all have our own experiences but the point to my original post is that this is a widespread issue with very little education available to most purchasers.

 

[SteveCo]

Is Michelin going to inspect the tire? They should be able to determine if the cause of the blowout was a defect in construction - in which case they certainly owe you a new tire. I would have the other three inspected as well, so you know you are rolling on safe rubber.

As for the air pressure, you should been given a copy of the PDI inspection sheet when you picked up the car - checking, adjusting and RECORDING the air pressures before the car is released is part of the PDI, and requires a sign off by the technician and the service manager. If you had to have them adjusted down from 50+ lbs, then see if someone made false entries on that PDI sheet. I doubt three days at 50 lbs. would affect the integrity of the tire, though.

 

[eflyguy]

I took a 6 inch long bolt to the same tires you have. Was charged $240 for the tire from a local tire shop. They got the tire in about 3 days.

$254 from local Costco in 3-5 days. Includes road hazard warranty.

 

[Angelo In Seattle]

Quick Update: Dealer so far still wants $374 and August 8-9th for a tire. Michelin called me back with an elevated case. I went to Discount Tire, they looked at the left tire, called Michelin on the elevated case line. Michelin will do a prorate and was able to get the same tire for $60 out of pocket new and by the 6th. I can also add full coverage any circumstance coverage to all 4 tires for $235 including the new tire at the prorated rate. I am going to do that.