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Consumer Affairs


Michelin Tires


Consumer Complaints & Reviews

Below are brief points based on a timeline of events. I had purchased 2 brand new Michelin tubeless tires, which I had been using on my Toyota Innova since then (Chennai). The 2 new tires had been used for less than a year (approximately 10000 km). When scaling of the tire edges had been noticed on both the tires, I had immediately taken it to the tire dealer, who then informed the Michelin Advisor about the defect. The Michelin Advisor, after taking a look at the tires, informed me that it is normal for the Michelin Tires to show such scaling due to the Indian road conditions and the composition it is made of. Scaling might happen in Toyota Innova cars since the front of the car is very heavy. The Michelin Advisor also advised that the scaling is not at all a matter of concern and he asked me to continue to use and observe the tires for a period of 2 more months.

In January 2012, I had a flat tire and took the tire to the same dealer (from whom I had purchased the tires) for repair. On close observation it had been noticed that it is punctured in 3 or 4 places where the scaling had been earlier observed. Also, since I could get repeated punctures in all places where scaling had been observed which runs all around the tire, as advised by the dealer, I had to put a tube inside the tubeless Michelin tire to keep it running.

My comments: I am currently being forced to use new Michelin tubeless tires by putting tube since I had no other choice but to keep the tire running. This makes the Michelin Tires only at par with any other locally available cheap tires that runs on tubes. Had I known earlier, as advised by the Michelin Advisor that it is normal for such scaling to happen to Michelin tires on Indian road conditions on Toyota Innova cars, I would have kept my options open while deciding which tires to purchase for my car. I would also be vociferous on my recommendations to my friends. I am sorry to state that I am grossly displeased with Michelin's attitude towards a customer such as myself for providing me with a defective product. This is followed up by immature responses given to me by the Michelin Advisor when the defect had been raised up.

Highlights: I have used these tires only on normal Indian city roads and had never used them off-road or on un-tarred roads. The dealer found it too strange and hence requested the Michelin Advisor to come and have a look at it. The Michelin Advisor also stated that this happens very rarely and he has just seen one case like this before. Thinking of the above, do I consider these as defective tires or that I made a wrong choice by choosing this brand for my car on Indian roads?

The 2007 Lincoln MKZ belonging to Mom who is 78 years old has 19,000 miles on it. Mom asked to check tires as they were all four constantly losing air pressure after one went completely flat. I found all four have serious dry rot (Michelin P225/50r-17 Radial XSE M&S). I won't drive this car with tires in this bad condition. I have 10-year-old Firestones on my truck that look like new. Five-year-old Michelins with less than 20k that are dry-rotted beyond drivable is ridiculous.

I purchased a new 2006 Toyota Highlander. With the purchase came a Michelin light truck, and tire warranty, good for six years. I have written Michelin about this and they replied that my warranty is no longer available, since the mileage in the vehicle is over 54,000. The warranty said six years. Michelin recommended me to Sears located at ** Chicago IL 60636 (phone number is 773-918-4295). They said I had five dry rotted tires, and Michelin is only going to pay 60%. I am disappointed about the warranty. I am retired by the way.

We purchased out 2010 Mercury Milan in fall of 2010, AWD is the reason. We needed a new car so I chose the Ford Product. On 10-02-11, we were traveling on a wet road and the car began swerving back and forth. I drove to Columbus on dry pavement but on the way back to PA the road was wet and the swerving began again. I could drive 50 mph safely. I thought it was driver error due to the difference in AWD vehicle. So on 10-15-11, returning to PA from OH on I-80 while traveling in the middle lane of a three lane divided hi-way, I hit wet pavement all of a sudden. The car traveled across the right lane onto the beam and almost hit the guard rail! Luckily no traffic near me, so I avoided a collision. I was quite shaken. Traveling the speed limit of 70mph was impossible on the wet pavement. 50mph I could travel safely with only the rear of the car sliding somewhat when hitting a bump.

I called the Ford dealer owned by the same person that owned the Mercury Dealer where we purchased the car and had initial maintenance required by Ford/Mercury. The service rep at Northland Ford in Zelienople called me with there are four bald tires, worn side to side and he can sell me tires for $800 or $600 with less than 14,000 miles on the factory installed tires. I contacted Ford dealer and they said they had not heard from Ford. I contacted Ford and Matthew took the info, contacted someone at the dealership that determined it was not under warranty since I had gone over the recommended mileage for maintenance. The initial maintenance was done at the Mercury dealer.

I did not look at the sticker when the next maintenance was due because of family situations. Still tires worn side to side with less than 14,000 miles is manufacture; alignment is good because of the wear noted. It is Michelin tire that is defect product! They are junk! Don't buy them! I was truck driver, know issues due to training. Everyone I spoke to trying to buy new tires are appalled that the tires are worn with this amount of mileage sided with me that this is defect in tires. Ford says improper maintenance! Will not by Michelin especially since I have seen recall 2006-2008 installed tires problems. Certainly will not have that dealer install new tires for any amount. Filed complaint with BBB in SE MI about Ford. Will file complaint about Dealership after I speak to manager of dealership too. Thoroughly disgusted with Ford and Michelin. Buy Cooper tires!

In June 20, 2011, I purchased four tires from Tire Hut in Fort Lauderdale, Florida because I was enticed by a $70 rebate. I received a Citibank Debit MasterCard by mail for $70. Yesterday, I tried to use it at the cleaners but I was denied. Today, September 30, 2011, I tried to use it at the backers but I was also denied. I called the 800 number for Citibank but I could not get live help.

I registered online but the card indicated a $0 balance. I called Citibank again and an automated transaction line indicated multiple charges totaling $70. I called Michelin North American Headquarters and Sherry insisted I have to handle the issue with Citibank. I told her that I bought the tires from Michelin based on the promise of a $70 rebate. She said that if there was no balance, there was nothing she could do about it. Firmly, I indicated that Michelin is responsible for fulfilling the terms of their offer of a $70 rebate and if Citibank is issuing a card with a $0 balance, then Michelin is doing business with the wrong company.

After more than 20 years of doing business with Michelin, I am beginning to think if I am doing business with the wrong company. I do expect Michelin to correct this error for me. Please advise me on how to proceed. Thanks.

I purchased 4 new 90,000 Michelin tires for my Volvo S60 in December, 2009 from Sears. At that time, they also aligned my car. About 8 weeks ago, I noticed one of my tires was starting to make a thump. It worsened over the following weeks, and about 4 weeks ago, I took it in and had them rotate and balance the tires. There was no change in the thump.

My car is regularly serviced by the Volvo dealership. They performed my 82,000 checkup with no mention of anything wrong. I told them about the tire and that I was going back to Sears. I went back to Sears two weeks ago and they said that all my struts/shocks needed to be replaced and that the car was out of alignment. In a stupid moment, I agreed to let them replace the struts/shocks.

I picked my car up after they closed that evening and it made a "broken" noise and the tire was still thumping. I took it back and they said they'd forgotten a bolt! They fixed that and I drove home. The car now squeaked like old bed springs and the tire was still thumping! I took it back and they said I needed a new tire! They said it was caused by a broken strut. The dealership disagrees.

I plan to file an action in Clay County small claims court. The manager indicated Darrin ** was District Manager; however, I'm struggling to find a phone number for him. Avoid Sears Automotive at Antioch Shopping Center in Kansas City Missouri at all costs.

On the 10th of Oct 2008, I purchased four Michelin Symmetry tires (205/65/15) from Schlossman's Honda in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mileage on my car was 71896 miles. It cost me $667.36. On the 19th of April 2011 at 99365 miles, with 6/32 remaining tire tread, I was informed by Ron **(Service Director Desert Honda Las Vegas) that my tires needed to be replaced because of dry rot. I do not have the car out in any extreme weather and I really expected more from Michelin. Ron documented this dry rot with pictures as he could not explain to me why this happened. I have used your tires on my Mercedes since 1972 in Germany and I have always liked the road control.

I have a 1997 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup with Michelin 265/70/R16 Tires. One morning, I went out to find the left rear flat; these tires have less than 5K miles on them, the truck is an infrequent driver. I dismounted the tire, reinflated and was amazed to see the sidewall bulging and spewing air as fast as I could pump it in. The rubber was soft and dough. Inspection of the other tire revealed one bulge and multiple suspicious cracks associated with dry rot.

This is a follow-up on the August 28 report on the F-350 Ford from Consumer Affairs. I called Michelin directly and they were very informative. They explained the situation, set up the account, gave the number for Sears (the local Michelin dealer) to call and negotiate a settlement. When I went back to Sears, there was no problem this time and they were very cooperative. They gave me 45% on old tires and they ordered my choice of tire. I have to pay the labor to have it replaced but I am satisfied as I pull heavy equipment and I need to know that good tires are under me at highway speeds.

I purchased four brand new tires 5/29/09 for my Mazda 6. Over the past 6 months, I noticed my tires would require me to put air in more frequently than my previous set of Michelin tires that came with the car when I purchased it brand new. Recently, I noticed small cracks in on the sidewall of the tires. I took the car in to the shop to be looked at. I was told that my tires were dry rotting.

I have only put 27,041 miles on the car since the new tires over the past 27 months (only 1,000 miles a month). I was told that Michelin's warranty under a manufacturer's defect prorates the remaining tread on the tire which can be placed towards new tires. After the prorated discount was applied, my part of the bill was $428.18. Since when should a consumer be responsible for a manufacturer's defect? I feel like I paid more money for better quality tires in 2009 and I thought they should have lasted longer than they did. If I didn't want good tires, I would've paid for cheaper ones and expected to replace them after 27,000 miles.

On November 28th 2008, I have an f-350 Dually and today, August 21st 2011, I bought 6 LTX A/T 2. I have 25,000 miles on; tires have lots of tread remains but they have dry-rot over the entire tire. I purchased it in Montana but live in N.D. and I can't get any dealer of Michelin's to talk to me.

Sears looked at but would do nothing. I have numbers to contact Michelin directly so I will proceed from there.

My RV failed inspection because of dry rot in the Michelin tires at Triangle Auto & Truck Repair, 3511 NC Highway 55, Cary NC 27519-8371. These tires were manufactured in 2007. The tires all had at least 80% of their tread left. The spare tire still had the original sticker on it and had never been used. The tire with the original sticker had been kept as a spare under the vehicle. All the tires were showing very bad cracking from dry rot and very close to the seam with the rim. The inspector said that it was a common problem with the Michelin tires. The RV also has 3 Bridgestone tires from the same year (2007) and did not have any visual issues with dry rot.

When I sent a contacted support at Michelin, all I received is this: "We are sorry to hear you are having a sidewall cracking issue with your tires. Sidewall cracking is commonly related to ozone interaction with rubber. Depending on the severity of the cracking, it may only be a cosmetic issue that does not affect tire performance or safety. Although sidewall cracking is not covered under the limited warranty for your tires, we recommend you present the vehicle to an authorized Michelin RV Tire Professional for an inspection and have the dealer call us at the number below while you are there so we can fully diagnose the extent of the cracking. We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing Michelin.

"It is our goal to ensure that your issue has been resolved or your question answered to your satisfaction. If we can assist you further, please respond to this email or call us at 1-800-642-4354 (toll free) between 8:00AM and 4:30PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday."

My complaint is really with Michelin Tire Co. I purchased four tires 3-19-07 P23560T16 MNHYDREDGB 90,000 mile. I have not used 45,000 and I have plenty of tread.

Today I got my car inspected and my tires failed because of the cracks on the side wall of the tires, otherwise dry rot. Michelin should replace all four tires at no cost to me. I have brought Michelin tires for over 40 years and never had this problem. If they won't treat me fairly, I will never buy another tire from Michelin. I hope they solve this safety hazard problem. Thank you.

I purchased Michelin Tires LTX M/S2 P275/65R18 114T item ** at Merchant's Tire on 11/09/09. The tires, all 4 of them have dry rot on them in June of 2010. I had multiple surgeries so I didn't even drive half the year. My mileage on these tires is only 10,442 miles. These are 70,000 mileage tires my mileage has nothing to do with dry rot. I paid $1,080.23 for these tires that all 4 are dry rot. This is totally unacceptable. I didn't even drive for almost 6 months of the year because of my surgeries. I took this to merchants tire and they said they would call me back. I ended up having to call them. The guy said, "They will be in tomorrow, come back." I had bought the warranty as well, which you still understand this has nothing to do with mileage.

I have a Toyota Tundra 4 door truck that I am just waiting for a total blowout from these tires and to be a fatal accident to happen. When I went to Merchants to get another set of tires they were going to charge me 469.47 almost half of the purchase price I had only used 10,000 on them I know these tires must have been sitting in a warehouse for some time for all 4 to dry rot I will be getting legal advice on this Michelin problem. I am on a fixed income and this is not mileage issue the only reason I bought these tires is for the mileage and to think they are dry rotting and could cause a fatal accident going down the highway ,this is a large heavy truck. I expect Michelin to honor their product and merchants to do their part as a customer I had just bought another set of tires for my wife's car last month. I expect customer service from merchants. This is a serious issue that is caused by a faulty product nothing to do with mileage.

Dry rot on all four tires could cause a major fatality due to faulty tires sold by Merchant's Tire, Michelin Tire Company.

In November, we noticed a bulge on the side of one of my Michelin Hydroedge tires. It took until today (12/31/2010) for Costco to get a replacement in stock. (Costco offers a "road hazard" warranty, so I only had to pay a pro-rated cost for replacement (although even this was $70 plus tax).

During replacement, I noticed that two additional tires also had bulges. This seems "very suspicious" to me, pointing to manufacturing defect and not sidewall damage. The original tires from the dealer were Michelin (though another tire model) and never showed this kind of defect or damage. This leads me to believe this was a manufacturing defect or tire design issue, and not "damage".

I had cracking of the sidewalls on my Michelin HydroEdge tires, locally called "dry rot," after 45,000 miles. As the tires were guaranteed for tread life of 90,000, I felt that I hadn't gotten my full use of the tires, even though they were approximately 5 years old. I contacted Michelin's consumer care department and they recommended that I go into a local Michelin dealer to have an inspection of the tires and have them contact Michelin as to their findings. I went into a local dealer and after checking the tires, the manager contacted Michelin. They offered to give me 60% credit on the price of a new set of four tires.

In July of 2006.I purchased for 225/70R Michelin tires from Discount Tire on ** Blvd. in Ormond Beach, FL. 32174. This is a 65,000 mile tire. I routinely had tire rotations and alignment done. These tires were installed properly and balanced properly by Discount Tires at 42,000 miles. At 74,000 miles the tires (4) were almost down to the wear bars.

This is an update to my complaint of "Richard of Whiting, NJ September 28, 2010"

I received a follow-up letter from the Operations VP of the Michelin Promotional Fulfillment Center, expressing concern that I didn't have a pleasant experience with the Rebate Card, apologizing for the way things were handled and verifying that I did receive the money by check. This was unexpected and has changed my opinion of Michelin. I will purchase from them again.

I am writing in reference to my Michelin Tires. I have a 2008 Dodge Ram Big Horn SLT 2500 pick-up with Michelin. All four tires have cracking on sidewalls and lettering. I contacted Michelin and was told to take my truck to an authorized Michelin dealer. Today, I went to Discount Tires--and Kevin at Discount Tires confirmed with Michelin the damage to all four tires.

Krishna at Michelin then came back and agreed that they were defective and offered a 70% credit on new tires. This is a two-year old truck with only 17,010 miles on it. I keep this truck in a garage and as you can see by the mileage, it is driven very little. We asked to speak with a supervisor and were connected with Chris ** (who refused to provide his last name or contact phone number for safety reasons). We explained to Chris that the truck and tires are practically new with 17,010 miles and that the 70% they are offering was not acceptable. We also explained to Chris that we are aware of the issue Michelin has with cracking tires and wanted a 100% replacement for safety issues.

Chris refused so we asked to speak with his supervisor. We were informed that he doesn't have a supervisor or manager. Apparently, Chris is a spokesperson for Michelin but we found it odd that Chris doesn't have any contact information. We are expecting 100% replacement of our tires. This is clearly a safety issue--not Chris D's contact information! Further investigation has shown that Michelin is well aware of this problem. Do the right thing, replace the tires!

In 2008, we purchased 4 tires after a blow out on our tires that were needing replaced. 20 thousand miles and 1 yr and 3 months later, my car shimmies like it's on a dance floor. At 65 miles an hour, I hang on to the steering wheel for dear life! I took it back to the place I bought them and I was told it was the brakes. Yet, I had just had a $1,000 dollar brake job done from front end to back! I had every inspection any dealer could provide and everyone told me it was the tires except the tire place of course!

Today, I finally had enough and took it to Sears. They gave me a huge discount on new tires because they value their customers and sure enough no more shimmy in my vehicle! After numerous calls to Michelin to complain that the place we caught them wouldn't fix them, they refused to help us with our product because it was a private party Michelin tire. It had to be dealt with where we bought them! I am truly disappointed and I will never use their tires again! From now on, I will only put tires on my vehicle that a consumer will stand behind!

I purchased 4 Michelin Tires that included a rebate of $70. The ad said the monies would be in a debit card. I received the card and there were restrictions with the card that were not in the advertisement. The card could not be used to buy gas at a pump and you had to "go inside" to buy gas. I am in NJ. Someone pumps the gas for you and the transaction is done at the pump. I purchase my gas at Wawa or Quick Check, they don't have an "inside". I found out that the card would not even buy something at a local food store. The machine shouted out so everyone in the area could hear "Card Denied".

I could not get anyone to answer the phone (CitiBank) at the number on the card. I called Michelin the next day. After a discussion where the person didn't understand that "inside" doesn't exist everywhere in NJ and continued to say that I should go "inside", and that I refused to call Citi and wait one hour on the phone (her suggestion).

I asked for a corporate contact. The next day a person from their corporate customer service called. She couldn't understand that in NJ, we don't have insides in all gas stations either, same drill. In fact, she said that they were "proud" of the program but would not give me a name of the person responsible so that I could write a letter explaining the problems with the "program". I finally got a phone number from her that was direct into Citi. I talked to the person there and he explained why the card was declined at the pump (Why didn't Michelin do this an hour and a half ago?), but he could not explain why it was declined in the food store. I said I wanted the monies in a check. He agreed to send it out.

Within 18 months, my Hydroedge tire developed a large bulge on the sidewall. I called the dealer where they were purchased and they stated that Michelin turns down almost all these types of warranty claims. When I called Michelin, the customer service person said that they do turn down over 90% as someone hitting a curb or pothole. I find it hard to believe if you look at how many complaints there are on these tires for bulging sidewalls that they do not have a manufacturing problem. Blame it on the consumer and save your warranty money!

On Sept. 11, 2010 my brand new Michelin passenger rear tire blew out. I had just put 4 new Michelin LTX tires on my Rav 4 less than 1400 miles ago. I was towing the Rav 4 behind a 38-foot motorhome. The company I purchased the tires from insists I hit a road hazard. Funny that I should pass over, said hazard with 3 Rav tires that are all Michelin and 1 Michelin front tire on the Rav 4 and find the last tire in the line up blow out. I saw nothing on the road and to my knowledge ran over no obstacles. This is my 3rd motorhome and first time I've had such a problem. I am vigilant in tire pressure monitoring.

This day I had been driving only 4 hours when this happened and I had done a visual inspection, walking around to check for problems before taking to the road. All tires had been checked and aired up 2 days earlier. I did stop very quickly as a trucker waved me down when he saw the tire blow and as a result, did not have to replace the rim on the blown tire. There was damage to the body and electrical damage to the Rav 4, and an electrical surge through the motorhome as wiring was destroyed that blew out the running light controls at the turn signal assembly.

I had no brake lights, turn signals or emergency flashers on either vehicle and was more than 250 miles from home at the time. I hold that the side wall failed and no one has yet to show me where the "road hazard" actually hit the tire. I have taken it to two independent facilities and they can't see road hazard damage. So far repairs to the Rav 4 and the motorhome are over $1500. I am angry. No one wants to stand up and take responsibility for this failure. They say it is my fault.

In February 2008, I purchased four new Michelin tires for my 2005 Honda Civic at Sears. The vehicle at the time only had 33,002 miles and so I made the purchase with confidence that the tires would last until the 65,000 mile warranty was up. However, that is not the case because now all four of the tires are dry rotting after only 23,000 miles. So I went back to Sears and talked with the salesperson who said that they will only replace the tires at 50% the regular price.

I called the Michelin customer service number but the rep said that I would have to go back to Sears to get some new tires and that they are correct in only giving me a 50% adjustment. This seems to be very unfair because dry rotting of a tire is a manufacturer's defect problem and should have lead to a recall or something.

No physical damage has resulted yet.

I purchased my vehicle, new 5 years ago (with Michelin tires). Now, with 31,500 miles on the vehicle, there's plenty of tread left on the tires. However, the tires are splitting down the sides and separating in the seams (dry rot). The local dealer refused to make any monetary adjustment because I did not purchase the tires there. I could have been killed driving a vehicle with tires that are virtually self-destructing. So I had to purchase new tires before the time and tread wear that should call for replacement.

I bought a 2007 Ford Fusion (new) in February 2008. In July 2009, my tire developed a big bubble in it. I was told it couldn't be saved so I bought a new tire from Sears, totaling $262.93. On July 2, 2010, after a 125-mile trip out of town, I developed a flat tire. Michael's Tires showed me that the tire had a big bubble on it and it had to be replaced.

Again today while on a 189-mile out of town trip, I developed a flat tire and again was shown that I had 2 large bubbles on the tire and again I had to buy a new tire. The repairman said the tire was ready to blow. I had 2 grandchildren with me on the trip and had just dropped them off 30 miles from where I developed the flat tire. My tires are **. I have about 33,000 miles on my car and have spent almost a thousand dollars on new tires and risked my life because I was on the interstate out of town each of the three times I had tire problems. This time I kept the tire and took a picture of it. I have written to Michelin and they blew me off talking about having to take the tire to a Michelin dealer. The book says 6 years warranty against defects and if these tires are not defective, I don't know what they are. Three tire replacements in one year due to bubbles on them is not normal. That's a defective tire. I'll never buy Michelin again.

I purchased a new 2007 Honda Accord in the fall of 2007. Within six months of having the car, in the summer 2008, the driver side's tire blew out. $200 expense to replace it. In the winter 2008, another tire blew out with a big slice on the side and the rim needed to be replaced at $400. I called Michelin customer service and raised holy hell, the car was less than one year old and I was replacing 2 tires. They agreed to pay one-half of the cost. Explaining to me this would be a one time offer.

To make the long story short, in the three years I have had this car, I have replaced all four tires exceeding the cost of $1,000. I refuse to replace it with Michelin tires. The tire experts explain these tires have extremely thin walls and therefore if you rub up against a curb, the wall of the tire is too thin to absorb the abrasion. If you hit a crack in the street, the tire is too thin to absorb the split in the road. My frustration really comes because this is the third automobile I have purchased with Michelin tires and have experienced the same problem repeatedly. Enroute to St. Louis, again I had a blow out. We as a community should bring this attention to sources at the government level, before someone gets killed from these inferior tires Michelin is peddling to the automakers. I called and complained to Honda. I see that 2010 continue to have Michelin tires. It would appear my complaint had no impact and it appears that they tell each of us the same reason for the blow out but is doing nothing to remedy the problem. Economical? This inferior tire collectively with the four cars I have had has cost me over $2,500.

We bought our a car with about 1 year old Michelin HydroEdge tires on it. Within a short time we had a flat which ruined one tire and we had to replace it - cash out of pocket at $200. A short time later we were hit in the front and the impact ruined both front tires which the other guy's insurance replaced. Driving a short time later we had a blowout on one of the new tires. I took it in for replacement and the dealer looked at the older two and informed me they were dry rotten although less than two years old at the time. The two front had "bad wear" even though I'd had the tires serviced and alignment checked in the months after purchasing them so I got to replace them ... again - $200 each.

The last straw was when, at another tire/alignment check, I was informed of a bulge in a side wall of one of the newest tires. Michelin Customer service said that is usually caused by hitting a pothole or curb. I took the tire to a dealer who took it off the car and sent it in - over 3 months ago for "inspection" and been driving on the spare. I finally phoned Michelin today. The dealer handled it totally wrong and I'm out. All Michelin can do is "possibly" reimburse me AFTER I buy another Michelin, Uniroyal or BF Goodrich tire. However, I don't EVER want another Michelin EVER as long as I live. Also, they don't take into consideration that I paid to have ALL MATCHING tires and that is impossible as they want to handle it.

When I replace, I will NOT be Michelin or any of the other brands manufactured by that company. If they would offer a replacement tire, I'd accept one more HydroEdge. (They would find and send it to us rather than me spending hours finding one this time.) This situation has cost us a LOT of money replacing tires that, with the stated warranty, we shouldn't have had to put out, not to mention all the HOURS trying to find the replacements at times they were "out of production" and waiting for hours at a time for the changes to be made once the tires were found. I'm grateful that we were never injured from the malfunctions of the bad tires.

I purchased a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires for my 2008 Audi Q-7 at a cost of $500 per tire (20 inch wheels). These were replacement tires for my SUV that had approximately 23000 miles on the tires that were on the car at purchase which were Goodyear. At 13,000 miles the Michelin PS2 tire tread was completely worn and the tires were bald on the front, despite the fact that they were rotated, balanced and aligned every 5000 miles instead of the 7500 Michelin recommends. The tires were wearing so fast that I did not realize the front tires had gone bald (they worn on the inside so that with a visual inspection it was hard to detect). I had a blow out on the left front at 80 MPH and had to replace all four tires. I was fotunate that I was not in an accident and hurt. Micheline has no mileage warranty and I was stuck with replacing all four tires after only 7 months and 13000 miles. I have always purchased Michelin tires for my vehicle and have never experienced this type of performance issues. I have photos of the tires and all of my service records.

I bought 4 new Michelin truck tires 4/21/09. Had a bad tire immediately and replaced it 5/16/09. Now another bad tire and only 7,860 miles on them. I have kept the vehicle and tire maintenance recommendations. This second tire failure occurred just as the 100% warranty ran out. The type tire is not made any longer so having to have one shipped from Kansas. I am questioning the Quality Control processes on the manufacturing of Michelin tires. 2 bad tires out of 4 is just not acceptable quality.

This is costing me time off from work, labor costs, replacement costs, and restriction on mobility affecting my travel for work and possibly my safety.

My Toyota Camry came equipped with Michelin Tires. I have only 24000 miles on it but the tires are failing due to "dry rot". These tires are downright dangerous! My wife has the same car as I have, and at 60 miles an hour on the freeway a tire "blew". Fortunately she was able to bring the car to a stop. She has only 14000 miles on her car! What's going on?

I have owned 7 Mercedes, and I've been a Michelin customer for 35 years. I bought a 2008 Mercedes s550 brand-new that came with Continental tires that lasted 24,000 miles than both Michelins that lasted only 6000 miles on back through National tire, they replaced them for half the price, and it looks as if the new tires will also last only around 6000 miles. I previously owned a 2002 S class Mercedes and always got around 25 to 30k on my tires.

We purchased a new 2006 Ford Explorer with 16" Michelin tires that were supposed to be with warranty to 65,000 miles. After 23,000 miles, we had to replace the tires. Neither Ford nor Michelin would honor the warranty. Now the SUV has 53,000 miles and the second set of Michelins are down to the safety band and again need replacing. The Auto shop we deal with will give us the tires at half price which is cold comfort since we should actually still be on the original set of tires and these are the only set of tires that will fit this vehicle. Over $1200 total in expenditures to purchase 2 sets of tires prematurely. 1 set at full price and one at half price.

We purchased 5 tires at Discount Tires with a 50k mile warranty on them. On 2-13-10, we had a flat tire and took the tire back to discount tires. They checked them and said that it could not be repaired and would have to get another from Michelin. It is now 2-22-10 and we called Discount Tires. They said that it was not in yet. I got the number for the office for Discount Tires and could not speak to anyone and left a message. I then called the number for Michelin and first spoke with customer service Felicia. I was told our tire was discontinued. I asked why. If Discount Tires ordered this tire, why it would not come up discontinued? She said that she did not know what line that they were ordering on so she had no idea what was coming up.

I told her if they ordered this tire with the LTX/at2 number, it would come up discontinued to anyone that puts in the number. I then asked to speak to a supervisor and she gave me Alex. Alex informed me that tire is starting production again and would be ready in about two to three weeks. We would be driving on a spare for over a month. I told him that he and this company better hope that I don't get into an accident with this spare on and hurt myself or someone else. I was told my only option was to get different tire which would not be the same as the other tires. Can you tell me how this problem can be taken care of?

I purchased the Michelin tires three months ago from two dealers--Mehta and Darshan Tires in Pune, India. One of the tires got a bulge on the right side. I showed it to the dealer, who in turn called the Michelin engineer. The engineer had some discussions with the dealer and they discussed something within themselves.

The engineer has inspected the tire and said that it's due to some impact and there is a bulge on the side wall. The mileage was only 3,000 km after I put the new tires. There is no mark on the alloy wheels of any impact. The engineer has refused to listen to my claim. The dealer has offered me a discounted tire so that he can sell one more bad tires. That too pressurizing me so that I would not complain to Michelin. The dealer said that my driving skills are bad, and that I am deliberately driving through potholes so that I can get hefty sum from Michelin. He is aware of so many people who come every week with this claim.

Weeks back, I sent a message at Michelin site as no support line was working. This is just after two days of Michelin engineer telling me that it's a pothole issue. Michelin folks least bothered to respond to me. I searched all the email address of Michelin folks across the globe even the CTO, VP, CFO, etc. and wrote to them about the Indian operations and no one is responding to me.

Within a couple of hours, a senior technician from Delhi, Mr. **, called me and told me that he wants to inspect my tire personally. He told me that he would come down to Pune within a week and will inspect the tire. Within another two hours, Mr. Rahul ** (head of sales) called me and said that he is really sorry for the service provided to me and also said that his staff is coming to Pune to inspect the tires.

Weeks back, Mr. ** came to Pune and asked me to drop the tire at one of the dealer's shops. I don't know what Mr. ** has inspected. I had never got a call from them about the result. Next day, I called Darshan Tires and they provided me the name of technician, Mr. **. I checked with him and he said that they were trying to reach me (surprisingly, I never got a call). I asked Mr. **'s number since he has left for Delhi. I talked to him and he said that he will mail the result. It has been more than a week and the report has not arrived.

Today, I called Mr. ** again and he said that the report has been sent for validation. I asked for Mr. **'s contact number, but he is unable to provide the same. Still struggling, some might think that it's a waste of time and money but I would like to break the nexus between these tire dealers and engineers and bad customer support.

I bought a set of truck tires for my 3/4 ton Ford truck from Sears at Oakwood Shopping Center. They were the T-rated Michelin tires that can be inflated to 80 lbs if needed. After less than 3 years of driving, one of the tires went flat on the way to the airport one morning, not a blow out but just a slow flattening. I managed to get back home with the truck but missed my flight.

Later that morning I had the truck towed to the Sears Auto store to fix the tire. It turned out that all four tires were dry-rotted. This was despite the fact that most of the tread was still on the tires. I had to replace all four tires at a cost of $900, about $100 more than the Michelin tires had cost me 2-1/2 years previously.

Needless to say I did not, nor will I ever replace any tires on any of my vehicles with Michelin products again. Sears did not offer any compensation for the premature failure of the four tires. I have driven pickups for 48 years and at times have gotten as much as 10 years of use from tires when I was working a lot and not driving that much. In every case but this one, I wore the tires out. They never failed because of dry rot; the tread just approached an unsafe level and I replaced them.

I am very disappointed in what I thought was a premium product and for which I paid a premium price, and I am not very happy that Sears didn't partially compensate me for premature failure of the tires. I think that they are partially at fault for carrying and selling Michelin tires, but Michelin is mostly at fault for manufacturing a very substandard product. There is no damage to the truck. Fortunately I was close enough to home and the tire deflated slowly so that I did not damage the rim while driving home. The very premature replacement of the tires after only 2 1/2 years of use probably cost me over $600 in lost mileage for a set of tires. But I did learn not ever to buy Michelin tires again, and I have been "spreading the word" to everyone I know. Don't buy Michelin!

I purchased set of 4 Michelin tires recommended for my Volkswagen Beetle. These are the second set of tires on the vehicle since purchased new; mileage on the vehicle is 63,000 presently. I have 13,000 miles of wear on the tires from the time of purchase. The tires are cracking all over; the sides of the tires face and backside and the treads of the tires are cracked all the way around. The vehicle is parked under a carport, so there is no exposure to the sun.

Six months ago, I purchased 4 new Michelin Tires. Now after 3000 miles, my back tires are completely worn out, the front tires have almost no wear. I am 61 years old & don't drive the car very much. The owner Mark tells me a different story each time I talk to him. The last story is the unusual wear of the back tires is the result of my home being on a hill! Now they want to sell me 4 more new tires, Being a senior, I feel I'm being taken advantage of. I can't afford new tires & I'm not very good at getting Cains to do the right thing. If you could please help, I'd very much appreciate it. Thanks

Our 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid came equipped with Michelin MXV4 Tires, size P215/60R16 94V. We purchased the car new and have had the car for less than four and a half years. The mileage at the time of the tire incident was 29,957. There was still plenty of tread on the tires and they were regularly rotated. What we didn't notice were the very fine lines of dry rot occurring along the rims of all of the tires.

My husband had just left the house for work and was driving about 30 mph when the front driver side tire literally peeled part. The tread started to come off and the entire sidewall was full of holes as it peeled away from the rim. He momentarily lost control of the car but was spared any serious injury because he was not traveling fast. In five more minutes, he would have been on the I-95 expressway going about 65 mph. If this had occurred then, he would have either been seriously injured or killed and others on the road may have been injured as well.

I spoke with Michelin customer service and they weren't very helpful. We did not replace the tires with Michelin tires and would never buy a Michelin tire again. I also filed a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). I was told that these tires were on their list. So why are they still being sold? Are they waiting for a certain number of people to die?

I will also be submitting photos of the tires to the NHTSA and we kept the shredded tire. I lost a day of work. We had to buy new tires about one year sooner than necessary, spending almost $700. Emotional stress, as neither of us are sleeping very well. It upsets me to know that I came very close to losing my husband due to Michelin and their faulty tires.

It's about the replacement of tire from Michelin. I had purchased a Honda City from M/s Ring Road Honda, New Delhi, India. on 30 September, 2009 and the registration No. is DL 4c nc 4397 and is still under 'guarantee'. On 25.12.09 while driving, one of the tires burst which was from Michelin. It is very surprising that within a period of less than 3 months, the new tire has gone away which clearly indicates that it has some manufacturing defect. The vehicle was taken to the Service Center of the Ring Road Honda, who have refused to replace the tire. It is requested that since the vehicle is still under guarantee and the tire had burst while driving, it should be replaced immediately. The ture burst on road and the car has only 2500 kms.

I had to replace my Michelin tires at 21759 miles and again at 33882. Because I trade in my vehicle before the tires wear out, I am out the money for these change outs. These tires had a warranty of 6 years/65000 miles. I have not had to buy new tires for wearing out. I am out over $500 because of the shoddy workmanship on these tires. The complaint went nowhere at Michelin.

I have bought a C 280 car 30th June 2009, current milage 3300. Since purchase there was a problem with all tyres (constantly flat), followed by complete damage of right front tyre after minor collision with a pebble (1st dec 09) that necessitated complete change of tyre (insurance covered replacement). Now we discovered a defect in the right back tyre, a "bump" was found. This tyre was not changed.

The sales support team said that this was "normal" and refused to consider it within the car guarantee. Michlen technical advisors upon inspecting the tyres at MB premises said that they were "astonished" that the tyres were on 19 and not 32 fill and reported damage.

The MB team is blaming me for the tyre problems and refuse to include this within the guarantee. Feedback is appreciated because regarless whether this is a MIchelin or MB problem i'm payiing that much to get a quality assured product. Lost my New Year Vacation. Lost Confidence in my Mercedes C280 Car > Lost Confidence in all Michelin Tires

DEFECTIVE / NEGLIGENT / UNSAFE MICHELIN Tires.
My 26 month old (front) tires still have plenty of tread on them, but started peeling off in chunks 3 months ago.
I first noticed a problem when my car started pulling slightly to the left, so I took it to a new mechanic for an alignment (Cost: $70.00).
After the alignment, my car still pulled to the left, but I didn't have time to go back to the same mechanic because of their business hours.

I had to leave work early the first time, so I took it to my previous mechanic and they aligned my car, costing me another $70.00 (after I submitted a $30.00 coupon).

But, my car was still pulling to the left, so I take it back, and that's when they noticed it wasn't the alignment; that, in-fact it was the tires.
The tires were peeling off in chunks causing my car to drive crooked thus needing to replace these unsafe tires immediately.
I called Michelin for help in replacing the tires, they only offered a 30% discount on the price of the tires.
I had already negotiated more than that with the tire/alignment mechanic, so I called Michelin back and requested 50% discount on the new tires, but Chris

said he would only go up to 40%, and would not go any higher because they exceeded their 45,000 mile warranty.

These tires still had plenty of tread on them, and could have easily last another 6 months to 1 year (maybe more), except that they were deteriorating in chunks.

These MICHELIN TIRES are UNSAFE and MICHELIN is a NEGLIGENT company for not recalling these tires.

Bought a new michelin 225-60-16 for my lincoln town car less than 100 miles and the sidewall blew out. No impact it just blew out! Dealer claims there was impact and will not replace the tire or return my $164.02. No marks or abrasions typical w/impact anywhere on the tire as can easily be seen. And they seem to be comfortable with keeping my money! Not going to happen! Just the cost of the tire and inconvienience. However at fifty-five mph someone COULD HAVE been hurt!

purchased four michelin tires at sams club in may of 2009. they had to be special ordered and cost $141.42 each. the tires were rotated as recommended. tires had to be replaced after 25,734 miles due to tread wear. the tires were p215/60r16 94vmxv4. Michelin has nothing to proud of.

I purchased a set of tires (21555R17MX14) on 9-30-09 with 25301 miles on the car at the time of purchase. On 12-11-09 I was shaken when left rear tire blew out and discinerated, which cause damage to body of the car. The car had 26893 miles at the time of the incident. Car was towed to the dealer. Dealer replaced the tire, I paid for the labor, but dealer would not pay for body damage. I am requesting that Michelin pay for body damage and repay labor cost. I could have been killed on the interstate where incident occurred to no fault of my own. It was a defected tire that caused the problem. Being that I had been a loyal Lexus customer, I expected that they would take care of this matter. I was instructed to express my complaint to the tire manufacturer. Michelin, in my opinion is at the top of the line with tire manufacturing and customer service, so I do expect compensation for the repair and labor cost. Thanking you in advance.

I bought a 2006 Nissan Quest SE brand new. It came with PAX tires. I did not even know what they were & no one told me anything about them. They are beyond worn out now at 25,000 miles and the expense is staggering to replace them, far more than the price of "regular" tires, even run-flats. My car came with these tires as it was a top-of-the line Quest; I did not order these wheels & tires. Michelin has discontinued the PAX tire system. Now I have to try to find someone who can replace these PAX tires & wheels, which are very expensive & will wear out in another 20,000 miles. By then, there will probably be none to be found since they stopped production on them last year.

It looks like I have to buy new tires & wheels for my minivan, which is only 3 years old & has 25,000 miles on it. No one should be expected to have to replace their tires and especially their wheels after such a short time. I know that people have taken Honda to court about these tires but those of us with Quests are just as inconvenienced. We paid good money for our cars and should not be in a position where we cannot get new tires without replacing the whole wheel/tire assembly. This is a safety issue as well. Hardly anyone can work on our PAX systems & if PAX are no longer made, we will not be able to get them at all. How is this not wrong? Nissan never explained this system to us at all. My husband said that he would have had them take the PAX off if he knew that they were not "regular" run-flat tires. We are going to try to replace the worn-out PAX system with other comparable Nissan wheels & tires, perhaps SUV tires. It is not right that we should have to pay for new wheels because of a faulty system which is now discontinued anyway.

Michelin LTX M/S All Season P225/75R15 purchased from Costco 11/28/2003. Driver's side rear tire exploded while traveling on Interstate 90 between Seattle and Bellevue WA. The tires are on a 1991 Toyota Extra Cab pickup. At the time of the failure (6:30 p.m. rainy and 50 degrees) there was no load in the pickup and no evidence of any road hazards. The indication was a loud noise and some mild vibration. I was doing the speed limit (60 mph) and pulled over immediately. To my dismay, the tire was shattered. The inside wall appeared untouched, but the outside wall was in pieces.

I went to Costco, and they looked at the tire and told me since it was more than 60 months old, the warranty was expired. The tire has approximately 35K miles on it. The reason I am complaining is that I fear to drive my vehicle with the remaining tires. Given the circumstances, I do not want to replace one tire with another possibly dangerous tire.

By the way, previously I purchased a set of Michelin tires that lasted over 100K miles. I replaced them (they still had plenty of tread) because of their age and miles driven. Is there somewhere I can complain, or at least send information on what appears to be a recurring problem with Michelin tires? The result is the apprehension and fear of driving on tires that have failed once. The economic impact is that I will have to buy a new set of tires. Given the catastrophic nature of the tire failure, I will not purchase Michelin tires.

This is my third set of tires on my 1998 Pontiac Firebird. The first set was BF Goodrich TA's. The car experienced very bad vibration and all the shops around here blamed the car. The Firebird only has 70,000 miles on it and has been garage kept its whole life. I went on to replace the wheels and put over $2000.00 in suspension and steering work to try and eliminate the vibration but nothing helped. March 14, 2009 I replaced the tires with a set of Cooper CS4 Touring T's and had an alignment again. The car still had a terrible vibration and again the shop that sold them to me blamed the car. I could not believe it so I went to Indianapolis and purchased a brand new Atlas computer spin balance machine so I could see for myself what was going on with the tires. All four Cooper tires had a bump in the tread.

I Filed a BBB complaint and a guy from their corporate HQ contacted me and told me send the tires to them. They agreed with me and put a flag on the tire plant in Mississippi that manufactured them, also refunded the amount of my purchase. I then purchase a set of 215/60R16 95V Pilot Exalto's. The vibration was less so I decided to check the balance on my machine and rebalanced them down to less than a gram and checked the run-out on the wheels just to make sure that they are true.

The car still vibrated. I then rotated just the Passenger side, car still vibrated. I then rotated the drivers side, Vibration went away but I could feel a little in the steering wheel and I can hear the tires thumping on the road. Very disappointed in the quality in these expensive tires and very sick of having to go through this just for a set of tires. I will never buy Uniroyal, BF Goodrich, Cooper or Michelin tires and will not recommend them to anyone I know. Very, Very done with this. Also, the Michelins that I purchased were made by Uniroyal Goodrich in Oklahoma, wow!

I don't know what you can do to make sure these tire companies do not have defects in them and please don't recommend me to an authorized Michelin dealer to have them check my tires, it should have been done when they installed them.

Guess Ill go with Falken or Kumho next time. BTW, these Michelins are speed rated to 149MPH and anything over 80MPH is just terrible. Nice job Michelin.

I bought a 2008 Chrysler Pacifica on 12.05.09 and my car presently has under 30,000 miles on it. Upon inspection on September 3rd I was told the tires were dry rot and cracked. I had to buy new tires to replace the Michelin's that were on it.

Michelin, as per their web site, has a 6 year warranty on their tires. Today I was informed that I will not get an adjusted amount for the tires because they were too old. When I got new tires, Hancook brand, I was informed that Michelin has an adjuster and that I would be re-emberced for the faulty tires on my car. I cannot see how Michelin is not accountable, to some degree, for the faulty tires. I paid $700 for the new tires and even the tire dealer said that I would be receiving a rebate for the faulty tires. If you log onto michelinman.com you can read their warranty. I have not exceeded the years for how old the tires were, let alone the mileage.

I purchased a 2006 Hyundai Sonata back in 2007. The standard tires on these cars are Michelin Tires. The tires (just like the car) was in showroom new condition. However, when the winter months came along, the performance of these tires was anything but new. I couldn't figure it out at first. When I drove the car in 1-2 inches of snow, it would slid and slide every time I barely touched the brake pedal. "And don't let me you what happens on ice". This was dangerous during rush hour traffic. What's worse? The car made a funny clicking noise almost as if slush was building up on the rotors or something.

I thought there was a break problem, or a serious problem with the ESC System. I took the car back to the dealer and had it inspected, but they said everything was fine. One day (still winter) while driving, I hit a pot hole, and a silver dollar size lump developed on the driver side (side wall) front tire.

I took my car to JUST TIRES and was told that they didn't carry the expensive Michelin Brand tires. However, the salesman suggested that I purchase what he described as a much better brand. [Good Year Eagle GT All Season - Dual Tread Pattern Tires] As I drove from the shop back in the street and onto the snow, it was like night and day. The Good Year Tires dug right into the snow with amazing grip. There was no more sliding when I hit the brakes, no loud funny clicking noises.

To convince myself that it really was the tires, I intentionally drove a bit faster in the deep snow. I hit the brakes a little harder than needed. The car did not even sway, but stayed the course as it quickly came to a complete stop.

Nowadays, when the subject of cars and tires come up, I tell people my story and recommend they get Good Year Eagle GT All Season -Dual Tread Pattern Tires. It's amazing how a company can get free word of mouth advertising.

I am very disappointed in the quality of the Michelin Harmony tires. We have the P195/65R15 tires on our 2002 Honda Accord, they are not even 3 years old and the tread is great, but they are dry rotting. To me that is bad quality tires and they need to be replaced. Someone could get injured or even killed if the tires were to blow. I would like this matter to be taken care of immediately! I should not have to dish out more money for four new tires, when these four have plenty of tread and are still like new. I want these tires replaced free of charge!

I own a 2009 Toyota Camry with only 2300 mi. The front driver side tire had a blowout while driving at 30 mph. Nothing touched or hit the tire. the car is garage-kept. At work, the car is parked in a reserved parking space which is visable from my desk. The tire is a Michelin P215 60R16.

Michelin right front tire blew out on straight 2 lane road drawing car to right - running 40 miles hr hitting garbage can. Tires are rotated on regular basis and regular routine maintance. The car is 1 1/2 year old bought new and one owner. Damage was to right top fender dent and mirror broke off. Driver was ok but shook up --reported to police and insurance. [2009 Toyota Camry]

Purchased Michelin LXT tires for 2003 Toyota Highlander in June 2008. On September 21, 2009 with ~ 3,000 miles, passenger side tire blew out - ~ 4 inch by 4 inch square piece of sidewall @ 45 mph. Fortunately, maintained control of car and no further incident. Tire pressure checked ~ 30 days ago @ 30 psi. No signs of road hazard. Tire destroyed. Wheel damaged.

My 2008 Caddilac STS has Michelin Pilot tires. They ride hard and have flat spots until they warm up. I have taken them to 3 places to try to remedy the problem. First told me the rim was bent and I had a bad bearing. Second said the rim was bent and the tires were bad. Caddilac dealere checked rims and bearing. Found no bent rim or bad bearing. John at Michelin called second dealer and they said I should take it to Sears. Obviously Michelin isn't going to do anything about these crummy tires. I am stuck with a $55,000 car with 8 ply truck tires on it.

In August 2007 I purchased a new KIA Sedona with Michelin tires. I have now driven 18745 miles in 24 months and need new tires since the treads have worn thin. I have two with severe road damage and as such contacted Michelin who advised that I seek out an independent tire dealer to inspect the tires and phone them in my presence. After the conversation, the C/S rep (a male) told the dealer that they would allow me to purchase new tires at 75%.

Since the cost of the tires are already outrageously priced at approximately $170. After inspecting the tires myself and seeing the inordinate tread wear and the road damage to these tires, I would no longer put Michelin tires on my wife's home power wheelchair without worrying about when the tires would blow out or go flat.

Michelin's goodwill offer of 24% off is like an airline offering free peanuts. If the Michelin company doesn't pride itself on excellent customer care and treats their customers as we have been treated, then their goodwill is a joke! I now have to go out and purchase four new tires in order to sleep at night. There is no way that I would trust the Michelin tires to keep me safe. My life and that of my wife are much too important to live with that kind of fear.

As i read all these complaints about a "catastrophic sidewall failure" that seemed to happen "out of the blue, or for no reason" i laugh somewhat to myself.

After being in the tire industry for over 18 years, and dealing with all products, michelin/bfg/goodyear/bridgestone/firestone/etc i can tell you all, that a tire just does not "Explode" spontaniously, ever, period. if you have/had/or will have a blow out, there will be some external forces at play. improper air pressure, overload on tires, running tires with incorrect load index for your vehicle, hitting pot holes, road hazzards, etc.

however, when it comes to micheling, no other tire company on the market stands behind its product better, try call goodyear or firestone and tell then you have a nail in ur sidewall, and ask for some sort of goodwill or warranty, then hold the line for laughter. Michelin on the other hand will even try to offer something out of customer satisfaction even if its not covered by warranty.

and the last point i would like to make is how incorrect you all are about "reading this information, it seems that its a common problem" google search "complaints" for any product ever made, and im positive you will find mis informed consumers complaining about it, this does not make their claims founded.

I purchased a used vehicle in June in 2008 with new Michelin MXV4 Plus tires and in less than 13 months and 20,000 miles all four tires have had sidewall blowouts.

Had a shaking while driving. Informed by numerous mechanics from dealers to retailers it was a problem other than tires. $2500 and 19000 mile lated I'm told its the Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus tires ont he car. Called michelin and they agreed only to cover 40%. I feel the tires were newer when I tried to originally have this proble solved. I informed Jeff I should be compensated based on what the tread wear would be (80,000 vs. current 98,000) whan I initially took it in for service. I informed him I believe no one suspected the tire because they looked so new and had good tread life. He said they he felt they were going above and beyond already. I disagree. They should own up to their motto of service/ customer excellence or change their motto to "we'll do the what we want."

I have a 2007 Honda Ridgeline with Michelin LTX M/S 245/65-17 tires. I had one of these tires blow out while driving around town this was a blow out on the inside side wall of the tire. I guess that it could have been a road hazard. I replaced the tire at a significant cost. On June 30, 2009 I had a second tire blow out on the side wall outside after driving a couple of hundred miles on the highway. No hazard seen in the road. After reading other complaints I suspect that there could be a problem with the tires. I am looking into this.

On Wed. June 10, 2009, at 5:10pm, the spare tire inside my 1999 suburban exploded, shattering the long drivers-side window of my suburban. It was parked in our driveway at the time. It was not a hot day, about 85 degrees outside.

The explosion was a loud one that we heard from inside our kitchen which is approx. 20 feet away. The way the vehicle was facing only some of the glass hit our house; most of it flew into the driveway. We are finding glass as far away as 60 feet from the vehicle.

Thankfully, no one was in the vehicle or outside when the tire exploded (though my 10yo daughter had just come in the house not ten minutes prior). We took a bunch of pictures before moving anything to clean up the mess.

The window has since been replaced and Michelin has been contacted. The initial contact was by email so that pictures could be sent in. My husband later spoke with a rep. who stated that there was nothing Michelin would do because the tire was more than six years old. If we wanted to pursue it, we should take it in to an authorized dealer and have them look at it and get whatever numbers they need from the tire. So I did.

First, the manager at Sears didn't think I could surprise him with what I had, but I did. He said he had never heard of anything like that before. He called the number Michelin gave my husband, using the reference number they gave us and told them what the tread depth was, 12/32 if I remember right. Once again, they will not do anything due to the "fact" that the DOT has some law about tires being more than six years old. I spoke with Rod from Michelin as the Sears manager wanted him to tell me himself that Michelin won't do anything.

The spare tire was new, never used when we purchased the vehicle, used, in 2004. We used it once, last year for a few days.

Driving my 2008 Toyota Sienna Mini-van on a trip. After 40 miles we were nearly home and had a blowout on our left front michelin Tire. It was original issue when we bought the car. There was a side cut oval shaped of rubber which just popped out! We replaced the tire $175 and spoke to Toyota which claimed it was a road hazrd or vandalism. This is ridiculous because if someone sliced the tire we wouldn't have been able to drive it forty miles. We filed a claim with Michelin but since they will speak to our dealer I am not optimistic.

I was driving on 95 from Washington DC to Baltimore doing 65 and my left rear tire (sidewall) exploded!, I changed the tire and went home. A week later I was checking my tire pressure and I notice a seperation on my right rear tire that I bought at the same time as my other 3 tires ( Michelin LTX M/S P225/70 R16), I had kept the left rear tire that blew out on 95 and it suddenly came clear to me, I got 22000 miles on these tires and they are no good.

This can be added on to your list of Michelin Tire sidewall problems.

I too have been a Michelin tire buyer for many years. I've had one sidewall blow out once (Michelin X ) and now, on my 2003 Tacoma truck (2X4), I see a huge split and protrusion on the sidewall of the rear wheel, driverside. Tire still has about 30000 Kms of useful life and have never been abused. This sidewall problem just appeared one day! Costco and several other tire specialists told me to remove it immediately as it could blow anytime. Yet they could not give me a reason as to what is causing that other then Michelin has a history of this type of problem.

Like so many others it seems,,,have just had a blowout on my new ZEPHER 45' MOTORHOME with top of the line Michelin "Energy" 22.5 295 80 green .. i only have 7000 miles on it when ,,, for no apparent reasons, the passenger tag axle tire blew out and fortunately we were coming to a complete stop when the SIDEWALL exploded and there was nothing possibly present that could have punctured it,,, with almost all the original tread still showing and all seven of my other tires at a recomended 105 psi... and i had check all the tires that morning before our trip...

It caused me to lose 2 days of my vacation leaving me stranded on the side of the highway and after the lack of any kind of publications as to what to do in the event of a tire failure or "how to change a tire" it cost me $650. It has caused me to have a fear of the same thing happening but on the front and leaving me wondering if I want to take huge chance of dieing total cost for that one tire blow out is over $1000.00

On October 13, 2006, I purchased four Michelin LTX M/S All Season radial tires from the Costco store in Austin, Texas. On April 11th, 2009, I was traveling west on I-10 from Sealy, Texas to Schertz, Texas. The tires at this point had about 38,000 miles on them. I was travelling on I-10 at the speed limit, 70 miles per hour and the left rear Michelin tire exploded. The tire pressure had been checked fifteen minutes earlier and was at 35 pounds of pressure on all tires. The car careened back and forth across the lanes several times before turning 180 degrees and came to rest facing oncoming traffic. Luckily, other traffic saw what was transpiring and kept clear. Two people had seen the impending accident expected the car to flip and and were ready to call 911. The vehicle did not flip. The two gentlemen who had seen the near accident volunteered to change the tire and put on the spare for me. Since I had purchased the tires from Costco, I took the tire back to my local COSTCO store in Schertz. The tCOSTCO tire store manager inspected the tire and found no evidence of previous damage. As a concession, they replaced all four Michelins for me with BF Goodrich tires. They concurred that the sidewall exploded for no apparent reason. I still have the damaged tire as evidence of probable Michelin tire design flaws, ready for inspection if required.

My husband bought a new Lincoln Zephyr for me in 2006. Since that time I have had three (3) tires that blew out and caused rim damage AND at PRESENT HAVE TWO THAT HAVE SPLIT DEEP IN THE SIDEWALLS AND WE HAVE HAD TO GET 2 more!!!!!!!!!! The first tire was not even a year old when it happened. I got that tire replaced with a new one (OEM tires Michelin Energy Saver Tires), $225.00. The rim was damaged also, but was determined OK to use. Then less than 8 months two tires blew out as I went over a small (normal) break in the blacktop (was not a hole), just blacktop with cracks in it....I had to blowouts on the passenger side of the zephyr. And this time a very expensive rim was destroyed also. (June 2008). Paid almost $500.00 for rim, and 480.00 for 4 new tires (replaced with Michelin PS 2 tires because we could not get the OEM tires that came on the car. Michelin did pay 40% of the tire cost with amounted to $360.00 and that saved me from paying $940.00 for all the tires.

Now it is May 2009 and TWO (2) of those tires I purchased last year in June 08 have to be replaced. The tires have tears in the sidewalls (4" Slits which look like they have bubbled, split and cracked. I have reluctantly ordered two new ones or the same kind only because I cannot afford to replace all four! I am terrified to drive with these tires...even if they are NEW! I new something was wrong last year when the 2 tires blew at the same time. I have driven 40 years and have never even had a flat until these tires!!!!!!!!! I am always having to check the tires and ask my husband to put air in them also. Something is VERY WRONG with MICHELIN TIRES.?????? I will be having to drive 10 hours this June for the birth of my second grandson and I am not sure I will get there or be alive to see him. I have lost confidence in Michelin.

From all the posts I have read .......others are having the same problems. SOMEONE PLEASE LOOK INTO THE MICHELIN TIRE "MYSTERY", BEFORE SOMEONE IS SERIOUSLY INJURED OR DEAD. WE HAVE BEEN OUT AROUND $1900.00 IN TIRES SINCE WE PURCHASED THE NEW LINCOLN 2006 ZEPHYR.

Purchased 4 Michelin P225/60R Tires from Wal-Mart 11/28/07 On 5/2/09 I had a blow out on Lf Ft. Wal Mart said there was nothing they could do because I didn't buy insurance.On 5/8/09 The RT Rear Blew out. I Paid 686.53 for this set of tires just waiting for the other 2 to blow out I can't afford to replace them right now replacements are $140.00 each so far no real damage yet.Just hope the other 2 hold up.

2008 BMW M3 with Michelin PS2 (Pilot Sport 2) 19 inch low profile tires. At 5500 miles I developed a bubble (protrusion) in the sidewall. I have come to find that this is a common issue with Michelin tires. Perhaps there should be a class action lawsuit.

I had one Michelin Tire go flat and within another 500 miles the front tire exploded on my Suburban. The tire peeled like a banana. Luckily, we were only traveling 40 MPH so damage other than the tire was minimal. Upon closer inspection a the other rear tire was showing creases and bumps in the side wall. It two was ready to go. These tires only have approximately 35,000 miles on them.

While traveling 65 mph, the left rear tire tread came off, peeled like a banana according to witnesses, it caused me to skid across the lane of oncoming traffic, my 2002 jeep liberty rolled over twice and landed on all four wheels, i suffered a head injury, laceration, multiple contusions, my 4 yr old son was in the rear, belted into his car seat, he suffered a head injury. We were transported by ambulance to the nearest hospital. I feel like it is definetly because of the Michelin tire that we were injured and my vehicle now totaled, I have been told my injuries are not severe enough, because I was not paralyzed or no death occured, that it is not worth any lawyer pursuing a case against the tire manufacturer, so they will continue to have bad tires out there, and people like us will continue to have near death collisions.

I was driving my Mercury Grand Marquis on road
109 between Hoquiam and Ocean Shores in Wash.
My car is 4 years old; it had 4 tires that came with
the car; the mileage was 39,000. One of the tires,
the rear left tire, literally exploded and forced me off
the road onto the shoulder. My speed had been 50 miles/hr.
Upon inspection, the other tires were showing signs
of cracking along the rim of the tire. I replaced the 4 tires

with Cooper tires. Thanks Michelin!!!

While traveling on SR 78 our right front passenger tire blew (like exploded). We had just exited a highway where we were traveling 65mph. The sidewall of the tire looked like someone had peeled it apart. We had our grandchildren in the backseat. If this had blown 5 minutes earlier - we would probably be dead. I know Sam's Club will do nothing about our vehicle since it is a F250 Ford truck. We use it for pleasure only and no for any type of heavy work.

Sam's said these were the best tire but they could not guarante the (ater they installed them) because we might use the truck for business. I a terrified that the other three tires will do the same thing. After reading other peoples' stories on this website, I think we will just take the off and buy new. I can replace the tire with a reputable company (certainly not Michelin). I cannot jeopardize the lives of my loved ones.

We have an 07 Ford Fusion on April 6th I was driving on I4 outside of Tampa and had what I thought was a blow out but now who knows. I was going 70, which is the speed limit, in the center lane and noticed a change in the road noise, thought about it and touched the brake and the noise got louder so I put on the blinker and started moving to the break down lane. When I came to a stop, my tire kept going and rolled/bounced a quarter of a mile down the highway.

A Road Ranger stopped and changed the right front tire and I went to a Ford dealership where they put a new tire on for $278 and told me to contact Michelin for a warranty. I asked for the two black rings that were left on the rim so they put them in the trunk. I drove up to where the rest of my tire on the side of the highway and threw that in the trunk. Michelin customer service opened a claim for us but we can't get anyone to file. We have taken it to several tire stores and no one will help us file a claim.

On April 10th my husband came out of his office to go get lunch and the right rear tire was almost flat so he put air in it and then stopped at a tire store and asked them to check the stem. The stem was cracked and that's why the tire went flat. This is the third tire to have a bad stem since January. All three were fixed at the same place. Do we think the stem may have been the cause of the flat on April 6th? You bet! I will be going to the dealership where the car was purchased tomorrow with all my evidence including the postings on this website.

$278 for one tire ... 2 1/2 hours late for a training class ...

Michelin XC LT4 tires, which are manufactured by Michelin and sold exclusively through Sears Automotive stores. My tires are on a 1998 Ford F150 pickup, and are maintained by myself with the correct air pressure, and are rotated (front to back, not diagonally) at regular intervals. Being a do-it-yourselfer, I periodically check the condition of my tires, visually, before any road-trip. In April of this year (2009), my right rear tire (a Michelin XC LT4) EXPLODED on the expressway while driving at about 65 mph. As I was in the right-hand lane, I pulled off the road in a matter of 3-5 seconds. The entire outter sidewall of tire disintegrated---the appearance was much like that of having a hand grenade expode inside the tire.

After changing tires, I drove to Sears & bought an exact replacement Michelin tire. The damaged tire had been purchased as part of a set of four approximately 2 1/2 years before and had approximately 40,000 (mostly) highway miles on it. Unfortunately, only 2 days later, while driving back to my house on the expressway, the left rear tire expoded in the same manner. Both tires blew up completely without warning, on roads which were dry, very well maintained, and absent of any debris.

To say the least, I was furious about having 2 blow-outs within 2 days, especially considering that the tires had been maintained and had not been abused in any way. There was no sign of dry-rot or other damage, as all of the tires were inspected by As I was fearful of the other 2 tires that had not exploded, I purchased 2 additional new Michelin tires as I was having the second blow-out tire replaced. Therefore, I have now purchased a new set of 4 Michelin tires ($800), when the set of tires that were on the vehicle had only served half of their life-time. If these new tires incounter the same problems, then I will NEVER purchase a Michelin product again.

4/2/09-We have just experienced our 3rd side wall failure in as many months on our 07 Fusion. I wrote you after the 2nd and am writing again to have documentation. The last tire I received help from Michelin, only after complaining long and hard about it. Our tires all blew on expressway driving. This last time with my son, pregnant daughter-in-law and 18 month grandson in the car (very precious cargo). They are in route to Florida in the car. The tire is being replaced without help from Michelin. I will attempt to take that up with them later. My son just wants to get back on the road. I, of course, am fearful about the 4th tire. I will hope for the best. Once again, any help would be appreciated.

I purchased a 2007 Mercury, Grand Marquis, LS that came equiped with Michlen tires. In 2008 the right rear tire blew the side wall had 15,000 miles on the care and tires, and before I could stop, the entire side wall was destroyed. I then purchased the replacement for this tire from Discount Tire, no adjustment on the bad tire. The tires were rotated on 8-28-08 by North Park Lincoln Mercury. Today, 3-30-2009 the same right rear tire blew out that same as before.

I returned to Lincoln Mercury and purchased another Michelin tire as a replacement. On the way home the auto just was handling correctly, so I stopped and the same right rear tire, with less than 20 miles on it had large bubbles on the out side side wall. It appears that Michelin has a problem with their tires and the dealers do not make any kind of adjustment on them. My complaint is not the auto dealer, but the Michelin tires that are being produced and after reading complaints on the internet, it seems they have a manufacturing problem.

I have had people change the tire for me on the road because I had both knees replaced and have a serious heart problem. My wife is exhausted as she used her cell phone today to try and get help through the dealer and Lincoln Mercury Roadside assistance. There was no luck until she called a nephew who came to change the tire.


Driving at a speed of 80 km/h and then came to a road works intersection.The dip in the road wasnt deep and the impact wasnt hard.I continued to drive,got home all was ok.The next morning when i came to the car i noticed this huge buldge and the separation of the walls in the front right tyre.

The car has 14000 km on it and i cant understand how a performance tyre with this amount of milleage on it can have so little punch coming from 1 of the worlds tyre leading institutions. In South Africa we pay up to 7000 Rand per tyre which is about 700+ us$.Now that is just dam crazy.how does Michelin intend on bettering their Quality.We all know how they better the increase in tyre prices?

tyre separated from the inner wall.Quite like a banana Split just not satisfying

I put new, top of the line winter tires on my 2007 Honda Accord. I invested significantly in my safety by buying Michelin Blizzacks (about $1,100); they have an excellent reputation for quality. They are just over halfway through their 2nd winter season (Dec -April); about 20,000kms (12,000 miles) of wear. Was driving along the highway yesterday passing a transfer truck when I heard this extremely loud noise and the car felt a little wobbly. I was able to pull over to the side of the highway and got out of the car to have a look. The entire side of the front passenger side tire was completely blown out. I did not hit a pothole, nor did I rub the tires up against any curbs. I was absolutely flabbergasted by what I saw. There was one inch of tire still attached to the circumference of my rim.

Thankfully, (and with a lot of sheer luck) this incident did not result in an accident. Situation could have been very, very different had there been snow or ice on the highway at the time. I also feel very thankful for the stability of my vehicle; a lesser vehicle could have also resulted in a horrible and deadly accident. Interestingly, I have never had such wonderful service as I did yesterday (I bought the tires from the dealer). They came to change the tire on the side of the highway. When I arrived back at the dealer they had already found a new tire. They put on the new tire, inspected my remaining three, and I was on my way...no charge for anything. My nagging concern: They told me this defect is virtually unheard of - a real rarity. After reading the other submissions on this site I am not so sure...


Mary -Texas 3/1/09 I have a Ford Explorer Sport Trac Pickup with Michelin tires size 16. On Sunday I had a sidewall blowout on front right tire for no reason. the tire has less than 30,000 miles on it is not worn really good tread.The whole side just came apart. It's like the inner wall seperated from the outer wall. It worries me now that the other three may do the same thing.

Most of the time I travel alone or with my 10 yr. old grand-daughter and this day I was blessed that my husband was with me.Now I wonder if I should replace all the tires. I no longer feel safe even though I thought I had new tires. why doesn't Michelin have a recall on these tires if they have one on the motorcycle tires with the same problem.My husband also has a 07 Ford F-150 with Michelin tires size 17 we now worry about the cost to replace tires for two vehicles. That could cost us over 1500.00.


I have 07 Camry with Michelin P215/60 R16 Enery MVX4 factory installed tires. yesterday, after about 33k miles front passenger side tire blew out for apparently no reason. Since I do not feel comfortable after reading all posts, I will have to replace all four of them.

$ 550 in expence for new tires.


We have a relatively new Ford Fusion 07 with Michelin tires on it. On 1/1/09 we experienced a sidewall blowout on the right front tire. The dealer said it was not warranted. Replaced it with same at the dealertire. Yesterday the left back tire blew. Same exact problem. The car is presently at the Ford dealer and I am online looking at all of these side tire failures, wondering about these reoccuring issues. The dealer just called to say not under warranty. My Michelin booklet says 6 years. I have placed a call to them. I would be happy to be contacted by others. I can hardly wait for the next tire to blow.


Two Michelin tires popped on 2007 Mazda 6.

Over one thousand dollars to replace tires and ruined rim. Danger of serious physical injury. Time off from work to have repairs done.

I bought a 2007 Mazda 6 with Michelin tires. At about 40,000 miles the tires began to pop. One on thr road and one in the driveway. Replacement of the tires and ruined rim costed over one thousand dollars. A cost of over one thousand dollars and a possability of serious personal injury.Time off from work while repairs were made.

I have read all the articles complaining about the Michelin product. I am a very happy Michelin customer. All three of my vehicles have Michelin product and I wouldn't have it any other way. I own a 2003 Nissan 350Z with the Michelin PS2, a 2005 Infiniti FX35 with Michelin Latitude Touring, and a 1996 Toyota Tercel with BF Goodrich (a Michelin product) G-Force Sport. I have never had a problem. A number of the complaints listed are either road hazard based, neglect or time. Michelin x-rays every tire that leaves their plant for imperfections. That would catch nearly everything structurally wrong with the tire before it leaves the plant. Oh, and I do not work for Michelin.


I have a 2008 porsche that came with michelin polot sport tires, after 2300 miles the side wall of the tire is seperating and has an egg size bubble poking out, dealership was no help because I did not purchase thier over priced tire protection plan. The car is a bran new car and only had 14 miles when purchased, dealership claims i must have hit a curb, this is not the case I am the only one to ever drive the car and it has never hit anything, not even a pothole! How can one of the most respected tire company's and auto brands not help out with a 400 dollar tire that is defective after only 2300 miles

As I was traveling west on I-40 just West of Memphis I felt a vibration from the left front. Very quickly realizing I had a catastrophic tire failure I drifted to a slow enough speed to pull off onto the shoulder. Three cheers for the Lexus LS430s stability. When I looked at the tire I was shocked at how totally destroyed it was. It had a major major sidewall failure led to the separation of the inner and outer sidewall for about half the circumference of the tire. I have pictures of it to show how bad it was. I mentioned my concerns about the tire being defective to the Sears store in Little Rock. They said it looked like road debris had hit the tire and caused the damage. It was not road debris! The tire simply blew up. After seeing the tales about Michelin tires having sidewall proble. I am horrified to think that the replacement Michelin tire I bought may put me at risk of another failure like this.

interstate, drove about 100 miles to Little Rock on the spare. Bought a new tire at a Sears Auto Store for $150. No damage that I know of. Glad to learn that I can still change a flat.


I have a 2008 Cadillac with 10K miles on it. Had to have the front right tire replaced at about 3,000 miles due to sidewall wear-dealership claimed my wife must have rubbed a curb. Today the $200 replacement blew out on me. Front right, only 7,000 miles and I have been only driver. I was driving at a whopping 40 mph and hit nothing, it just blew a hole in the sidewall. Tread is brand new as expected, but with a hole in the sidewall, can't do a whole lot with these garbage tires! Thankfully I wasn't on the highway and folks allowed me to pull over gracefully.

Huge inconvenience, not to mention cost for first replacement. Now due to safety concerns (I can't even count the number of sidewall complaints I've seen) I will have to get four alternate tires. Thanks for endangering lives Michelin, that's swell of you!


I bought a new Toyota Tundra approx. 1 year ago, which was equipped with Michelin Tires. With approx. 26,000 miles on the tire, I experienced a blowout from the passenger side rear tire for no apparent reason.The side wall was torn to shreds.

I put the spare on while pulled to the side of the road, at 4:00 in the morning.I called the Toyota dealer, and was told there was no warranty obligations on there behalf, that I should go through a Michelin dealer. The damaged tire was taken to Mr. Tire, where they claimed they could not handle the warranty aspects, but offered me a replacement for full price of $327.00. I proceeded to take it to National tire, where they offered a replacement at $280.00, with the understanding that upon inspection if they determined it was a defect, they would contact Michelin.

Now riding on a spare, I noticed the tire warning light on the dash, and now I have a noise and vibration from the front drivers side tire. The same noise I heard just prior to the last blowout. I will be going back to pick up my spare, hopefully I will get there without another blowout. Now I will have to stop and take the time to have them inspect the remaining 3 tires. Needless to say, I am compelled to get all 4 tires changed out ASAP, and get away from the Michelin tires altogether.


I have two 185/70-14 tires that have plenty of tread, little dry rot. Despite the above one blew out on me in the side wall area and the other is out of round. Michelin refused to offer any satisfaction because the tires were made in 1988. I had another 80s Michelin tire blow and Michelin offered some compensation but only because the fender was damaged when the tire fell apart. For this reason I now refuse to buy Michelin or Firestone tires.

Loss of use


I bought a 2001 Ford Focus with Michline piolet tires. I can't keep the air in the tires and after reading all the complaints I am going back to toyo tires. Have never had trouble with them.

In October 2007 I bought a full set of Michelins from our local Chevrolet dealer (replacements for Michelins that were on the car when purchased in 2002 and had zero problems). On July 6, 2008, the front passenger tire blew while I was traveling on Interstate 35 at 70 mph. The car was towed back to the dealership, who said that I had hit something in the road (not! There was a fist-sized hole in the sidewall; tread was fine). Friday, November 7, 2008 my husband was driving the car at about 60 mph when the rear driver tire blew. No way to tell if the tire that blew was an October 2007 tire or the July 2008 tire. This time we've replaced with a Michelin from the towing company, but the comments on this website make me wonder if that was wise. I've never worried about my tires in the past, but after losing a close friend in an ice-storm car accident last year, I realize how absolutely vulnerable we are.


2003 Lincoln Town Car, purchased total of 4 (four) Michelin LX4 W/W
(white wall) tires, 2, on 03-02-07
43,092 miles and 2, on 07-24-07 46,208

miles.

On 10-29-08 I returned to Discount Tire after discovering there was a screw in the right rear tire, upon completion of the repair I was informed that the area between the rim and white wall was separating. To say the least I was shocked as I have had Michelin tires on every one of my vehicles since 1983, never to have had any problems (All Lincolns).

I payed top dollar for this product and now for the first time have a problem.I was informed that this is not a safety problem, however after planting the seed of doubt I am reluctant to continue to drive on these tires espesially at highway speeds of 70 MPH.
Discount Tire offered to replace the tires at my expense ($365.00 and change).

As of today the tires have 16,183 miles on (2) two and 12,067 on the remaining (2) two. All of the tires have the same problem separating at the white wall. This is not a off the road vehicle or a BEATER. The vehicle is driven and maintained very carefully. I purchased the Michelin Tires because of the Quality that they and their dealers profess. I am extremely disappointed, I realize the tires have 12 &16 thousand miles on them but this to me most certainly has to be a major defect in the tires. I am asking for a full replacement of all (4) four at no cost. The tires appear visually to be falling apart.


I use to go into tire stores and ask whats on sale?. But after only 20 or 30 thousand miles I found myself back in the store. So in 2005 I started asking for the best?. My NTB (National Tire & Battery) dealer installed Michelins. Over the next three years I had Michelins installed on all four of my cars. I pay a lot more but Ive been satisfied with their performance.

Today I noticed a massive tire defect on one of my three year old 20 thousand mile tires, a Michelin MX Energy Plus. A sidewall bulge protruding 3/4 by 2 wide by 12 around the circumference. I removed the tire and took it to NTB where I bought it. NTB called Michelin. NTB told the Michelin representative that the tire is well maintained with even wear and no sign of impact or road hazard. I heard the NTB salesman say in my 23 years working here Ive never seen a defect like this on a Michelin tire.? Michelin offered me 75% off the price of a replacement tire.

I took the deal to get back on the road but I know I will always have this in the back of my mind when traveling at highway speed or when my daughter asks to borrow the car. I will inspect all my tires regularly and when it eventually becomes time for replacements I will probably look very hard at other brands. It only takes one quality defect for a manufacturer to go from the best? to just another whats on sale?.

In November, 2006, I bought a Toyota Sienna Van with Michelin tires. The following November, I had a blow out on the right front tire. I thought I had hit a curb and caused the problem, so I just replaced the tire. The next month, I had taken a 600 mile trip and parked in front of my son's house. When I walked out, there was a bubble the size of a football on the side of the right rear tire.

Since the front tire had blown just a month earlier, when we took our van in, they called Michelin and was told there was no reports of such problems with their tires. We replaced all of the tires because we thought we might have gotten a bad batch on the Sienna. Today while driving on a city street, the left rear tire blew out while my husband was driving.

We spent approximately $600.00 to replace all four tires in 2007 and today it will cost us $160.00 to replace the tire that blew out today. Something is definitely wrong with Michelin tires. We cannot afford to replace all four tires again at this time, but as soon as it is feasible, we will put different tires all the way around. I am amazed to see all of the complaints on this site.

One of my Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus Tires developed a 9 inch sidewall separation rip in just one day. I only noticed it when I was driving slowly in a parking lot with the window down, and heard a strange noise coming from the tire. These are the original tires on my car and have 22000 miles on them. I took the damaged tire to Costco for a warranty exchange, but the tire technician claimed that the tear was from an impact, which is not true. I will take it to other authorized Michelin dealers later.

I registered the incident/complaint with both Michelin customer service ( via telephone) and with the NHTSA--both important steps. They will respond and possibly order a recall. But you need to let them know about your experience by filing a report.

So far Costco has denied a warranty tire replacement, and Walmart does not honor Michelin warranties. I shall try Tire Discounters next.

My car requires a size tire that is generally offered by Michelin. When my existing Michelin tires started to wear out, I went to a large national tire dealer and they ordered that model and size Michelin tire directly from Michelin. When the tires arrived, the tire dealer contacted me to setup an installation. I went to the tire dealer and they took the wheels of my car.

Then the dealer's manager came out to see me and explained that Michelin had shipped him the wrong tire entirely. In fact, he shoed me his order and he showed me the tires he received from Michelin. So then he tried to reorder the tires, but Michelin told him they were on backorder and he was unable to determine when the tires would be back in production. So I started to call Michelin as a consumer.

It has been about 4 months now from the time I visited the dealer. Every time I called up until about two weeks ago, the customer service people at Michelin have been totally useless. They are not told when the tires will be produced, they only know that the tires will not be in production some number of weeks out. Typically this is three or four.

Two weeks ago, I called Michelin customer service and was told that the tires would be in production in the last half of the month; probably in the last week of the month. So I let my tire dealer know to reorder the tires. Today (midway through this month) I called Michelin customer service again and the representative told me that the tires are not on their production schedule. He told me that he has no way of knowing when or if the tires will be produced. So I asked to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor was quite rude and told me that he had no record of my conversation two weeks ago and that there is no scheduled production for the next three weeks.

I have had to put my car out of service because the current tires are too bald to drive on them. While this size tire is available from other tire manufacturers, those tires either have a poor rating or are not suitable for winter driving where I live. It amazes me that Michelin has absolutely no idea when a tire will be in production, that they conveniently lose the record of customer conversations and that they would go out of production of a tire for this long, leaving the market unserved. Their customer service department should be called their customer dis-service department.

I have had to drive another car for months now and the resulting mileage on that lease car will cost me thousands of dollars when I turn in that lease. I lost out on Michelin Promotions which would discount the cost of the four tires. I have one less car to drive and I pay insurance on that car.

My daughter was driving a 2002 Yukon with her 2-year old child in Concord, California, when the right rear tire had a blowout. She lost control of the vehicle, went throught a fence, hit two posts and finally stopped in a ditch. She carried her crying and bleeding daughter up a hill to the highway and was able to flag down a passing motorist.

My husband and I sold the Yukon to our daughter because we felt she and her family would be safer in a large vehicle. We made sure the vehicle was in excellent condition and thought Michelin tires were the best. We are quite upset about the tires, but very grateful there were no serious injuries. The Yukon did everything it was supposed to do -- it didn't rollover, bore the impact of the collision and the passengers walked away from the accident. It's a shame that the tires failed miserably.

The mileage on the Yukon was only 53,000 miles and the tires had 14,000 miles of wear (the warranty is for 60,000 miles). The vehicle is a total loss with $16,000 in damages. The tire blew out from the sidewall and the insurance company is investigating.


I'm a owner of a 2001 yukon denali on july 27, 2008 coming from greensboro nc on route 58 near franklin va my michlin right front tire blew out on me and my family. i thank god that no one in my vehicle was hurt and that i had no damage to my vehicle but i had to be tow to nearest walmart but it gets worst. on sept 27, 2008 on highway 13 in virginia heading north to pocomoke md i had another blow out in the same vehilce and this time it was my rear driver side tire that blew out and low and behold i give god all the thanks and praise i was not hurt and no damaged to my truck i think something needs to be done and soon for someone gets killed

My husband and were coming home from Elizabeth City on Highway 17 when for no reason the right rear tire blew out and I lost control of the car and went down a 25ft inbackment where a tree went thru our car and we hit another tree. We had a 05 Lincoln Towncar it was a total loss. The tires were new Michilin, with a little over 5000 miles on them. My husband was in the hospital with broken arm and ribs for six day. They had to put two plates, 12 screws and a bone graft in his arm. I am sure it will never be without pain, but we are gratful that we were not killed. It was a mircale.

I will never have these tires again but we did get a new Towncar. That car is what saves both of us from death. We do have an attonery but who knows what will come of this. I would like to see these tires recalled.


On June 3, 2008, I purchased 4 (Michelin X Radial DT, 80,000 mile warranty, P225/60 R 16 97 T BW) tires to replace 4 one-year old tires which were perfectly good, but they had a letter from Honda stating that the tires put on there and recommended by Costco a year ago, were the wrong tires for the car and that this Odyssey needed tires with more psi...so in order to be safe, we decided to put on these four tires. Costco split the cost of these tires with us.

The odometer read 69,995 when these tires were put on. Yesterday, 5,025 miles and three months later as we were driving 75 mph on Highway 17 returning from Prescott, AZ, we heard a terrible noise and the car became almost impossible to control;I was able by the grace of God to get over to the right shoulder from the fast lane to find that my right front tire had blown out. The part of the tire that has tread was still there, but the sidewalls were gone. The valve stem was lying alongside the tire.

We were shocked to have this happen to a nearly new tire. We had AAA, so they towed us to the nearest Costco at Yorkshire and the 101. They were very nice and because we had bought the tire at Costco, they replaced it at no charge except $3 for tire disposal.I did not think to bring the tire with us. This is our problem. We are to leave on a 5,000 mile road trip, and we are worried about these tires and want them all replaced with another brand. I am 69 years old and have never had a blowout. I take care of my tires and check tire pressure and have them rotated every 5,000 miles. I want these Michelin tires off my car. From what I read, Michelin would not hear of such a thing. Please, we need a class action suit against Michelin...they are not the dependable tires they used to be. Thank you.

We are taking our car to the dealer on Friday September 12 to assess the damage. I want to go on record that if we die on this trip due to a blowout, Michelin is to be sued.

I have blown 3 Michelin RV tires that were less than 3 years old, all showed AD steel inside, rusted steel, probably procured as rusted `steel. Michelin does not care the `least about my problem .

blowout caused damage to rv ,which i fixed`myself .


I had the exact same experience with Michelin tires that others mentioned with a Ford Fusion/Mazda 6

I have a Fusion SEL with Michelin low profile tires high performance tires. After 12,000 miles my car did not pass state inspection because of a bubble on the right front tire. Replaced it with another Michelin that cost $250. After 23,000 miles I hit a bump and blew out the front right tire again. Four days later, the new front right tire had a bubble and had to be replaced. In 23,000 miles I have also had to replace three tires, one at a time.

I have driven for over 45 years and have never had to replace a tire except for normal wear. To replace these very expensive tires after such a short time is unacceptable.

I have spoken with Ford, Michelin, Costco (where I replaced the tires) to no avail. I will never buy another Michelin tire. This reminds me of an earlier fiasco with Ford and Firestone tires

We had four new Michelin tires installed approximately six years ago on our 1993 Volvo 240 sedan (our "B" car). We only use it around our local area and have a little over 120,000 miles on it and have used in less than 5,000 miles annually in the same 6 year time period. We had a complete sidewall failure 'blowout' on one rear tire driving 30 MPH to the grocery store (less than one mile). When we replaced it, we were told that all tires needed replacement since the sidewalls were cracked and the treads were delaminating, although the tires still had substantial thread depth left and would have been otherwise servicable for another 10,000-12,000 miles. Economic damage is four new tires (not Michelin) for $320. We were fortunate that the blowout occurred at low speed.

I am now up to replacing my fourth tire on a Ford Fusion. One at a time. All blew out when the car was on the highway. Each tire has cost about $300. This is crazy. There is definitely something wrong with Michelin tires!

I experienced at a speed of 50 mph, on a slow left turn, that was limited to 50 mph, The vehicle turned 90 degrees in the road. Fortunately no vehicles were coming, I stopped to check what the problem was, I could find no fault. I though my steering went. But I slowly proceeded down the road again. It happened again after another 10 mi, It only occurred at a speed ever so slightly above 50. I later found that the belts were broken on the left rear tire. Not visible to the naked eye.

There is no way I will trust these tires ever!. They said nothing to me and tires were replaced. I also found some of these tires used a four grove in their tire pattern. And would hydroplane on smooth summer roads when raining. I never went back to Michelin tires, In my heart I always thought there was a 2 faced attitude. Especially when they over sold the idea of radials over bias tires. Which were a safer tire, but unfortunately rough fer riding.

I purchased some tires and is supposed to recieve a rebate. It has been over 2 months and I haven't recieved nothing. The rebate form said allow between 2-4 weeks. It has been about 8 weeks now.

I bought a new left over 2005 Dodge Magnum RT on 11/27/06. It came with Michelin 4X4 Diamaris 275/40ZR20 102W. These tires only have 16,000 miles on them now. Tuesday July 8, 2008 about half way to Tampa on I 75 (72 miles) the left rear tire blew out for no reason. I didnt run over anything to cause the tire to fail. Traffic was very heavy, I had the cruise control set at 72mph. Im very lucky that I wasnt hurt or wreck my new car. Ive never owned Michelin Tires in my life and Ive been driving for 50 years and never had anything like this happen before. Im 66 years old and this incident scared the hell out of me. Ive always heard that Michelin Tires were the best so I was very happy when I saw that my new Dodge was equipped with the best tire that money could buy.

To replace this blown out tire I had to pay $391.13. Im to old to jack-up a car and change a tire. So I had to pay a man $25.00 to put his life in Danger to change the left rear tire with traffic on I 75 whizzing by two feet from his back. Im sure the tire was defective. I saved the tire if you want it. This is the second tire in two Months that Ive had to replace. Today while they put the new tire on my car, they checked The original two tires left on the car and found cracks in the side walls of both tires. Now Im afraid to drive the car anywhere because Im not ready to die yet.

I think [they] should send a Michelin Representative to my house to look at the tires. This cant be good for [their] reputation as a tire maker. I could Blog on the Internet about My problems, but I want [them] to have the chance to keep a customer happy. This would include paying for the two tires that blew out and the two original tires that have Cracks in the sidewalls plus the $25.00 that I paid to have the spare tire put on the car. Also might consider paying me for my time and trouble and scaring me half to death. So far they are going to give me 50% off to replace the two tires that didn't blow out.

The two tires that blew out and I replaced at $391.13 a piece, hasn't been settled yet. I have to take the one blown out tire that I saved back to the tire shop and have them look at it and then they have to call Michelin and tell them what they think happened to the tire. I bought the replacement tires at Tire kingdom. So far they have been on my side. I called Michelin and they seem like there are willing to help, but I won't know until next week.

No damage to my car, just to my wallet.

We were traveling home for a trip to the Chattanooga Aquarium on July 19th 2008. I was in my 2000 Acura with my daughter and 7 year old granddaughter. I had new tires out on my car at 45,197 miles and felt save since the tires only had 14503 miles on them. I have always been a faith full buyer of Michelin tires. The ride is exceptional and I thought they were safe. The tires I purchased from Sam's in Huntsville are Michelin MXV4 PLUS Radial XSE P205/60 R16 91H MXV4+ I was told this is an excellent tire.

Just as we came off exit 152 to go west on Highway 72 I felt a strong pull, thank God we were not going fast because the front passenger tire blew out. After numerous hours waiting for help from AAA on a dark wooded area of the road the wrecker service came and changed the tire. This was a stressful ordeal for all of us and could have been so much worse if it had happened a few minutes later at a higher speed.

The wrecker driver said the whole sides of the tire just came apart. I checked the date code of all 4 tires due to seeing the special on TV about dealers selling old dated tires. The tire that blew out is wk 25 of 2006 as is one other. The 2 rear tires are wk 45 0f 2006. To my knowledge this is not deemed as old but it could have cost the lives of my family if we had been driving the higher speed limit allowed on this highway. I feel Michelin needs to take a look at their tires and maybe do a recall.

Emotional stress only

i have a 2002 volvo s60. this is the first car i have ever owned, as i have always owned trucks. when the time came to replace tires at 52,000 miles i was astonished. my trucks always got atleast 90,000-110,000 miles out of a set of shoes. the dealer recommended the michelin mxv4. i agreed, hey was this michelin man, always thought a reputable tire.

3 months after my purchase a blow out occured on front. i figured maybe i hit something on highway but could see n visible damage. dealer relaced tire at 150.00.

i just had another blow out on the rear. after 41,000 miles. when asked, they told me the mxv4 was discontinued and replaced with another upgraded version. im no tire pro, just a carpenter. but i do work on all my vehicles always have. i ve driven well over a million miles in my life and until owning michelins i ve never experienced a blow out. let alone 2. i cant prove that they a sub standard quality tires, but i know one thing. i will never purchase a michelin again.

I have been singing the praises of Michelin Hyroedge tires ever since I had them put on my PT Cruiser. That is, until last week when the front passenger side tire shredded apart on the interstate during morning rush hour. This was nerve wracking to say the least, but taking it back to Tire Kingdom, where I purchased it and 3 others 18 months before was befuddling. I was told that no, this is not a warrenty issue, and that it was not caused by any nail or other foreign object, but was caused by a damaged valve stem.

No one seemed to be able to tell me how the valve stem became damaged, since I did not have any mishap that would do such a thing, unless someone sneaked into my quiet rural driveway and banged it with a hammer without making any telltale marks on the hubcap.

I am not a young woman, so changing a tire on the interstate was not much fun. Neither was shelling out the full price for another tire, though Tire Kingdom was good enough to sell it for the same price I paid last year, and waive the installation fee. I cannot afford to replace these lemons, so I must hope and pray that a similar incident does not reoccur, possibly with deadly results. I hope someone starts a class-action suit, or at least forces Michelin to recall these shoddy things.

I purchased two new tires 10 months ago from Fulcher Tire in New Bern NC. One tire still looks new, the other tire is totally worn out with the steel belt coming out of the tire. According to Fulcher Tire the cause is unknown but is not under inflation, over inflation, miss alignment or anything else known to man. The tire is just worn completely out as if i had driven on it for 70,000+ miles in less then 10 months (I did not). The store manager said there is nothing he can do but sell me a new tire due to Michelin tire never honoring their warranties.

The economic hardship caused by this defective tire is under $55.00. The damaged tire could have caused a wreck but only damaged my finger as I was impaled on the wire sticking up from the steel belt while changing the flat tire. The attitude at Fulcher Tire is it is of no concern to them and not their problem that they sold me a defective tire from a company that according to them will never honor a warranty. They continue to misrepresent the tire as if it came with a good warranty and profit from that misrepresentation. they have offered me a new discount tire replacement but will not assist in any way with a claim from the tire manufacturer.

I bought one brand new Michelin tire Jan 23, 2007 from Murray's Tires. I paid $115.00 for the one tire. I put less than 500 miles on the tire, being that I work at home and the car is 21 years old and it's not suitable for taking on the road, and stayed parked in my driveway at least 4 days out of the week.

On June 25, 2008 I notice a vibration in the car at low speed. I took the car to a garage and was told that the Michelin tire had separated. I asked if the tire could be repaired, being that the tire was almost new and the traction was not wore. I was told that the tire was defective, and could not be repaired. I took the tire back to where I purchased it. The salesman agreed that the tire was shot but they were unwilling to exchange the tire or give me a refund.

They owned up to no responsibly and was unwilling to honor the Michelin's warranty. They attempted to sell me another tire at full price. I refused to buy another tire from them because I was not satisfy with their how they did business and their lack of decency.

I took my car to another tire dealership and purchased another Michelin tire for $113.00. If I had known that these tires were so problematic I would have avoided them.

I lease a Honda Accord 2008, I have only 15,000 miles on the car. today I discovered a bubble on the sidewall near the rim. absolutely no rim damage at all. Honda tells me I must have hit a pothole, (find me a road without one!) the tire dealer tells me Honda puts the narrow tires on their Accords and that is the problem...or the belt inside the tire is off center.... End result I am out $250.00 to replace a tire barely a year old.

$250.00 and 3 hours of work time.

I special ordered 4 Michelin 285 R75E 16 A/T2 tires at my local Sams club. It took a week to get the tires. After putting on the tires the Technitian found that all 4 tires had sidewall bubble defects. The technitian contacted Michelin without any satisfaction. So I told him to put my old tires back on. I contacted Michelin and spoke to a Stephen in cust. relations. After speaking with him and relaying my experience of waiting to get the tires for a week and now having spent the better part of 4 hrs not getting them, he agreed to send us 4 tires at no charge. He spoke to the tech. while the tech was putting the old tires back on my truck. He was told I was not accepting the tires. He was to have the tires sent to sam's.

So I waited another week not hearing from Sam's. I called and they had no idea where the tires were as Michelain was sending the tire. I contacted Michelin and found that the tires were not sent. So they put me in touch with the next level of customer service. He spoke with Sames and then says that they weren't going to send tires since I was refunded. This change the agreement we first made of a customer relations issue to a warrenty issue. To cut it short Michelin's infinite generosity is that after waiting 3 weeks and waiting 4 hrs., their jesture is to allow me to buy another set of michelins at full price.

I purchased a Mazda 6 new and it came from the factory with Michelin Tires. The problem started immediately with a severe rough ride when the tires were cool thus causing steering problems. I rarely drive this vehicle (7,000 miles per year)and was shocked to find sidewall bulges and tire seperation on the right rear tire (mileage under 20,000).

A few weeks later, I noticed the left front tire had the SAME problem. Since day one, all 4 tires wouldn't hold their tire pressure (even with no leaks) which couldn't be figured out by professionals. I returned my car to the dealership where they told me to get my car into a Michelin tire center.

The first tire center told me that the damage had been caused by LOW speed impact and a gash in the tires and would have to buy new tires ($190.00 per tire). This was definitely not caused by an impact or a gash so I took the car to another Michelin center. This time they told me that is was caused by a HIGH speed impact and that there was no gash and would have to buy new tires ($199.42 per tire).

Finding their stories not matching up, I took it to another Michelin center. They told me that it was caused by hitting a curb! The employee did mention that is was strange that the tires had bulges on either side. This was done after a thorough inspection. He then recommeded a different brand of tire which was put on the car. At all 3 tire centers, they refused to honor the warranty on the tires.

I will end up paying almost $1,000 for 4 new tires. The Michelins only lasted 20,000 miles! Besides an entire day lost, I had to break open the piggy bank.

I stopped buying Michelin tires years ago. I was very impressed with the great feel and road wear I got with the Michelin tires that came with my new Honda Accord. Naturally, for that reason, when I needed to replace the tires, I went to my local tire dealership and asked for the exact same Michelin tires that came with the car. Problem was, the same model replacement tires ran rough, and were tread-bare in less than 25,000 miles. My neighborhood mechanic pulled the tires off the car and showed me why.

Even though the model numbers and the outside cosmetic appearance of the tire was exactly the same as the original tire, he showed me that the interior belt construction was very different. He pointed out that I now had Michelin tires with the same model numbers that were manufactured in three different countries - Korea, Canada, USA. After that, I realized that when it comes to buying Michelin tires, it's a crap shoot. I don't know if it's different now, but I'm no longer a Michelin customer.

My Chev truck came with Michelin tires LTX A/T Radial X, 235/75 R 15'S. Other markings on the tires: Tread Wear 400, Traction A, Temp B, 105S, 605 (or S?), 4/37. The tires are almost new. We had a blow out on a rear tire. There are two very small areas on the side wall about 2: out form the rim and about 6: apart. The areas that blew on the side wall are so small and are really odd. Nothing could have caused the damage other than a defect or weakness in the tire. We have completely replaced the tires as after this incident as we don't trust the other 3 at all.

No physical damage other than the cost of replacing the tires. And of course the loss of $$ of all 4 Michelin tires. We are wondering if there is a recall of some kind on these tires. We have never seen anything like this before. it must be a weakness in the tire that caused the problem.

On April 25, 2008 I was traveling North on I-17 in Arizona, just outside Anthem. Unexpectedly, The Michelin Symmetry tire on the passenger rear of my 2000 Grand Voyager exploded causing (estimates are $1800.00 - $3800.00) worth of body damage to my vehicle. The tire had good tread life (only 30k miles) and there were no punctures, no previous repairs and no heat marks as verified by Discount Tire's personel, where I had purchased the tires. Discount Tires ageed that the tire failed prematurely and agreed to file a claim on my behalf with Michelin. Michelin subsequently sent me a letter and asked me to obtain two body shop estimates and to fill out a claim form that they supplied, detailing the event. I sent the info that they had requested via FedEx on Friday, May 9, 2008 (economy three day delivery). I received a denial letter on Monday, May 12, 2008. As evidenced by the dates, my packet never made it into Michelin's hands before they denied my claim. The basis of thier denial was that they said that the tire had evidence that it was run flat or low for a long period of time. I whole heartedly dispute thier findings and question thier integrity. I may not check my tires every week, but I do make it a practice to maintain and visually inspect my tires routinely (as I have children that drive in the van). I feel that Michelin has a canned response to complaints such as mine, because they know that it is difficult and costly to challenge thier findings. I believe that this is evidenced by the fact that I received a denial letter before they received the information that they requested from me to complete thier investigation. I spent the better part of the day getting the two estimates that Michelin requested, not to mention the cost of fuel and the FedEx package that I sent to them. It appears that Michelin's bean counters have formulated a plan of action when dealing with product liability claims, knowing full well that they have the consumer over the barrel most of the time. They bank on the fact that the consumer has no recourse, except to hire expensive experts and/or lawyers to prove that thier product is defective, which will far exceed the cost of the claim, thus resulting in no claim. Unfortuneatly, unless you are severly injured or someone loses their life does it become cost effective for the consumer to undergo the expense of proving that Michelin's tire is defective. Michelin can't possibly perform an unbiased and objective analysis, I suspected that going in, but they confirmed my concerns. How can a little ol consumer like me possibly hold my own against a large corp like Michelin, I can't and they rely on it. My only recourse is TO NEVER BUY ANOTHER MICHELIN TIRE AGAIN! Oh by the way, I have Michelin's on three of my cars and that is three less cars for Michelin The commerical of the baby sitting in the middle of the Michelin tire is BS and misleading!!! I have never had a blowout with another brand of tire!!!!

I have had three side wall blow outs in the last two months to brand new Michelin Synchronome 1111H tires. Each occurence happened within a few days of buying the tires. In each case I hit the side of a curb without scrapeing it hard but distroyed the tires. I drive a suv and have had the same kind of car for many years without this ever happening before.In fact, I have been driving for over 45 years without this happening.

We have a set of defective MICHELIN CROSS TERRAIN Tires (P245-70R16 106H) on our 2006 Kia Sorento. Not only do they ride awful but have strange and uneven wear on them. They look dangerous. There's no damage to the vehicle YET, but after reading all your reports, I wonder why you guys aren't reporting these bad tires to the NHTSA? They can affect a recall and can force Michelin to solve their manufacturing problems.

I'm reporting our problems to them. Here's their website, National Highway Traffice Safety Administration click on tires: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm or report it here: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm#tires Good luck! Hope these tires haven't killed anyone yet.



Regarding the Michelin Symmetry tire in size 205/65R15 of which I purchased a complete set of four in Autumn 2007, after approximately 15,000 miles, the driver front tire deflated and prudentially was replaced with the doughnut tire on the 2002 Hyundai Elantra GLS. The Michelin tire then exploded at 23 pounds of pressure in a Wal-mart service center during routine tests. Tread wear was normal and remained well above 50%. Wal-mart was kind enough to replace the tire at no cost despite my lack of documentation at the time, that I had purchased the four tires there. Upon closer inspection, the inside of the tire near the rim, along the entire circumference of the outside of the tire, appeared pock-marked with bubbles.


Four hours of lost time.



Friday, March 14th, on I-80, about 30 miles East of Des oines, IA, the right rear inner dual Michelin tire on my motorhome exploded. I was able to safely steer to the roadside. Tire pressure was not a factor as I had checked pressures before driving that day. A similar blowout on the left inner dual occured about one year ago. These tires are LT 235-85/R16 XPS Rib load range E, with dot codes in mid 1999, but with very little tread wear.


The tire seriously damaged the outer skin of the motor home, destroyed the outer part of the exhaust pipes, and severed the propane lines in the wheel well. Repair estimates are running into the $1200 region, including tire replacement.

I had a blow out on my brand new ridge line pickup truck. 4000 miles on the tires and it was faulty. I only hope to get reimbursed for rental and my deductible.

$9000 damage was done to the truck due to loss of control of the vehicle.

On December 17, 2007 at approx. 17:30 hrs I was traveling North on I-81 approx 1/2 mile S of exit 90. The right front tire blew out on my Ford Explorer. No injuries. As my Ford Explorer has accutrac which helped me to maintain control of my vehicle and safely coast my way to a stop on the burm of the highway. However, tread seperated causing substantial damage to my vehicle. I have photos of tire. DOT # of tire is B37PDH8X2504. Anyone with failures of Michelin tires should contact the US Dept of Transportation and lodge a complaint. As I have contacted them and requested an investigation into these tires and was told they have not received any complaints on Michelin tires. After seeing this website, I find that hard to believe! After all of this, I no longer felt safe driving with Michelin tires and replaced all four with another type.

I purchased my 2005 Dodge Ram in Dec 05...Truck had 175 miles on it at time of purchase. I noticed the other day that my front tires are almost completely bald! I only have 22,000 miles on my truck. I would like to have my tires replaced and the back ones looked at as well by a professional.

I have not contacted the dealership about this issue. Since my truck is a purchase and not a lease I don't see them helping in any way...only suggesting that I contact you, the manufacturer of the the tire. I did not realize there were so many problems with the Michelin tire until I logged onto your website. My sister had them on her Explorer and never had a problem...was very happy.



I have a Chrysler Pacifica with Michelin Pilot sport tires 235/55/R19 showing excessive premature wear similar to the Michelin Pilot sport tire being recalled 255/35/zr20


This may result in tire failure and accident or at the very least premature tire replacement causing financial hardship.



I have had three SUV's that I installed Michelin Cross Terrain tires on, two of them replacing XWS & LTX/MS tires that i drive for 60,000 miles per set.
The first two CT's were mounted 15 & 16 inch wheels with no incidents, leaks or blowouts.
The third vehicle has 265-75-R17 tires and I had my first blowout with a MIchelin. I have used Michelin tires since 1971 on many makes of cars without a blowout. I am very concerned that just as with the Firestone/Explorer problems, that there may be a problem with specific sizes of the same series of tires. Does anyone agree?

I will visit my dealer tomorrow to have them examine the failed tire and see what they and Michelin will do for me.

NO damage except having to wait for AAA which was on the spot within 15 minutes.

Things happen and such is life!


I do not have a horror story to tell about the new MXV4 Engergy Plus tires yet, however, I feel that these tires are unsafe compared to any michelin tire that I have owned previously. The tires set up a vibration in the passenger cabin that gets stressful, and it feels at times as though the belts are moving around with less than 1,000 miles on these tires. In short, I feel that these tires are dangerous because at times, the bounce and vibration from the tires makes me feel that I am not firmly in control of the car. I am trying to get the tires replaced by the Mercedes dealership where I bought the car. If they refuse to repalce these tires with a more suitable tire, then I will eat the cost of these horrible tires and buy new japanese tires from NTB.


Today My Mother and My Stepfather were driving to Laughlin up the 15. Weather was good, road conditions good. My Mom was driving and made an attempt to pass a slow moving Semi Truck. She checked Her speed at approx. 65m.p.h. When She lost control of Her Land Rover due to a premature blowout on Michelin Tires they just purchased this Year at Costco.

The Rover swerved out of control and smashed into the side of the Semi becoming trapped and dragged underneath the Trailer being crushed by the Semi Trucks Duals. It took two hours to get My stepfather extricated out of the rover and due to the loss of blood to His arms Doctors were just able to save the Right arm.

My Mother, 75yrs old. Suffered contusions and abrasions to Her Face and arms and as of tonite they are still removing the glass from Her body. She has severe bruising from where the windshield smashed into her Chest.

I have been scouring the web and have found NUMEROUS complaints and Product Recalls about Michelin Tires. This very well could have been a double fatality.



I purchased four Michlin Harmony tires for my Honda Accord. The tires promised long tread life and excellent performance on wet roads. The promise of long tread life seems to be accurate, that is if you live long enough to wear out the tires! I have had three high-speed blow-outs with these tires. The latest of the three happened yesterday, and left me on the PA Turnpike changing a tire amidst the roar of tractor trailers only a few feet away. It was not pleasant. In this case the sidewall of the tire blew out leaving a gaping hole. It didn't make a loud noise or send the car into a spin, but it did require great care to get off the road safely.

All three tires blew at fairly high speeds.

I have gotten little satisfaction from the dealer. They simply replace the tires at my pro-rated expense. Judging from the comments on this board, I will expect much help from Michelin.


I lost one half day of work and the replacement of the damaged tires has cost me around $200. Fortunately I am an experienced highway driver and have been able to stay calm and avoid any further damage to my vehicle or myself.



Bought top of the line Michelin Pilot Sport tires from tirerack.com. At only 15K-20K there was such bad wear on them that the threads were showing. I contacted Michelin and they just offered me a nominal discount off a new tire. Now at barely 25K of use, there is sidewall damage and wear. These tires are a joke and if you look at tirerack.com, they have such poor reviews and only 3 out of 10 people would buy them again.


Hit a pothole the other day and I believe the poor quality of the tire caused my rim to bend. It was not that bad of a pothole but these tires failed to perform properly.


On November 15, 2006, I purchased 4 205/55HR 16 Michelin Pilot Exalto tires in the amount of $464.44 from Tire Rack. On March 23, 2007, I incurred 2 flat tires and purchased 2 replacement tires from Tire Rack in the amount of $271.08. Per my Road Hazard insurance program through Tire Rack I will be reimbursed in the amount of $199.48.

Per conversations held with two different tire service centers, it has come to my understanding that these tires had manufacturing defects and if it werent for these defects the tires would have been able to withstand the damage (as these tires were less than 5 months old).

I have been a very valued and loyal customer of Michelin for years and always will be. I am currently an undergraduate student at Harvard University and have very limited income. I kindly request that Michelin Tires reimburse me my out of pocket expenses in the amount of $131.60. If this matter is not resolved with reimbursement of my out of pocket expenses I will have no further option but to seek legal action in small claims court and contact the appropriate authorities regarding the business practices of Michelin.

Two years ago I bought my Dartmouth college junior a Subaru Outback Wagon. The Dealer installed a new set of Michelin XSE mud and snows to seal the deal. My daughter at first reported that these tires did not work all that well in the snow and also told me that the tires felt greasy when wet. Her previous car,a GM A body wagon with a set of Yokohamas LS4's , served her well in the snows of New Hampshire. More recently, the Subaru Wagon Michelins have developed blisters in the side walls (this with the tires having about 20,000 miles on them)

The other day the front right tire blister just blew open with the inner carcass material showing thru the failure zone. The tire dealer has examined the tire and said it simply failed. There was no evidence of underinflation or road hazard damage. These are supposed to be premium tires and are sold for considerably more than comparable tires made by other tire companies. I've had other negative experiences with the Michelins on my wife's Dodge Caravan and now I'm quite sure I will never buy this brand of tire again. With proper care the first set of Yokohamas on her GM wagon lasted 90,000 miles The Michelins at 20,000 miles are not to be trusted and are now in the tire dealers dumpster - what a waste.

Lucky for us no one was hurt and the car not damaged when the tire let go - it could have been different. As the Michelin XSE's are no longer made ( gee I wonder why? ) I had to buy a complete new set of tires as it is well known that the differentials in the 4 wheel drive Subaru's can be troublesome if a different make/model of tire is fitted to the car. So I basically spent $500.00 and wasted half a day plus the towing charges and bought a set of tires long before I was supposed to - the Michelin warranty being useless in this case.

I bought 4 Michelin Pilot tires and had them mounted at discount tire center in Long Beach, CA.,on August 13, 2003. I just noticed a deep crack running across the treads of one of these tires. about a year ago a defect that looked exactly the same appeared on another of these four tires bought at DTC. Initially we thought it unusual but we paid for new tires. This is the second time and we would like Michelin to replace the remaining two from this original 2003 purchase.

I recently purchased a 2006 Dodge Charger-Daytona Pkg. My vehicle came equipped with the Michelin Pilot Sport, 235/55r/18 tire. With less than 10,000 miles, the sidewall of my tire blew out while my husband was driving 70 miles an hour on a freeway. The vehicle began to shutter and he immediatly lost tire pressure. The tire looks like someone took a knife and cut around it. The inside of the tire shows blistering. Michelin has offered $80.00 towards a new $240.00 tire. After reading recalls for the sister tire (20 inch) and after reading several of the comments on this page, I have decided that I do NOT want Michelin tires on my car. Unfortunately, I am now out $900.00 for tires I shouldn't have to replace for another 35,000 miles. :o(

Three of the four OEM Pilot Sports Radial X tires on my Porsche have developed cracks in the sidewalls in less than 15,000 miles.

One blow out, fortunately at low speed. Dealer says I ran over something. Of course, I know it went driving in town on smooth pavement at 35 MPH. Gee, I guess something invisible jumped up and made a hole in the sidewall. Second replacement at an aftermarket dealer. Last one just happened. I took it to the tire store manager who called Michelin and would not let them give him the run around. He told them if was definitely a defective tire. They are going to pro-rate this one. It is alarming to think these are high speed rated tires. I wonder how many bad accidents could possibly have been avoided.

While on a short trip with my family, I had a tire go flat. I went to a Michelin location in Pigeon Forge, TN to have it repaired. The service team told me it would be 20 minutes. 45 minutes later I came back and they had still not pulled my car back. I explained the situation to the man at the desk. He told me too bad and I would just have to wait my turn, it didn't matter what the service man told me. He then proceeded to yell at me in a room full of people, about waiting until it was my turn. I was horrified.

He then went and got my keys and told me I could just go somewhere else. I started to cry (I never cry), I had never been so humilated in my life. I asked for the corporate number, he said he was the owner. He then handed me a business card and scribbled his name on the back with the words owner underlined.

I explained to him that he needed to repair my car, I am on vacation with my kids by myself and need to get the tire repaired, I have already waited this long and it is unfair for him to just tell me to go somewhere else. There are 2 reasons I was treated in this demeaning way, 1 - I am a woman, 2 - the car was a very cheap car (if he had only know it was a rental and that I am a DVP for a large company who has and will discontinue their contract with your company),

In my opinion service is the #1 reason I choose to do business with a company. Based on the fact that Michelin allows someone like this to continue to do business under their name infuriates me. The old saying goes that a dissatisfied customer tells 10 people about there bad experiences. I have already called the BBB of Tennessee and will also be contacting the tourism board. I will never do business with this company again and intend to make sure everyone I know makes the same decision. People like this gentleman should not be allowed to work with the public, much less own a business that deals with them daily.

I just looked into the recent Michelin recall on heavy sports load tires. I have Pilot P215/50 r17 93V tires on my Mazda. I noticed blistering on one of the tires and the other mysteriously has low air pressure. I have already replaced two of these tires with another brand with limited miles on my car. I would not recommend these tires to anyone.

I bought a used 1999 Dodge Quad Cab 2 wheel drive pickup truck.I felt very safe when I saw that the truck came with a set of MICHELIN LTX A/S tires. I took my new truck over to a tire shop because I felt a bubble in the sidewall. I was told that when tires are on the rack sometimes it causes an indentation. I am a horse trainer and pull a gooseneck horse trailer.The weight of my trailer is around 5800 lbs empty.

I proceeded to pull my precious horses with these tires for two months all around Oregon. I thought I was safe. On June 25, 2005 on Interstate 5 in southern Oregon I found out differently. "Thank God" I did not have my trailer hitched on that day which is rare for me!

My friend and I were returning from a Quarter Horse show which I had planned to show in but decided to just go and watch instead. Around 4:30 PM pacific time I felt a thumping in one of my tires. I asked my friend if she felt it oto? We agreed that I should pull over as we thought we were having a flat. Right about that moment I felt a horriable vibration then an explosion! Then as I was still driving on I-5 at 65 mph the pickup's rear end jumped up almost putting us into a nosedive and jerked violently to the right into a sideways skid as I held onto her the best I could.

I proceeded to fishtail at least 3 times all across both lanes of the Interstate miracously hitting no other vehicles.After I finally gained control of the truck I coasted towards the shoulder and did not touch my brakes until I was around 20 mph. After I got stopped my friend and I thought the gas tank had exploded so we unbuckled our seat belts to quickly exit the truck! As I grabbed my cell phone to call my husband my friend was walking around the truck to see what had happened.

I heard her say that I needed to see this. I said "I know we have to change a tire". She says "No Jamie your truck is totalled".

The whole left side of my pickup bed was ripped in every direction, there was a huge hole in the fender well,and the tire pieces almost took out my gas tank. After I contacted my insurance agent I found that they could have the truck fixed. I had over $3500.00 in damages.My MICHELIN tire had a tread seperation. No blowout.

My friend and I had whiplash and I got a nice fractured collar bone and rotator cuff injury. I have been told that had I touched the brakes we would have been killed because when the truck took a nosedive it would have rolled violently down the freeway. I don't know why I just rode it out without braking but am very greatful I did.

After I had the truck repaired it never drove right or pulled my trailer right. I contacted Michelin to only be told that since I was not the original owner they couldn't help me. Our local Michelin dealer would replace the damaged tire with a new one and I declined because the remaining tires had tiny cracks and sidewall bubbles.I also was told by the Michelin dealer that my remaining tires had 80% tread and I have nothing to worry about. Basically I'm a silly woman -- go away!

Since I couldn't total my truck,had no real serious injuries to report, and was not the original purchaser of the tires then legally I had nothing. I fought every angle for two more months and all I got was reimbursed for one tire from my insurance after I had to go and fork out $650.00 for a set of four new Toyo tires from our local Les Schwab tire store.

In August of 2005 we purchased a 2003 Hyundai Elantra for our 17 year old daughter. Needless to say, at 17, she is a new and fairly inexperienced driver. The car had 18,000 miles on it, so did the tires which were original to the car. That should have been no problem.

Yesterday 12-9-05, our daughter was driving a friend home in the late afternoon. They heard a noise and pulled over. Her tire was flat. On closer inspection, it looked as if someone had taken a knife and slit the sidewall 360 degrees about an inch out from the rim. They changed the tire, and my daughter went on with her day. Last night at 1 am she was on her way home from the movies, when another tire blew! There was nothing left of this one.

She drove the last block on the rim. After reading the other reports here, I printed them out and took them with me to the dealership where I bought the car. They agreed to reimburse us for the price of new tires. We bought 4 new tires for her car, and 2 new tires for my car, as I also had Michelin tires on the rear of my car. I will never have Michelin tires on another vehicle I own. How different this story could have ended had she been on the freeway, or going a high rate of speed. I feel extremely lucky to still have my daughter with me after this experience.


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