Burned Tire Buyer

I'm replacing my Prius 05 Michelin MXV4 tires (no longer manufactured), which, after 30,000 miles, the tread was extremely worn down to 3/32. I was totally surprised and disappointed. Normal wear otherwise, no alignment issue.

I contacted Michelin Customer Support about my dissatisfaction and they suggested several sites to visit so that it could be looked at. I went to Discount Tire and was told that the Michelin dealer who sold them to me LAST YEAR, sold me OLD tires. Tires were "new" but manufactured two to three years prior to 2007. I thought I was buying 2007 tires!

Lesson learned. I'm definitely contacting the BBB!
Fortunately, Michelin Customer Support is giving me 25% credit on my original purchase price. AND I learned of a $60.00 rebate offer thanks to a Prius Chat forum contributor. I'm considering buying Michelin's Destiny this time.

I have Michelin Destiny on the rear after I had an unrepairable nail puncture with one of the original GY Integrity at 15K miles. I'm at almost 23K now, just waiting to wear out the fronts and then buy another pair of Destiny to match the rears. They seem ok, but really hard to tell anything definitive when I still have the GY on the front.

It is actually really easy to check - the date code is 4 digits - the first 2 are the week of manufacture, the second two are the year. So 1105 is made in the 11th week (March) of 2005. We use similar codes on the electronic components we manufacture where I work except ours would be reversed 0511 (2005, 11th week).

My Integrity(s) are 4906 (Dec 2006) and the Destiny(s) are 3807 (Sept 2007).

my energy mxv4+ (bought 4/2007) are 1902 and 1502. 2002!!! wtf! i have a phone call to make.

There was a news report recently that showed many shops will sell tires that are several years old as new. Unfortunately, the clock starts ticking as soon as they are manufactured because they degrade internally as a function of time and temperature.

Michelin says that tires that are 5 years old or older should be inspected every year by a tire shop and that 10 years is the absolute max tire life for their tires.

http://www.michelinman.com/media/en-US/pdf/tires/Tire_Service_Life_Technical_Bulletin.pdf

well, i was going to have 2 tires replaced because their sidewalls are damaged after losing pressure on the road- faulty, recalled valve stems. i will not pay for those two tires.
but now that i know this, i'm going to replace the other 2 on our dime.

i want more than 25% back from my purchase price because my tires had five flippin' years for the rubber to deteriorate before they even went on my car. no wonder they're wearing for crap.

how ridiculous.

I would give Michelin Customer Service a call like the OP did and try to get a discount on the other two as well. And let them know which shop sold you the 5 year old tires.

that's the plan for monday, since they're closed on weekends. i want part of my original purchase price back, regardless of how they're being replaced.

I've just finished filing a Better Business Bureau complaint against the tire dealership who sold me the old tires. The website is: Untitled. If I don't get satisfaction, I'll consider taking the unscrupulous business owner to small claims court. These snakes have probably done this to many others.

Since Michelin Customer service offered me 25% of my original purchase price on the MXV4's, I'm asking the fraudulent tire dealership to pay for 75% of the purchase price. I'll still stick with Michelins, and am considering getting Destiny tires. Signed, Burned Tire Buyer

Is that date code typically found on the outside (front) or inside (back) of the tire?

It depends on how the tire is mounted. The DOT code is always stamped into one side of the tire, but it could be the inside or the outside depending on how the tire is mounted.

On my Prius, all 4 of the codes are readable from the outside, but on my GF's motorhome, only two are readable from the outside, two others are mounted on the inside, and for the inside duals I can't tell.

So buyer beware

i also have to stop by a michelin dealer for an inspection. couldn't make it before closing today, so it's on the to-do list for tomorrow. so far so good on the customer service.

I know this might not be all that helpful to the unfortunate situations above, but one of the reasons I order online from Tirerack is that they tend to have fresher tires than local dealers. Other reasons are:
1. Shipping is offset by lack of sales tax in passenger tires (but not in trucks which have twice the shipping expense.)
2. Local shops can't beat Tirerack's price or even come close, and tell me to order it and that they will mount it.
3. Tirerack has a selection of performance tires that the locals can't touch.

On the other hand...despite getting fresh tires I did have a brand spanking new Bridgestone Potenza fail (properly inflated, I had just checked it within the past 24 hours) and cause a rollover. Looked like bad rubber to me as the sidewall separated from the tread, with no indication of rubbing from running low. (I used to change a lot of tires at work a few decades ago and can tell the difference.) There was a loud bang when it exploded. Sucks when this happens on a curve at interstate with an 18 wheeler in the other lane. I've done okay with Bridgestone full size truck tires, but will never run one of their passenger tires again in my lifetime.

i got the 25% discount from michelin, too. i guess i'm on my own for the damage from the defective valve stem [assholes] so i'm buying 4 replacements.

Tire's Manufacture Date

dogfriend,

Thanks for this very useful info. I never knew this before.

I just got back from looking at my Goodyear TripleTreds' date code for their week of manufacture. I was pleased to find that the date code says "2207", i.e., they were manufactured in May 2007 -- just two months prior to my ordering them from TireRack.com.

Chalk up another plus for TireRack. I'm not certain, but I would guess that one is more likely to get recently manufactured tires if one were to buy from a high volume, online seller like TireRack.com, rather than from a brick and mortar tire shop.

i'm planning on using discount tire. they can order from tire rack for me and give me the 25% discount off the top so i don't have to apply for reimbursement. i was really burned by the whole reimbursement business elsewhere today, so this is a plus.

This may be a reason to keep buying the Integrities that get bad-mouthed so much: they're a common OEM tire and so are unlikely to sit on a shelf for very long. My four replacement Integrities were all made a few weeks before I bought them.