Tire blowout. Am I liable to pay for it plus damages?

Tires are not covered under the car manufacturers warranty, but by the tire maker - but only if the problem is caused by a defect. If you ran over something which caused the blowout, the tire and wheel problem is your responsibility. Some dealers sell additional tire & wheel warranties which would have covered this. You may be able to make a claim on your auto insurance, but the cost is likely to be less than your deductable and the claim may raise your rates. A tire store would probably be your best option to replace the tire and polish the scrape out of the wheel. Sorry...

 

Glad you are OK!
What tire brand would blowout?
Do you think Pressure was too high (for max MPG)?
Did the service dept see a puncture in the tire?

The only blowout I ever had was on my bike, hit the base of broken beer bottle with a shard sticking up.

 

If you make your car hit something that causes damage to the body, windshield, tires, underbody, shocks and many other things you are at fault. Only items that fail do to a manufacture defect are covered by the manufacture warranty.

 

Just last week I saw a service truck with "Mobile Rim Repair Service" painted on the side.
There's probably someone who offers this service in your area too.

 

Let me guess, you are rolling on the Toyo Proxes A20?

 

The OE Toyos are notorious for weak sidewalls and defects that cause blowouts. They are SUPER fuel efficient though. LOL

 

If the blowout is in the sidewall and there are no signs of damage from hitting something, you might be able to get compensation for the tire from the tire company. They typically won't cover any other damage such as your wheel.

As mentioned earlier, there are wheel repair services. As long as the wheel damage is cosmetic instead of structural, it can be fixed and painted to look like new. Unless you have chrome wheels, then you are hosed.

 

Throw out those dangerous Toyo tires and buy some Michelin's. Your rims will thank you. With the reputation of those Toyo's having sidewall failures I just can't imagine why Toyota would use them. It's a serious safety issue. Think if that tire let go while you were on a ramp running higher speeds or on a freeway maneuvering around a big truck. You might not be here today to tell us your story They are dangerous and should not be on a car.

Mike

 

See if those people at your dealer can do something to get you riding on new safe tires. They must know about the safety issues those Toyo tires have. This thread makes me wonder what happened to that fellow in Winchester Kentucky who ordered his Five Plus Perf when I ordered my car and our cars were on the same ship. We chatted for weeks until one day he went silent on the forum as well as personal emails. His car had Toyo's. I don't recall his name at the moment but he was the guy who worked at the Camry factory north of Lexington. He was very chatty on emails and the forum until he just disappeared one day. I fear he had a tire issue and is no longer with us

Mike

 

I am getting nervous with my Toyo A20s. Running 44/42 PSI, hopefully that helps with the sidewall issue.

 

If you really believe the tires are unsafe then file a complaint with NHTSA. Here are a few sites from a quick search for Toyo blowous:

Posts tagged "Tire Blowout" | Phoenix Tire Defect Attorney Blog

Toyo Tires Recalled | Defective Product Lawyer Florida

TOYO Tires Reports

The same search for Goodyear blowouts returned quite a few hits as did Michelin. I suspect every tire manufacturer has many postings about their tires blowing out.

Everyone is quick to point to overinflation as the cause for a blowout. Underinflation is more likely because the additional heat weakens the tire. It seems OP probably has 34psi in a tire rated for 51psi.

 

Prius Two, Three & Four come with 15's and the Plus Perf comes with 17's so they take off the 15's in port, where all accessories and some options are installed, and install Michelin's on the Plus wheels. The Five comes in on 17's and Toyo's and the installers take those off the factory Five 17's and put them on the Plus 17's. Regular Fives go from port wearing their 17's with Toyo's and ship to the dealers.

I was so damn happy to learn that, otherwise I would have had my tires changed before I took delivery. Some will say this manufacturer and that manufacturer has had issues, but those specific Toyo's you have are a serious safety issue, not the MXM4 Michelin's that the Plus Perf gets. Obviously there are other brands/models of tires that are proven safe and reliable.

I hope Orlando Toyota will work with you to get you into a new set of tires either no cost or very discounted. I know they are nice people to work with as I first spoke with them about ordering my car and later went with a local dealer up here because of the low price they offered.

Mike

 

I am of the opinion, based on past experience and failures, that most OEM tires are substandard, that they should be immediately replaced with an upgraded tire for safety and reliability reasons. I changed out the OEM Yokohama tires on our Prius for Michelin LRR tires at 500 mi and have no regrets. Toyota and all manufacturers should have to assist in these upgrades, especially since they are responsible for installing substandard tires on new cars. The manufactures pay low prices for these OEM tires, but if one or more blows you have to pay an unreasonably high price to replace them. So I believe that you are best advised to immediately change them out for a quality tire with a useful warranty and road hazard insurance.

 

How many miles you have on the tires before this?

 

My Prius"v" two came with 16 inch wheels and Michelin A/S LRR tires. I'm glad that I did not get Yokahomas or Bridgestones.

For years I've had cars with Yokahomas and replaced tehm with the same. They wore out more uickly than most, and I had quite a few failures.

I hope that the Michelins are better.