Tire warranty? 9k miles and a slit sidewall! (Pic)

[Anas_82]

So I was topping off the tire pressure yesterday and saw this giant slit in the sidewall. It still holds air, but the sidewall is bulged around the slit so I know it's weak. Didn't trust leaving it on so I put the donut on.

The sport only has 9k miles. We didn't hit anything, there's ZERO curb rash, ZERO marks on the tire, ZERO marks on the rim, no clue how this could have happened other than a defect splitting open. It's deep too, you can pull on the edge and it's at least 1/4" deep.

Called Ford to see about dropping the tire off and the dealership is already saying it won't be covered, that defects are usually cords showing....well the sidewall is split open right next to a casting seam, and there's NO signs of ever hitting anything. They close at 4:30 too which will make it a royal pain to get there before I'm done work, and I don't feel comfortable having my wife and 4 month old riding around on an undersized donut so we're carpooling to work which is a big inconvience too with the dealership having bankers hours.

Just wanted to get some feedback on this, I know already I'm going to have a fight with the dealership to get it covered. Has anyone experienced this before?

This is tires separation cause by factory defect , as from pictures there is no sign for any cut near the separation.
Im working in tires over 13 years and expert in these cases so Im sure about it , Just make sure there is no puncture in this tire as in this case you will lose warranty other than that is a clear case and they will replace to you as a factory defect

 

[Harley#356]

This is tires separation cause by factory defect , as from pictures there is no sign for any cut near the separation.
Im working in tires over 13 years and expert in these cases so Im sure about it , Just make sure there is no puncture in this tire as in this case you will lose warranty other than that is a clear case and they will replace to you as a factory defect

Thanks for the feedback.

I dropped the tire off Friday around lunch time, but their service manager was off until Monday (which it snowed today so he probably took another day off with my luck), so we were without a vehicle all weekend while the tire sat there. I'm NOT driving around on that donut unless it's an emergency so for all intended purposes we're without the vehicle. They said the service manager would have to make a decision if it was covered under warranty or not, and they'd have to order the tire in if it was. So probably will be without for another couple days at least. NOT happy with how long this is taking for a simple tire!

Looks like we're actually in the same area, have you tried Larson in lakewood? I've had good experiences there, so has my mother on her fusion and my friend on their focus. I'd obviously like to refer you to the dealer I work at, but I'm out by PA, so Larson is a good local choice.

Larson isn't too far, I'm in Jackson so it's right next to Lakewood. I should probably start going there instead of Freehold even if it's a little further.

Freehold took a MONTH to replace the manual trans in our 5.0 Mustang when it was whining. A MONTH! Then we picked it up and the clutch pedal hit the floor because they never bled the system. Had to leave it again, 2 more days just to bleed the system. Then we drove it home and sounded like there were zipties on the driveshaft type of noise. They said just drive around for a few days and see if it goes away. Terrible terrible terrible!

I too took a tire warranty.

If this isn't covered then its not worth the price paid.

Sadly dealers pull this crap all the time.
They promise the moon to get your money and then can't back away fast enough when its time to make good on their promise.

While I like my Explorer and can easily see getting another one, I would greatly look forward to telling the future salesman I don't want anything extra based on previous broken promises and BS from them.

Good luck. Let us know how you make out.

I didn't get an extra warranty on the tires. The sport only has 9k miles on it, not a year old yet, so it should still be covered under the factory warranty.

 

[Harley#356]

*update* just called them since they never called me. They said it will be covered under warranty thankfully. New tire should be in tomorrow.

Happy to hear about that, wasn't happy to hear they said it may not be ready till Wednesday. Seriously? The tire is OFF the car, it will take 10 minutes to mount and balance it, they can even dismount the old one today so it's ready to go as soon as the new tire shows up tomorrow. I just want to pick the tire up and I'll mount it myself. 5 days for a tire is a little excessive.

He said he'd put a rush on it, so I hope that's true, although they said they'd call me Monday morning and never did either. I'll call again at lunch tomorrow. Hopefully it's done by COB so I can pick it up after work and mount it since we really need 2 vehicles on Wednesday.

 

[Harley#356]

woot woot, they got the tire in over night, it'll be mounted and ready for me to pick up after work.

Now as long as it's the same brand/model tire (i sure would hope so LOL), I'll be happy.

Now hopefully none of the other 3 develop the same issue but I"ll be keeping an eye on them all. I'll be happy to get this undersized donut off, and have 2 vehicles again.

 

[alexk]

I'm in Jackson too. I would definitely give them a shot, before I worked at ford I would use them and occasionally when I feel like being a customer I'll go there for an oil change. If nothing else they're really nice there. Good to know they got it covered for you though!

 

[pingbling23]

good to hear its covered and they are "rushing" it for you. and it should be the same oem tire as they are taking off.

 

[Harley#356]

I spoke too soon. I picked the tire up last night a little after 5. No service guys left but they left the rim with a tech in the back for me to pick up before 5:30. There is a giant GASH in my RIM now!!!!!! I'm absolutely livid! This isn't even from an installation error dismounting/mounting a tire, this is pure NEGLIGENCE and LACK OF CARE by whoever did the work. How can you put a 2-3" GASH in the painted area of the rim and not even say anything! I have to call this morning to complain since there was noone there in the evening to talk to about it.

It's worse than it looks too, it's through the clear, through the paint, through the primer, and indented into the METAL of the rim! You clearly feel it with your fingernail because it's a deep one, not just a surface scuff. They really had to drop something sharp on it to do this.

These pics are resized down to only 10% of original so the pixelation compression makes the scratch not look as glaring as it does in person. This isn't one I can just rub with some compound and say "eh forget it", this stands out like a sore thumb!

 

[Carguy3J]

Yikes! Don't let them get away with anything less then a new rim. There is no way the dealer can fix that, to the same corrosion protection as new.

Did you have it documented by someone at the dealership? The only problem you might have is if you took it home like that. You know they will try to claim it happened after you picked it up. I would have refused "delivery" if I saw that. I would have found whatever highest ranking manager in the dealership at the time, and have them document it.

At this point, I would push hard for them to compensate you for your trouble as well.

 

[Harley#356]

I had a screaming 4 month old in the truck with me when I picked it up, I rolled it right into the bed of the Raptor and headed home because the little one wasn't looking so hot, saw the damage on the rim as soon as I took it out of the bed. Called first thing this morning to report it so I could talk to a service manager.

They just called me back, the service manager needs to see it, and he works bankers hours. He's gone by the time I can get there after work, he's out friday and saturday. I need to drop it off. My wife needs her explorer to take the kiddo to the Dr. tomorrow so I can't drop it off tonight and have her driving him around on that donut. So the soonest I could get it there is Friday morning which the service manager is out, and we'd be back on the donut Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday till he's back in. I should at least get a full size loaner rim/tire to put on the Explorer with all this waiting on them after THEY damaged my rim!

Waiting for my wife to text me the VIN# and I'm contacting corporate customer service.