Tire Concerns: Continental tires

by Ann
(Ca)

I have had 2 blowouts in my Continental 18 inch tires in the last 2 weeks. I have a Lanver Mitsubishi. I am trying to get the dealership to take them back and give me four replacement tires based on safety. Do I have a case?

Comment:

From the information you've given I cannot give you an opinion as to whether or not you have any valid grounds to seek replacement tires.

To give you even a suggestion I would want to know how old the tires are and whether or not you had given the required care and attention to your tires which a manufacturer expects you to do, if they are going to respond.

Generally speaking, a defective tire will show clear signs of some defect within the first days or weeks of being put into use and given the procedures used in tire manufacturing these days it is very unlikely that two tires together will fail in the same way at about the same time because of the same defect.

Blow-outs are most often the product of running a tire with too little tire pressure. I know it seems illogical, but what happens is that lower air pressure cause a tire to overheat, which weakens the rubber, and the very high heat then causes the pressure to increase to the point that a tire explodes.

Of course, I have no way of knowing if this was your case. Personally I'd want to inspect the damaged tires before making a diagnosis.

TG