Michelin tires

[Bhigdog]

Not sure if this is a proper post or not but since we are all car folks I thought I'd share. I bought a 2012 Grand Cherokee. Near top of the line with OEM Michelin tires. Loved the tires but noticed what seemed like excessive wear. At 34,000 miles they were worn to the wear bars and making me nervous. I visited Michelin's web site and called customer service. I figured that OEM tires were cheaper versions of after market tires built to a car makers price point. The customer rep assured me that was NOT true and that OEM tires were exactly the same as after market. I said I was disappointed it the tread wear of my OEM tires and she asked for the vehicle year make and mileage and side wall info. After I told her the specifics she said they were 60,000 mile tires and I should put in a claim..... HUH?....... She gave me the name of the nearest stocking dealer and said to go see him. So I did.

Guy looks at the tires, measures the tread depth, records the numbers and says he'll put in a claim if I want. Now I've been down this pro-rata claim deal before and figured they would send me a small debit card after 3 months of waiting for the claim to be processed but only if I bought new tires. So I asked him how long this would take. He says only take a phone call to get settled.......... HUH?

Guy makes the call, verifies a few facts from me and hangs up. Says Michelin will give me 51% off the price of any tire they make, that's about 4 or 5 different brands. I could buy any brand and upgrade or downgrade however I wanted and it was 51% off............. HUH?

So still expecting a catch I ask when can this happen. He says he's booked for the rest of the day but anytime after that just make an appointment.

So, the next day I had 4 new $259 upgraded Michelin's put on for $127 each.

The point of the story, besides passing on an atta boy, is to clue others in. If I hadn't stumbled into calling Michelin I simply would have gone out and ponied up a grand for a new set of sneakers for the car and grumbled about it......................Bob

[nickelroadster]

That is a good story with a positive result. I would still like to know why the original tires wore out so quickly. From your post I assume you got some different tires this time.

[Bhigdog]

Actually I got the next step up Michelins. I've run Michelins on my Durangos and Ram pick up and really like they way they ride. Clearly superior to some others I've run. When I bought the Grand Cherokee (all wheel drive) a friend said "they eat tires". So I'm not sure what's going on. But the new tires are 70,000 mile tires if they wear early I'll see if they'll back them up again. If so I'll have no complaints...................Bob

[Peter J.Heizmann]

That is a good story with a positive result. I would still like to know why the original tires wore out so quickly. From your post I assume you got some different tires this time.

Agree that Bob does have a good post here. Interesting in that the President of my company had the same problem of short life with tires on a 2005 Dodge Magnum all wheel drive. His theory was all tires are drive tires vs. vehicles with 2-wheel drive regularly rotated tires. He could only achieve 15-18K per set. I know absolutely nothing about this theory however it makes sense to a degree.

Regards,

Peter J.

[Bill Harmatuk]

My new Michelins wore out around 35,000 miles and discovered on the sidewall.... Made in Japan.

Filed a claim and never heard a word. Got the run around from the tire dealer about the made in Japan.

Never went back to that dealer and I make it a point to steer my friends away. ( Warped rotors and inferior brake parts. )

I've bought a lot of Michelins since. Not from that dealer.

Bill H

[Bhigdog]

My new Michelins wore out around 35,000 miles and discovered on the sidewall.... Made in Japan.

Filed a claim and never heard a word. Got the run around from the tire dealer about the made in Japan.

Never went back to that dealer and I make it a point to steer my friends away. ( Warped rotors and inferior brake parts. )

I've bought a lot of Michelins since. Not from that dealer.

Bill H

Boy, other side of the coin. Michelin itself suggested I file a claim and it was resolved in 30 minutes. I have had no problem with Jap tires ( Bridgestone ). The Chinese ones I've had the misfortune of buying weren't good for anything except maybe burning a brush pile..............Bob

[Guest Skyking]

In 1995 when I moved from RI to Daytona I had a problem with my Sears tires on my '62 Buick. They were Response Radials that were on the car for 4 years. They developed small bubbles in the sidewalls so off to Sears I went to see if I could put in a claim. Even though they were discontinued Sears pro-rated them and said I could chose a new set of Goodyears or a set of Michelins. I chose the Michelins. They rode fine in Florida but when I moved back to RI they rode like crap! Our roads are not the best. I pulled those off as fast as I could and replaced them with a set of Dimension Radials. They've been on there since and ride nice. When changing over I noticed how hard the Michelins were. That was the first and last set of Michelins I'll ever own.

[dei]

Thought I'd chime in about Michelin tires, admittedly not about warrantee.

Dad bought a 1986 Volkswagen Westfalia (camper) only one year old that came from the factory with Michelin tires. He used it for vacations only with various highway and secondary road travel. I don't know the mileage but he needed to replace the front tires eventually as this vehicle does wear the fronts more than most apparently. He chose another brand tire not thinking about warrantee being purchased used (probably more due to cost). After some years, on a trip to Seattle, Wa he has a flat somewhere in Idaho. He had AAA who towed them to a tire shop. The tech noticed the flat tire brand and said he was familiar with these campers and recommended Dad go back to the recommended Michelin tire for this application. He explained that the less expensive tires did not have the design characteristics required for the unique handling and weight distribution of the camper. Kind of like a car tire on a 3/4 ton truck, will fit the rim but how safe is that? He paid the price, had two new Michelin's put on and made it out to Seattle & back plus many, many more miles after with no issues.

I'd like to think had Dad had any issues with a tire, given he put on the recommended tire size and brand, that Michelin would be as honorable as Bigdog's experience.

Dad finally sold the Camper just before he lost his license but has made it across the continent, coast to coast and north to south, mostly on correct sized Michelin's.

[michel88]

I have had good results from Michelin tires. The first set were Michelin X that I had on my 67 Austin Healey 3000. Great handling improvement from the original bias ply tires. Since then I have used them on many cars and trucks over the years. Currently I have a set on my 95 Honda Accord, that are pretty old at least ten years old. Not sure how many miles they have gone, but it has to be at least 70,000. They could stand to be replaced but they are not showing any cracks and still have a fair amount of tread on them.

[GLong]

I have had nothing but good experiences with Michelin tires. My first Diesel Rabbit econobox had it's original Michelin X's on it when I bought the car with 110K on it, the fronts were pretty skimpy, but the rears about 40%, I found a used pair to put on the car, and it was great for another 25K.

My next econobox was a Rabbit Diesel Pickup. it came with Goodyear tires, seemed to need to be balanced.. got 'em balanced then 5K later shaking again, back to the tire guy, rebalanced, and they needed different weights, hadn't lost any. Hmmm .. another 5K, same thing.. rebalanced.. On the third visit, the tire guy said he couldn't keep rebalancing for free.. so....

I bought a set of new Michelins for the little pickup.. WHAT a huge difference.. smoother ride, and stayed balanced.. and another unexpected bonus: the little diesel pickup never got above 40 mpg, the previous rabbit got 44 regularly. I just thought it was the extra weight and aerodynamics of the pickup.

But with the new Michelins, the pickup was up to 44-45 mpg regularly..

On my Dodge Cummins Pickups for towing my car-haulers, Michelins were original equipment and went 65-75K regularly.

I found a set of '04 17" wheels with factory BFGoodrich tires for a good price.. put them on and hated them.. lousy in the rain and snow, rode rough regardless of air pressure. but about the same fuel mileage.. when they got thin, I put michelins back on.

My latest Dodge CTD pickup came from a buddy, who likes fancy wheels and big tires.. I don't.. but he'd sold the original wheels and tires.. i drove the truck home and within a month or two, found someone who wanted the tires, I put on new Michelins and absolutely love them.

I'm thinking on trying the very expensive radial tires with old tread patterns on one or more of my 20's and 30's cars.. but wow, the price.!!

Greg L

[Bhigdog]

I had the same experiance with Goodyears on my Durango. No matter what I tried they always rode hard and would not track straight no matter how I rotated them. Put on Michelins and it was a whole different vehicle.................Bob

[Marty Roth]

Seven of our vehicles currently ride (exceptionally well) on Michelins! - including our trailers, tow-vehicles, wife's & daughter's & daughter-in-law's drivers too!!

You generally get what you pay for, and I will not let my family ride on the Chinese tires which some try to subject us to!

I've been sold on them for safety, durability, and handling since 1954 on Dad's cars, and since 1959 on mine. There were times I could not afford them immediately, but changed over ASAP.