US Question: Tire (road hazard) warranty with car?

[Ferguson]

For those in the US - did you get a Michelin warranty with the car when you bought it?

My recollection in past car purchases is that they give you that paperwork. I explicitly asked for it, was told they never provided it.

I explicitly asked if it covered road hazards, and was told that it did not and "no tire warranty does".

The Michelin web site indicates otherwise, as has been posted here, so when the sales manager called to ask if I was happy, I said "yes" but I asked again. Same story, and (of course) same pitch for their extended tire warranty. But he promised to check and get back to me (has not).

I am wondering if this dealer is purposely hiding the fact that there is some limited road hazard warranty from the tire manufacturer to better sell their tire warranty. Or am I just paranoid?

What did other dealers do, or say? Anyone get warranty paperwork with the car? Or ask about road hazards?

[RamVA]

I'm not sure what you're referring to (re: Michelin's website), but their warranty explicitly does not cover road hazards. No manufacturer's warranty does, and why would it?

[Ferguson]

See this document on their site:

http://www.michelinman.com/assets/pdfs/doc_michelinwarranty.pdf

While page three in general excludes road hazards, the specific warranty for run flats on page 6 (middle of second paragraph) includes free or prorated replacement.

Now I ASSUME that the tires on my new X5 are covered by this, but the dealer has told me "no" repeatedly, and has not responded since I sent him this document.

I guess BMW could arrange for Michelin to not offer this for OEM tires or something, but that would be, well, rude.

As to "why would it"? Why should it cover anything at all? Because it makes you more likely to want their tire than a competitor. There's no reason for a warranty to be 1 vs. 3 vs. 5 vs. 0 years either, other than a manufacturer trying to distinguish themselves from their competitors. Offering a road hazard warranty is just one way they could.

As a secondary reason -- because they are so difficult to repair. Might cause people NOT to want run-flats, and clearly the manufacturers have a stake in wanting to make them more acceptable. Offering some protection against investment loss (even if not the manufacturer's fault) is a good way.

But that's all really moot -- the question really is what is, not what should be.

It LOOKS like this covers BMW run-flats from Michelin. Does it? And assuming it does, did your BMW dealer let you know about this warranty?

[X5FX]

This was just discussed 5 minutes ago:
http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e70-forum/...insurance.html

Bottom line:
1.The tire has a road hazzard warranty
2.The dealers are idiots
3. Shame on BMW for not giving us a spare
4. Shame on BMW for not REQUIRING the dealer to stock replacements.

I have been waiting TWO WEEKS for a replacement, it is FREE but two weeks. WAKE UP BMW!

[RamVA]

Sorry to all, I missed that the OP was talking about run-flats.

I agree with the comments as to why to offer protection in general, but for OE tires most of those things are not a factor. Very, very few people even consider the brand of tire on a vehicle before buying it (new), and given that you have to price the warranty into the tire it's a losing proposition.

Even on the replacement market, if you're pricing warranty into your tires you a) look bad in any direct price comparison and b) risk turning off people like me who don't want it. People who really do care about it can buy it from their installer.

[Ferguson]

I asked the dealer for the details on the insurance, and he gave me a consolidated form for all the various after market add-ons. There's a small clause in there which I found rather surprising in terms of how it might relate to tire/wheel insurance. it says:


Section E, 1, "What is not covered", 6th bullet point:

Tire or wheel damage due to traffic accident, improper inflation, overloading, dry rot, tread separation, defective tire or curb impact damage.

Ummm... aren't those last two fundamentally what BMW is selling the insurance to protect against (at least for the next to last after manufacturer's warranty)?!?

It also defines the wheel replacement as ONLY available if "the wheel is unable to seal with the tire, resulting in air loss". Which is certainly not the "if you get them scratched on the curb" that the salesman described.

I've seen several people say that they did not argue and replaced readily for minor issues, but the words of the contract sure look rather ... limiting.

Are these the terms that others have been getting?

With these words I do not think I will buy these contracts.

[X5FX]

Do you have Michelins? If so why would you want this anyway?

[trueX5er]

kind of off topic, but why do some people get spares, and others don't, if we all had runflats? I don't have third row, I got a spare, where some cars have a spacious under load floor storage area which is perfect for my emergency equipment/ blankets/ umbrellas/ water bottles, etc. I don't really see the need for a spare when I have RFT.

[X5FX]

I wish I had a spare...I am still waiting for my replacement tire.

actually I ordered a second tire to keep in my garage in case this happens again.

[Ferguson]

Originally Posted by X5FX

Do you have Michelins? If so why would you want this anyway?

Not sure I do, but was more interested in it because of the wheels than the tires.