Hello,

I recently noticed this cracking on my Michelin Primacy MXV-4 tires where the tread meets the sidewall. This is occurring on all four tires. I took it to Sears where I purchased the tires and I was told it was dry rot. These tires had a 3yr or 60K mile warranty.

The tires are out of warranty by about 10 months and have 20K miles on them. The treads are in very good shape. I can understand a single tire but to have all four tires come down with dry roy is odd. I have never experienced tire dry rot. I have owned Goodyear, japanese tires and other generic tires longer than four years but never have experienced this condition before.

I contacted Michelin and was told to take it back to Sears so they can confirm the condition to Michelin. I'll be taking the car this Friday morning. Based on the pictures how bad does the dry rot look? These are my first Michelins ever and I'm shocked that this as occurred to all tires. Does any one have experience with these tires or Michelin in general?

Thanks for your time.

 

I've had Michelins, but not that model. Treadwear can be pretty long-lasting, where you get stuff like this first before the tread wears down. OTOH, I had some "Energy" MXV4 tires (factory-equipped on 2003 Accord) that cracked (less than yours) and ran them for a couple more years without any problem.

 

How old are the tires? Manufacture date? They could have been sitting around quite a while, before they were sold to you.

 

I purchased the tires a little under four years old. Good idea about checking the date of manufacture. I'll check the tires tomorrow.

 

Hello,


Can someone help me to locate the date of the tire manufacture on the tire. If the date is presented as a code, how is it read?

Thank you

 

TireRack has a good page about that.

Tire Tech Information - Determining the Age of a Tire

 

I forgot all about that page in the Tire Rack..
Down the road if I don't use it more..I'm sure I will forget it again.

 

The tire code for my tires is on the inside wall of the tire. I had to use a mechanic's mirror to view it. My tires were manufactured in Aug of 2008. Rather disappointing given their performance for such a young tire. If they had been made in 2004 I would have been impressed given the tires would have been about 10 years old.

I finally got to Sears and they contacted Michelin Tires. After a short wait the call comes in and the Sears guy takes the call in private. A short while later he comes saying, well I lied to them. If I hadn’t they would given you nothing says the rep. The rep says the dry rot is just cosmetic and that there’s no danger. They gave me a 45% discount on any tire make up to $130.00 per tire.
I went back at a later date just to get an estimate on new tires. I selected Goodyear tires. I was surprised when I was offered more than the 45% discount. I was told the old tires would be sent back to Michelin. Something sure smells funny but at least I’m getting a good deal on tires.

Anyone have any experience with Hankook tires? They are Korean tires that come with a 100k warranty. Sears says in the almost two years they have carried them they never had a complaint.

They started carrying Continental tires again. I was told about ten years back Continental didn’t have such a good rep. In addition they also carry a Chinese tire, “Radar”. They have a 45k mile warranty and were the cheapest tires available for my car at about $45.00 a tire.

I'm disappointed with Michelin tires.

 

Not your perfect response from Michelin, but 1/2 off - that's good in my book.

I've used Michelin tires (and others) on cars and now motorcycle. Quality one in my book and my friends'.

[By the way, have some USA made cooper tires under the Big-O Tire label, like 'em, but they 'cracked just like yours did after only a couple yrs. I observed it, but still used them on daily driver and the service longevity seemed normal.]