Last week I put my 1 year old IS200SE into Lexus Aberdeen to get the bubbling alloy wheels replaced under warranty with refurbished ones. Within an hour of dropping the car off, I got a call from the customer service manager to advise they'd noticed a crack in the tread of the two rear tyres. He said this was a potentially dangerous fault and the two tyres would have to be replaced. He also said they'd raised the issue with Lexus UK warranty department, who had told them that the tyre manufacturers are responsible for warranty issues with the tyres, so the dealer should return the tyres to the manufacturer. The dealership are doing this. The tyres are the standard issue Bridgestone Potenza 215/45ZR17 as supplied on the car when I bought it new in March 2002. I've had dreadful luck with my tyres on this car as I've had 3 punctures caused by large nails/screws in the year I've had it. (Not blaming the tyre quality for that - but bloody bad luck all the same!). One of these already warranted complete replacement of one of the rear tyres - when the car had only done 4243 miles.

When I went in to collect the car, I asked to see the tyres, and took a quick photo. Here's a sample. The photo is unfortunately not great quality, but you can hopefully just make out the hairline "crack" which runs all along the middle of the first tread line up from the bottom (middle of photo).

[img]http://www.aberdeen-internet.com/IS200SE-Wheels/Potenza%20crack.jpg[/img]

Meanwhile, I had to pay for 2 new tyres (Cost me £227.28 + VAT = £267.05 to replace both). Lexus Aberdeen said they were hopeful that Bridgestone would agree this was an unacceptable fault and that I will subsequently get reimbursed for the cost of the new tyres - less allowance for wear. The service manager reckoned I may get a refund of poss 80% for the one which was renewed in Sept 02 which has done only 4243 miles, and 50% for other which had done 9793 miles. If so, that would be a refund of £173 - but of course I'lll have to wait and see what actually materialises. I'll keep you posted on the results, but I've two questions/concerns:

1. I certainly understand that one doesn't want to take chances when it comes to your tyres, but as I'm no expert on tyre wear, can I ask has anyone else any experience of this sort of tyre fault, and from the description/photo do you agree that its an unusual fault and one which justifies replacement of the tyres?

2. One could argue this is an isolated incident, but considering that these are the standard tyres which have been fitted to a great deal of IS200s (and from looking at a new model in the showroom still are) AND also considering that this same flaw has appeared in TWO of my tyres (one of these tyres had done less than 10K and the other just over 4K) I would have thought this should be an issue of major concern to Lexus and Bridgestone. In other words, whilst maybe a safety recall would be over the top, I'd have thought this at least justifies some urgent random inspections of other car's tyres by Lexus. What do you think?

Finally, can I suggest other owners closely examine their tyre treads to see if there's any sign of this problem on yours!

Cheers
Gareth

My last two IS200s had Dunlop SP9000s and in my opinion they were way better than the Bridgestones that are on the new IS200 I've just purchased. The ride is much harder with the Bridgestones I've checked the tyre pressures and they're exactly 33 psi all round.

mine came standard with 17" bridgestones
but when i went up to 18" i used dunlops the ride is quieter and somewhat smoother
the opposite of what was expected
the bridgstones have only done 4500 miles and seemed to be showing signs of overal wear
wouldnt expect them to go to much over 10000 miles
i got the dunlops for £95 each, but did have to spend a fair bit on the alloys!!

In America, they did a HUGE recall to change the tyres.
Swapped single ply sidewall for versions with twin ply.

[quote]In America, they did a HUGE recall to change the tyres.
Swapped single ply sidewall for versions with twin ply.[/quote]

Interesting. Was it the Bridgestone Potenzas that they changed? What was the fault - was it similar to the one I've described?

Gareth

[quote name='guitareth' date='Apr 9 2003, 09:17 AM'][quote]In America, they did a HUGE recall to change the tyres.
Swapped single ply sidewall for versions with twin ply.[/quote]

Interesting. Was it the Bridgestone Potenzas that they changed? What was the fault - was it similar to the one I've described?

Gareth[/quote]
Yes it was the Bridgestones they replaced.
I'm not sure what the problem with the single ply sidewall ones was ...
Just know they swapped them out for twin ply sidewall ones.

I think they did it in Oz too. Maybe a heat related problem ?

I thought the problem in the states was with Firestone SUV tyres which were fitted to all Ford SUV's. Caused major problems as Bridgestone/Firestone couldn't produce replacement tyres quick enough when they were recalled and led to lots of law suits.

[url="http://www.tiredefects.com/bridgestone_firestone.htm"]http://www.tiredefects.com/bridgestone_firestone.htm[/url]

[quote name='ricky_is200' date='Apr 9 2003, 11:16 AM']I thought the problem in the states was with Firestone SUV tyres which were fitted to all Ford SUV's. Caused major problems as Bridgestone/Firestone couldn't produce replacement tyres quick enough when they were recalled and led to lots of law suits.

[url="http://www.tiredefects.com/bridgestone_firestone.htm"]http://www.tiredefects.com/bridgestone_firestone.htm[/url][/quote]
Yes there was that one ...

The one i'm referring to was a Lexus / Bridgestone thing.
It was all over the US forum i was reading at the time for ages.
Sadly i can't even remember which forums they were
Clublexus possibly but i can't see anything there that far back now.

"Bad Luck"? Are you sure you haven't upset one of the neighbours?

[quote]Lexus Aberdeen said they were hopeful that Bridgestone would agree this was an unacceptable fault and that I will subsequently get reimbursed for the cost of the new tyres - less allowance for wear. The service manager reckoned I may get a refund of poss 80% for the one which was renewed in Sept 02 which has done only 4243 miles, and 50% for other which had done 9793 miles. If so, that would be a refund of £173 - but of course I'lll have to wait and see what actually materialises. I'll keep you posted on the results[/quote]

guitareth

What did Bridgestone say about the tyres and any update on the refund. Keep us posted.

[quote]What did Bridgestone say about the tyres and any update on the refund. Keep us posted.[/quote]

Lexus Aberdeen just copied their completed "Application form for tyre examination" to me last week, after I e-mailed them to remind them. It was dated 14/4/03 so, as its taken them 2 weeks just to complete the paperwork, who knows how long it will be before I get a response

Yes I certainly will post the results. Meanwhile, I'd hoped that some of the other LOC members would have inspected their Potenza's and reported back whether this "crack" has been spotted in theirs.


Gareth

Gareth

I have just checked mine and they are fine, I have covered just under 7000 miles and no signs of cracking.