[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by saket77

the dealer did not even came to see the tires even when the car was parked hardly 10 Metres from the chair he was sitting on despite my repeated requests. Do you expect such people to analyse the cause of failure?

Saket bhai, sorry for all the trouble you are going through. I just remembered my horrors that I went through not with Michelin but MRF (Check my thread for finer details).

All dealers are the same and if there is a case of warranty, their attitude is repulsive than anything rise. They aren't ready to listen anything and just write off the case.

My case with - MRF when I had bought ZLO from a dealer trusting the brand when everyone went against it and recommended Michelin to me. I went against the recommendation and bought the ZLO. Within a week I started hearing vague humming noise. Never heard earlier and came up after tyre swap.

I informed the dealer but they weren't too cooperative so I had to post a complaint on MRF website along with a strong worded email on their FB page. After 2 hours I receive a call and a confirmation that a MRF representative is sent to check on it. With my strong stand on the issue being a manufacturing defect, I did eventually get a replacement FOC.

The very same day, I exchanged those tyres right away with XM2. I am a happy customer now and feel like a fool to not have heard to the recommendations of choosing Michelin over MRF.

MRF has lost a customer for life.

My conclusion is, before losing heart, involve the manufacturer as they know the tyre better than the dealer who is just fulfilling the supply-demand relation. For the dealer, Michelin is the same, Bridgestone is the same.

Have you contacted the manufacturer through their website or FB? IMO they are pretty responsive so do try that once.

[Sree73]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

My conclusion is, before losing heart, involve the manufacturer as they know the tyre better than the dealer who is just fulfilling the supply-demand relation. For the dealer, Michelin is the same, Bridgestone is the same.

Have you contacted the manufacturer through their website or FB? IMO they are pretty responsive so do try that once.

Dear Anurag,

Your case is totally different from that of Saket.

You noticed the issue with the tyres immediately after you went for the replacement and you had a strong case against the dealer / manufacturer.

The case of Saket, the tyres are more than 5 years old. The tyre has already reached it's life span and it will be almost impossible to claim any warranty in this case.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Sree73

Your case is totally different from that of Saket.

You noticed the issue with the tyres immediately after you went for the replacement and you had a strong case against the dealer / manufacturer.

Dear Sree,

I never said that my car was same as Saket's.

Why I wrote down my experience was to let him understand that it is better to rope in manufacturer rather than the dealer conversation.

Saket's case has only got the attention of the dealer which is of no use at all. I want to him to get the manufacturer in too. That's all.

[Gansan]

That does not look normal for a little more than 3 year old, < 11k KM tyres. I don't see any such issue on the 7 year old, 25k KM MRF tyres of my car. The SA tells me to keep the tyres, but I am wondering if I should. I never saw any such issues with my Motorcycle tyres of similar vintage either.

I think it has to do with the softer compound of the Michelin tyres, perhaps. I have seen some or other kind of damage in the Michelin tyres of some of my friends as well. For that reason only, I am hesitating about getting them, even though a friend, an employee of Michelin, has offered me staff discount coupons.

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by saket77

Thanks Aroy. So that means that you have similar tire (XM1), similar vintage(in fact a little older) done almost the same kms on a similar car!

UV damage can be ruled out as my car has a covered garage. I rule out Air pressure as a factor too as I myself check that without relying on tire shops.
The pattern of damage (crack running around the entire tire between the water channels on all 4 tires) looks like manufacturing defect to me. I am not convinced that age or less running has caused it. If that was the case, sidewall would have been affected too, but they are perfect. Cracks like those on my tires have an identical pattern.

And to add to it, the attitude of the dealer has put me off entirely. When the authorised dealer has no interest in even personally looking at the damage, there is hardly anything left to discuss about the cause of failure. Yes, that's true that the dealer did not even came to see the tires even when the car was parked hardly 10 Metres from the chair he was sitting on despite my repeated requests. Do you expect such people to analyse the cause of failure?

Michelin has definitely lost a customer this way. My other car, civic; which is the highway choice now, runs on Pirelli. When the time for tire replacement comes, I would better go for Pirelli again or other good tires but not Michelin, if customers get support like this.

Regards.

Actually after Michelin my best experience in the past 40+ years has been with MRF.

Do not be disheartened by the response of a dealer, as their ethos is too sell and forget. You have to present your case to some one high up in both marketing and manufacturing. I would still suggest that you write up your case, add the images and send them to Michelin India.

You can also search the net for Michelin Global R&D e-mail, and send the case to the Technical Director for comments on failure.

[saket77]

Good friend and BHPian Leoshashi contacted Michelin (so nice of him) on my behalf and passed them this link on FB. They took my number on 14th march. I expected a call after that at least to discuss this thing.
However, nothing of that sort has happened as yet.

[Leoshashi]

Update:BHPian Saket77 gets rid of the problematic Michelins and goes for Goodyear Ducaro Hi-Milers in stock size. Period of manufacture of all tyres as mentioned on the sidewall is 2717

An introductory pic:


Review and detailed experience to follow soon.

Regards,
Shashi

[outdoorlover]

My Honda City bought in Feb 2014 came with XM1s that have now done 38k in less than 4 years. Now they have started showing cracks and chipping that I am not comfortable as it doesnot give much confidence while going on long drives. Am attaching the pics for others to see.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by outdoorlover

My Honda City bought in Feb 2014 came with XM1s that have now done 38k in less than 4 years. Now they have started showing cracks and chipping that I am not comfortable as it doesnot give much confidence while going on long drives. Am attaching the pics for others to see.

Similar to how it started for me. Check and do keep an eye for cracks appearing on the circumference between the treads.

Regards.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by outdoorlover

My Honda City bought in Feb 2014 came with XM1s that have now done 38k in less than 4 years. Now they have started showing cracks and chipping that I am not comfortable as it doesnot give much confidence while going on long drives. Am attaching the pics for others to see.

You must change them asap. Mine is from the same year and we got XM1 too. Changed them at 58k though they could have lasted another 5-7k easily. In fact I got XM2 only because I had good experience with XM1. Maybe it's just plain luck that how long tyres last inspite of taking all precautions.

[OSH]

Originally Posted by outdoorlover

My Honda City bought in Feb 2014 came with XM1s that have now done 38k in less than 4 years. Now they have started showing cracks and chipping that I am not comfortable as it does not give much confidence while going on long drives.

Do you give the car to a driver ?

To me, it looks like they have been abused like hell. Driving on stones, climbing over footpaths etc can result in the kind of damage you are facing. Michelin XM1s are soft compound tyres compared to it's competitors and will need a little bit of care to keep them in shape for long.

[outdoorlover]

Originally Posted by harry10

You must change them asap. Mine is from the same year and we got XM1 too.

Originally Posted by saket77

Similar to how it started for me. Check and do keep an eye for cracks appearing on the circumference between the treads.

Yes, finally took the plunge and got them changed today. Went in for Yokohama Earth-1 in size 195x60xR15 which would be an upsize from the stock 175x65. I had been driving the City while we were in Gurgaon until last year but have been using the small car more frequently for my drive to work after shifting to Bangalore (easier to weave through the Bangalore traffic owing to the small size). I felt that the XM1 deteriorated more rapidly while being driven lesser though I always maintained right tyre pressures and always used the car with the family in the weekends.

[avi550m]

I have had the same thing happen to my 5 year old Michelin XM2 on my A-Star (around 7,500 kms running). Not as bad yet, but there are cracks in the grooves since the car was not used much in the past couple of years (around 1,200 km per year). I was also shocked and the tyre shop where I went informed me that he had seen other Michelin tyre's experience the same issues, especially with lower usage. I am going to change to the Yokohama Earth-1's, which are apparently more sturdy and less resistance to degradation. I will also try and drive the car more often to keep the tyres fresh.

[subramanyam84]

@avi550m, XM2s are softer in comparison. Longevity is something you trade in for better grip. But 5 years is a good enough time for tyres IMO. No? I agree the mileage is low. But it always is time vs. mileage whichever comes first.

[outdoorlover]

Originally Posted by OSH

Do you give the car to a driver ?

To me, it looks like they have been abused like hell. Driving on stones, climbing over footpaths etc can result in the kind of damage you are facing. Michelin XM1s are soft compound tyres compared to it's competitors and will need a little bit of care to keep them in shape for long.

Hi OSH, they've been driven on Bangalore roads or whatever was left of them after the rains. And all driven single hand by me. The flash of the camera might have made the tyres look "whiter" than usual giving a different impression but the fact remains that they started deteriorating faster from the time that the car saw more standing time in the garage. I have since replaced them with Yokohama Earth'1 (195x60) and quite happy with how the ride has become more pliant while also hopefully weathering better. I have gone in for XM2 on my hatch which I use more frequently whenever I am driving alone and in Bangalore traffic that works since this car now sees more frequent use.