Defective tire on a brand new car....Firestone won't even bother

I recently purchased a 2018 Fit Sport as a daily commuter. I got transferred to a new position with my company to a facility that is a 60 mile commute. Wife loves the schools our kids are in so we aren't moving so the Fit was a decent choice for this commute. 

Anyways, driving to the grocery store the other day when the car instantly pulls to the right. I can tell it's a flat immediately. Swap the spare get back home, fill it up with air and do the soapy water trick. It's coming from dead center in the sidewall. No damage, no debris, it looks like it just blew from the inside out. Hence the sudden loss of pressure.

I call Firestone. They refer me to a local Firestone store to determine if it's a defect and if it can be replaced under warranty. Tech states "We don't do that here; but, I can patch that sidewall right up for you for $32.95." His supervisor was just as bad. I mean comon now patching a sidewall lol. 

Call Firestone back, they say I need to call Honda and/or the dealer. I know after years of working with Honda that's a no go route. Don't even bother. I call Firestone/Bridgestone technical service. They give me the most straight answer of all that they don't do a new tire warranty on OE tires purchased with a car; but, wait theres more I can go to a Tires Plus or Firestone store to have it inspected for a defect. 

Now I know I could have purchased road hazard(bolded for those who skim) and been done with this a long time ago. I frankly don't keep cars long enough to warrant that kind of purchase on top of a new car. My gripe is that I can't even get the manufacturer to look at an issue that could have potentially caused an accident and that is a legitimate safety concern. Whatever I'll buy another tire that's not a big deal (besides these garbage tires costing more than the Hankook RS-4s we run on our chump car). Just be a decent company and own up to your crappy tires you provide auto manufacturers. 

Probably just going to buy some $60 sumitumos for all four corners. At least the road noise and harsh ride will be commensurate with the price of the tire lol. Also lucky enough that the spare wheels/tires I have for my crapcan racer share the same bolt pattern. 

I totally get your frustration.

Surprises me that bumper to bumper doesn't cover this - OEM tires are notoriously bad as it's often a bottom-line-who-is-cheapest decision.

The problem is that Honda buys straight from Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. for the tires.  The store network is basically a competitor and the warranty on the tire would be with Honda.  It's like if you bought a shirt at one department store, the sleeve falls off in less than a week, and you're hoping a different department store would help you out as they sell the same brand of shirts.  The dealership network for Honda should work with you.

- a former Firestone store sales guy, been through this a number of times with customers, every one of them leaving the store mad

I'm surprised at Honda, but not at all surprised at Firestone. I got burned on the defective Firestone 500 back in the 70s. Belt slip on three of the four tires after about 5000 miles. 

Firestone recalled over 7 million of the 500's, but the recall went through after I had already bought another set of (non-Firestone) tires. I got no compensation for my loss. 

Later, I bought a used car with mismatched tires; it had one Firestone 721, which was a replacement for the 500. It blew out on the highway, thank goodness on a back wheel. 

I wouldn't consider a Firestone tire any better than the ebay stuff. 

pres589 said:

The problem is that Honda buys straight from Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. for the tires.  The store network is basically a competitor and the warranty on the tire would be with Honda.  It's like if you bought a shirt at one department store, the sleeve falls off in less than a week, and you're hoping a different department store would help you out as they sell the same brand of shirts.  The dealership network for Honda should work with you.

- a former Firestone store sales guy, been through this a number of times with customers, every one of them leaving the store mad

this. I worked the dealer side for upscale Honda. If it's an OE tire, take it to the dealer. They'll contact tirerack and get the warranty process started. That's how it works. Like buying an alternator from Autozone and wanting to take the core back to Advance. doesn't work. 

I'm surprised Honda is using Firestone tires.    Aren't they the Takata of tire companies? 

I've never been happy with OE new car tires.  Seems like they're engineered to be cheap, quiet, or sticky for a very short period of time... 

pres589 said:

The problem is that Honda buys straight from Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. for the tires.  The store network is basically a competitor and the warranty on the tire would be with Honda.  It's like if you bought a shirt at one department store, the sleeve falls off in less than a week, and you're hoping a different department store would help you out as they sell the same brand of shirts.  The dealership network for Honda should work with you.

- a former Firestone store sales guy, been through this a number of times with customers, every one of them leaving the store mad

I just called the dealer I purchased the car from. The only thing I got out of the service rep was "we don't deal with tire warranties, the car warranty only covers blah blah blah" 

Your car came with a tire warranty handbook (separate from your Honda warranty guide.) Who does it say to contact?

My Fiesta came with a Tire Warranty Guide.   It does not list Firestone.

All of the brands lists pretty much the same warranty, 100% replacement up to 12000 miles an is covered under New Vehicle Limited Warranty.

Tire will be replaced by a brand dealer.

Now that many car dealers ae also tire dealers replacement SHOULD be easy.

Dig out your owners manual and there may be a Tire Warranty Guide.

Being on the dealer side dealing with tire warranties, Bridgestone/Firestone were the absolute worst to deal with. Michelin? They just send a tire and don't care. Yokohama makes you send it back, but I never had a denial from them. Bridgestone/Firestone makes you fill out a claim form, submit the tire for inspection, then denied about 75% of the tires we sent them. Of course, to do that meant we had to install a new tire for the customer so the we the dealer got stuck with the cost of a tire in the end. I don't blame some dealers for not wanting to deal with it. 

Corporate Honda doesn't give a E36 M3. They do everything they can to E36 M3 on their dealer networks. If they weren't selling cars I guarantee there's be a lot less dealers. 

In reply to iceracer :

I htink the Firestone booklet just has their logo on the front with a picture of their tire, then when you open it says "HAHA SUCKER!"

I did not receive a tire handbook. I dug through the whole car after the incident. Trying to get that from the dealer is going to be fun as well. 

Just gonna chalk it up as a loss and buy a different set of tires from a different brand. Keeps these turds around as spares. 

Because of my experiences I won't purchase a DD tire from Firestone/Bridgestone. race tires, fine. I expect them to flat spot and wear quickly. I don't want that on thewife's car. 

In reply to DirtyBird222 :

What size tires? I may have a set.

people still buy firestones? I would have thought after the 500 issue and then the Exploders, firestone would have been sunk. I guess that is why they are OEM tyres, nobody else will buy them. Even Hyundai puts Michelins on their cars

In reply to mad_machine :

The exploder issues wasn't a tire issue but a manufacturer being a dumbass.

In reply to spitfirebill :

I believe there are decent tires in the Bridgestone and Firestone lines.  They have off-brand stuff you've not heard of before for the really mediocre stuff.  

If you want a good tire from them, and it's not a truck tire, the good ones say Bridgestone on them.  There are some excellent Firestone truck tires.  Most of the car tires are either "last year's model" Bridgestone designs or else they're just kind of average / cheapish tires.  

I worked at stores through the various recalls (think Exploder tire terror years) and saw all kinds of weird things people would do to try and get free tires.  That said, usually it was stuff like guys dirt track racing and hoping to get free replacements, like we couldn't see obvious signs of them being used sideways at speed, or similar stuff.  Also a lot of strange behavior on the part of Firestone tire plant employees trying to get every nickel they could out of employee discounts.  Still kind of a fun job, too bad the money wasn't so hot, and there was no real path upward.

In reply to DirtyBird222 :

I have the warranty booklet from the Bridgestones that came on my Fiesta... should be the same info.

I’ll try to grab it at lunch and have a look.

edit, here it is:

Hopefully it’s readable... it says go to a Firestone retailer, lol. They (Firestone) do seem to have the worst warranty listed in this book.

Same problem with Firestones on our new Sienna. Toyota and Firestone are great at pass the buck.

I'm really surprised to see that re: the Fiesta.  Not sure how I would proceed.

In reply to pres589 :

I generally agree with this. However, the new Indy 500 is shaping up to be seriously good Summer UHP competitor to the BFG Sport Comp-2 and the Conti Extremecontact Sport.

Read the little book Honda gave you - it says you have six months to order the complete set of glovebox books as the original owner.  

What’s up with that?

DirtyBird222 said:

I did not receive a tire handbook. I dug through the whole car after the incident. Trying to get that from the dealer is going to be fun as well. 

Easy peasy:

Honda Owners Manuals Online

Bridgestone/Firestone Manual and Warranty Guide

Note that under "where to go" it simply says to an "authorized Bridgestone Firestone retailer" and as such does not appear to be limited to only Firestone Complete Auto Care centers.  I'd consider calling around to see if you can find one that is more knowledgeable and honest in regards to fulfilling their warranty obligations on your Honda.  I'm not sure if this could potentially include online retailers, like Tire Rack, or just local brick and mortar retailers...But it never hurts to ask. I'd also consider pushing the issue up the corporate customer service chain of command to get a real answer that is clear an consistent with their legal obligations under that documentation.  

Ultimately though, there is also a good chance this will get chalked up to some type of unspecified 'road hazard' rather than a manufacturer defect.  Most consumer goods 'limited' warranties aren't worth the paper they're written on.

I grew up in the family tire business.  My observation was Firestone has the worst tires on the market.   

I can't tell you how many slipped steel belts I saw back in the early  '70's through early '80's.   

Later I bought a Ford Truck that came stock with Firestones.  This was 1996.   Those tires rode like rocks, had terrible traction just generally reinforced my much earlier impression of Firestone.    

And its BS that Honda, or any manufacturer, warrants OEM tires.  Its the tire company that provides the warranty. 

And the reason Fords always came with Firestone tires is because way back one of Henry Ford's children married one of Harvey Firestone's children..