Rear tires shot after 22k miles? Time to sue Hyundai?

[SoCalGen]

I was going to post this in the tires forum but that's more related to mods it seems. This has to do with the quality of the rear end components on the Genesis.

I am SO pissed off right now. I bought my CPO 2013 Genesis Sedan (3.8) in September of 2014. In December of 2014 I went to Costco and they put on 4 new Bridgestone Serenity Plus tires on my the car. About 6 months later in June of 2015 I was involved in a minor accident where I ran over some road debris and the area behind the front driver side tire had to be repaired. Because my friends body shop did the repair and he was concerned I might have an alignment issue from the road debris he sent the car off to his tire shop. I almost said not to worry about it cause the car still drove fine even after the accident. This was the result:

http://genesisowners.com/hyundai-genesis-forum/showthread.php?t=16291

The rear was WAY out of spec as you can see in the photos. But the tire shop fixed it as seen in the "after" photo. Fast forward to a couple hours ago (one year later) and I go to Costco to have the tires rotated/balanced and re-filled with Nitrogen cause I'm pretty sure during my last oil change the dealership put air in to top them off. While in the store I get a call saying my two rear tires are shot and the belt is showing on one of them. WTF!?!? I said that's not possible they're not even that old yet. I went up to the counter and they didn't even want me to drive off with them but I demanded they put the same tires back on. They put the rears on the front and "good" front tires on the rear.

What should I do? The car is still under the Hyundai "New Car" warranty as I'm at 54k miles. By all rights I should actually still be on my first set of tires with no issues. I know I'm not the only one with rear end alignment issues, is there a recall? Service Bulletin?

My plan of action right now is to go back to the tire shop my friend used and have them re-check the rear alignment. If it's way out of spec like it was a year ago then I think I have a good cause of action against Hyundai. If the dealership refuses to compensate me for the tires and replace any defective rear end components then I'll likely sue in small claims. So f'ing pissed right now.

Another thing. I've ALWAYS had my Genesis oil changes performed at the dealership. The most recent one was just a few months ago and there was no mention of barely any tread being on the rear tires. WTF!

 

[chris41]

Unfortunately, tires and alignments aren't covered under new car warranties. Most manufacturers will only align the car during the first 12k miles. With a RWD car, unless you can show you rotated the tires at least 2 maybe 3 times, I don't think anybody is going to do anything for you. But sometimes dealers can surprise you. The dealer might tell you to file a claim with Bridgestone, and Bridgestone is going to want proof of tire rotations. Costco might be more willing....

 

[Mark_888]

If you car is out of alignment due to a road hazard damage, that is not Hyundai's fault and in that situation alignment "specs" are probably worthless. Sounds like there was damage not repaired properly.

 

[homeofstone]

Warranty on the tires is through the tire manufacturer. Maintaining the proper wheel alignment is an owner's responsibility.

 

[SoCalGen]

Guys, I DID maintain the proper wheel alignment. They were aligned by one of the best shops in LA about 1 year ago and about 6 months after they were first put on the car. How many times does a Hyundai have to be aligned? Every couple months? That's ridiculous. I've owned over a dozen cars and never had ONE with an alignment issue this bad. Also, why was the dealership not notifying me of this problem during their "safety check" when I took it in for oil changes?

 

[SoCalGen]

If you car is out of alignment due to a road hazard damage, that is not Hyundai's fault and in that situation alignment "specs" are probably worthless. Sounds like there was damage not repaired properly.

It was not out of alignment due to road hazard damage. Nothing happened that could have knocked the rear tires out. BUT, even if it was it was fixed while the tires were still practically new.

 

[Mark_888]

It was not out of alignment due to road hazard damage. Nothing happened that could have knocked the rear tires out. BUT, even if it was it was fixed while the tires were still practically new.

If it was repaired, sounds like it was not repaired properly.

 

[427435]

Yeah right. You're going to hire a lawyer to sue over the price of tires?

 

[SoCalGen]

Yeah right. You're going to hire a lawyer to sue over the price of tires?

You don't hire a lawyer for small claims.

 

[SoCalGen]

OK for those of you keeping up with the tire saga. Yesterday I went to a very reputable shop in LA (different shop from last year) and explained the situation. They replaced the fronts with Pirelli P7's and we decided to leave the Bridgestones on the back as there was still a lot of life left in them. (since they were originally the front tires as of 2 days ago) He said for nice cars like mine he likes to have all 4 matching tires but he doesn't want to sell me 4 when I only need 2. Buying only 2 is going to mess with my car OCD big time but in about another 15k the Genesis will eat up the rears and I'll be back for 2 more Pirelli's anyway so I'll live with it for now.

They checked the alignment. The alignment was PERFECT, not a single thing had to be adjusted.

So, then I asked him how this happened and he said that rotating every 5k or so would help. However everyday he sees S500's, 7 series, Genesis's and some other cars come in that have the rear tires chewed up. It's just in the design and some cars are prone to chewing up the rear tires very quickly.

I took some xanex and thought about it and now I feel better knowing Hyundai isn't f'ing with me. I'm just used to driving cars that you can actually get 60-80k out of a set of tires. Knowing that's not really possible with this car is fine. I'll chalk it up to cost of ownership.

Here's some pics of the car having the alignment check done as well as one of the bald tires that were taken off.

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[SoCalGen]

For some reason I can't upload the tire picture

 

[chris41]

So, then I asked him how this happened and he said that rotating every 5k or so would help. However everyday he sees S500's, 7 series, Genesis's and some other cars come in that have the rear tires chewed up. It's just in the design and some cars are prone to chewing up the rear tires very quickly.

I took some xanex and thought about it and now I feel better knowing Hyundai isn't f'ing with me. I'm just used to driving cars that you can actually get 60-80k out of a set of tires. Knowing that's not really possible with this car is fine. I'll chalk it up to cost of ownership.

I think your new guy makes a lot of sense. From my experience, rear alignment out of whack makes the car drift to the side.

In your case with so many variables involved like not rotating tires and wearing out the back tires on a RWD vehicle, plus an accident in the past.....it would be next to impossible to get either Hyundai or Bridgestone to replace the tires....even if either was truly the root cause of the problem.

 

[Mark_888]

They checked the alignment. The alignment was PERFECT, not a single thing had to be adjusted.

So, then I asked him how this happened and he said that rotating every 5k or so would help. However everyday he sees S500's, 7 series, Genesis's and some other cars come in that have the rear tires chewed up. It's just in the design and some cars are prone to chewing up the rear tires very quickly.

Haven't heard those types of complaints from others on this forum, unless it is someone who is constantly accelerating very fast, and spinning the rear tires.

I still think it may be related to your accident. Alignment specs are not the final word on whether your rear suspension is out of whack.

 

[Mark_888]

For some reason I can't upload the tire picture

Join photobucket and post them there, and provide a link here.

 

[SoCalGen]

I think your new guy makes a lot of sense. From my experience, rear alignment out of whack makes the car drift to the side.

In your case with so many variables involved like not rotating tires and wearing out the back tires on a RWD vehicle, plus an accident in the past.....it would be next to impossible to get either Hyundai or Bridgestone to replace the tires....even if either was truly the root cause of the problem.

I really don't think the accident had anything to do with it. It was a front driver side tire hit and the rear tires didn't hit anything. The tire didn't even blow and the belt didn't break, the only damage was the ground effects area right behind the driver side wheel well.

The new guy seems to really know what he's talking about and I could rotate them every 5k or so but it almost seems pointless.

 

[SoCalGen]

Haven't heard those types of complaints from others on this forum, unless it is someone who is constantly accelerating very fast, and spinning the rear tires.

I still think it may be related to your accident. Alignment specs are not the final word on whether your rear suspension is out of whack.

I do accelerate pretty hard and frequently but I don't spin the rears often at all. Still LA is not very kind to tires, lots of rough pavement here so it makes sense they could get chewed up quickly. I really don't think the accident had anything to do with it. The car drove exactly the same before and after, it still goes down the road straight as an arrow. I don't even have to have a hand on the wheel unless the pavement is slanted.

 

[Mark_888]

I do accelerate pretty hard and frequently but I don't spin the rears often at all. Still LA is not very kind to tires, lots of rough pavement here so it makes sense they could get chewed up quickly. I really don't think the accident had anything to do with it. The car drove exactly the same before and after, it still goes down the road straight as an arrow. I don't even have to have a hand on the wheel unless the pavement is slanted.

I don't think a minor rear end suspension problem would necessarily cause the car to not steer straight.

Accelerating "pretty hard" on a frequent basis is probably not the strong suit of the Bridgestone Serenity Plus tires. Next time, I would get different tires based on what you say are your driving habits.

 

[homeofstone]

I don't think a minor rear end suspension problem would necessarily cause the car to not steer straight.

Accelerating "pretty hard" on a frequent basis is probably not the strong suit of the Bridgestone Serenity Plus tires. Next time, I would get different tires based on what you say are your driving habits.

I have had several sets of Bridgestone Serenity tires and consistently get over 50,000 miles per set. However, I do have the tires rotated front to back and side to side every 10,000 miles. - currently at 189,000+ miles on my 2011 4.6 Genesis.

 

[iSOBigD]

Honestly, a lot of times the explanation is simpler than you think.

Rubber rubbing against the road eats up the tire. If you have perfect grip, they last longer, but if you "accelerate hard" you're always burning rubber so of course they'll get worn out. The simple way to tell is it's a RWD car and your rear wheels got worn out. Now you can either get tires that last longer (higher threadwear rating) or stop doing burnouts.

Trying to sue a car manufacturer is ridiculous since I can buy any tires, no matter the brand or cost, do burnouts and go through them in minutes or hours. Does that mean the car is bad? Come on now...You're sanding down your tires each time they don't grip properly. You may not hear it from inside the car, but I bet your tires spin in place whenever you "accelerate hard".

 

[Bill K]

Why did you replace the tires a few months after buying your CPO? I don't believe that they can sell a car as a CPO if the tires are worn out.
My Genesis has 14,000 miles on it, and the tires look brand new. Every time I get in the car I check out the tires to see if they look like they are inflated correctly, and to check for tread wear.
I never do burn outs, so I should get a long life out of the tires.......I also rotate them every 6,000 miles.