Do I need new tires?

[shakalaka]

So just got back from the shop after getting my winter tires removed and summers put on. I got called out to the back of the shop because the guys wanted to show me the tires.

Now these tires are barely over a season old. I believe they were probably used for about 8K-9K km's at the most. The tread on them is at least 80-90% if not more. But the front two are significantly cracked from what I was shown.

I guess I am wondering if the only option for me at this point is getting a new set? Thanks fully rears are fine and just the two fronts are the ones with cracks. Is it safe to drive the car with these or is it something I need get switched on an emergency basis? At close to $1000 for two tires they aren't exactly cheap and it pisses me off how next to new tires that were stored for winter in a heated garage can have this happen to them.

They are Continental Contisportcontact 5P, 255/35/19.

Pics:

[rx7boi]

Can you contact the manufacturer or retail vendor for warranty purposes?

I can't imagine they would argue that's regular wear and tear, especially if the tread is still relatively new.

Just a thought.

[shakalaka]

They were on the car when I bought it. I guess I can try contacting the company directly. Can't hurt I suppose.

[revelations]

That has the appearance of either ozone or other chemicals present in the storage area. I would not use that place again. New tires wont usually show that type of damage without a reason as modern tires have anti-aging compounds in them.

[firebane]

Originally posted by shakalaka
They were on the car when I bought it. I guess I can try contacting the company directly. Can't hurt I suppose.

Find the date code on the tires. It's a 4 digit number and you will for sure know how old they are.

[RickDaTuner]

Common issue with Continentals. I honestly will never buy a set of contis
Give th manufacturer a shout, I've had lots of these warrantied throughout the years.

I personally wouldn't run them, but I've seen people run these to the threads

[jacky4566]

Time for a good burnout!

[bjstare]

Originally posted by jacky4566
Time for a good burnout!

Unfortunately M3's aren't FWD

[keyjey77]

really strange. looks like they are either too old or something's wrong with the storage place (too heated?) do contact the company directly, they can't let it slide

[dj_rice]

To give you an idea, I just recently replaced my tires on my SUV. The tires I replaced came with the car when I bought it back in 2005. They had about 130K. They had cracks in them as well BUT not as major/big cracks like yours though. After 12 years driving on them, I was getting a little worried they were too old to still be driven on even though the tread on them was 60%

[tirebob]

Totally impossible to say what it is and why it happened through a couple pics, but I would definitely suggest having them inspected properly before deciding what to do with them...

[ianmcc]

To me that looks like too cold storage not too hot.

[Zhariak]

Wow that nuts...

Before you put your winters on, did you drive on your summers in extreme cold weather?

I need someone to confirm this, but: As for storage, temperature shouldn't make a difference (someone please correct me if I'm wrong). As long as there's nothing stacked on them, no movement, friction, and aren't mounted on a rim, etc... And they are allowed to slowly heat back up gradually (no flash freezing or heating), storage temps shouldn't make a difference. Keep in mind product is moved across the country in the back of semi trailers (majority not under temperature control) every day.


The tires should be covered under warranty, especially if they have good tread left and don't show signs of wear/usage. While rare, tires do have the occasional defects... Believe it or not back 4 years ago, on 4 new tires I purchased, 3 were defective. Warranty process was a bitch, but they were covered once proof/pics/test sheets were sent to the manufacturer.


Definitely wouldn't drive on them (even if you don't want to try and get them replaced). The last thing you need is a tire blow-out while doing 120-130 on a trip to Banff or Okotoks or something.

[shakalaka]

So I took delivery of the car mid December with these on when it was snowing and cold. It got parked in a heated garage and I didn't drive it at all until I got my winters and drove to the shop. The tires got swapped and these were sitting in a heated garage since then. I didn't look at them closely until now when they were being put back on. Not sure if it happened after I took delivery or before. Either way, I don't think this should be happening with that much tread on relatively new tires with only 9K km's.

So it sounds like it's definitely not safe to drive on these. I guess back it goes in the garage until I can sort this out. I contacted Continental and sent them the pictures, hopefully they can do something. Otherwise I guess I have no choice but to buy two new ones.

[tirebob]

If you are not the original purchaser (IE bought the vehicle used) then it *might* be tough getting some form of warranty, but that said maybe not impossible. Especially if you put OCCUPATION LAWYER beside your name... lol!

Seriously though, it is impossible to tell just by looking what the issue is. If you did buy this car pre-owned it is tough to say what the previous owner may have done to contribute to the issue, if anything at all. He could have parked every day in puddles of oil. He could have slid over sharp grates, he could have tracked the car and severely overheated them, etc... Not saying these are what happened nor am I saying the issues reflect this. Just giving you an idea of what tire manufacturers may come at you with in response to a claim.

Ultra high performance summer tires are definitely more subject to environmental issues as the rubber compounding tends to be more complex and affected by weather and foreign materials, but that said, normal storage should not influence cracking to that degree in the time frame mentioned, which leads one to think there is some form of contributing factor. What that factor is though is anybodies guess based on simply looking at pictures.

[killramos]

Who wants to drive on continentals anyways. Get Michelin PSS's or the new PS4S's like the car was meant to have.

I can't wait until I burn the stupid dunlops off my car... Useless tires.

For the cause, I half wonder if the car was stored outside in -40 weather before you picked it up... Maybe moved around by the staff a few times to exacerbate the problem.

[shakalaka]

Thanks for the input everyone, I guess just need to wait and see what Continentsl says. I am sure it'll be a no but worth asking. PSS is what I've always had including on my C63, but not going to throw a perfectly good set. Even with two new tires it's half the cost of 4 PSS. Once the time comes to switch the entire set, I'll definitely be getting PSS's.

[roopi]

My guess is that it has nothing to do with storage. All 4 tires were stored together and only the fronts are damaged? You most likely purchased the car with damaged tires.

[ercchry]

Originally posted by shakalaka
Thanks for the input everyone, I guess just need to wait and see what Continentsl says. I am sure it'll be a no but worth asking. PSS is what I've always had including on my C63, but not going to throw a perfectly good set. Even with two new tires it's half the cost of 4 PSS. Once the time comes to switch the entire set, I'll definitely be getting PSS's.

Or... buy a full set of PSS's, mount fronts... visit castrol on a Thursday night... kill the conti rears and mount the PSS's

[Mitsu3000gt]

I bet those were like that when you bought it and nobody noticed until now. I wouldn't drive on those - I'd push Conti for a warranty replacement but that's probably going to be tough.