Tire blowout, new(used)car

2868

So, I was driving between Austin and Houston and had a blow out. I have owned the car for a week.

I called CarMax, where I bought the car, and the service center was closed. They said to bring it in on Monday and speak to the service manager.

I know my extended warranty doesn't cover tires, and they say their 30 day buyer guarantee doesn't either, but christ. Tires should last more than a week right?

I didn't hit anything, and there isn't impact damage on the tire that I can see, it actually looks like the interior sidewall blew out.

It happened on the front driver's side while I was going 60 or so. I'm fine I lived, because I'm a good driver I guess but now the car is out of alignment and I'm just sitting on the spare (full sized). When I checked the tire pressure when I got to a service station all of the tires were a little low (8-10lbs off recommended PSI). I didn't check this when I bought the car, but I checked everything else.

What are my options here, should I reasonably expect them to cover the tire and alignment?

It's a 2008 dodge ram 1500 not that it matters.

TL;DR I bought a car and a week later I had a blowout traveling at highway speeds on I10. Does the seller owe me anything?

Zeon

Id say no? Were the tires new? You could maybe get reimbursement from the tire manufacturer for a defective tire... I guess itd depend on exactly what happened to the tire.

Red Raevyn

Sounds like a clear case of under-inflation. Under-inflated tires flex far more than they are meant to and over-heat quickly, which can lead to a failure like the one you described. 8-10 lbs is a lot! If you've only had the car for a week, it's hardly your fault for not checking it yet (besides saying "Always check everything on a car you buy," but I won't hold you to that.)

A front blowout on the highway is very dangerous, as you know. Given that the other tires were also very low, it sounds like it sat on the lot for a bit and no one checked it before they sent you off in it. I would expect a new tire installed at no cost, and stick to my guns to get it, pointing out the other low tire pressures. While you're at it, check the date codes on the remaining three tires. They should be fine since its an 08, but when one blows it doesn't hurt to check.

2868

The tires were/are new. I checked all five of them, insofar as I looked at the tread wear and service records. Hell I even kicked them, but you learn nothing from doing that, I did it to be funny. I stopped short of checking the tire pressure though.

The spare was the from the factory spare, but the other tires were installed recently.

I'm more concerned about the alignment and damaged rim than the tire. Well no, I'm actually more concerned that I almost got in a serious highway accident than my out of pocket costs. But I'm not litigious, I don't think there was gross negligence or intent. I just think the service department sent me off the lot with low tire pressure and as a result I almost had a serious accident.

What I want is an apology, a new tire, and an alignment. I guess I'm asking for affirmation that I'm not in the wrong to ask for this.

I

Fats

It's certainly your right to ask for it, but, unfortunately, you're going to have a tough time proving the tires were under-inflated when you left the lot.

King Kong

Your gonna be out of pocket for this. I know it sucks but basically as it's already been said there is no proof they were under inflated when they left the lot. How do you know they were new? It's an 08, were these the factory tires?

Zeon

Are you absolutely sure the tires were underinflated? Because thats something they check... Youre going by the vehicle manufacturers recommended PSI, not the max PSI on the tire, right? Because generally the max PSI the tire can hold is about 5-10 PSI less than than the cars recommended tire pressure.

RUNN1NGMAN

Like someone said, 8-10 psi under, in hot tires is REALY LOW. Recommended psi is for cold tires. If you checked the pressure after driving at highway speed in Texas, in reality the tires were probably 15-20 psi under.

Iceman.USAF

Honestly they let you off the lot with an unsafe vehicle if the tires really were 8-10psi low at highway speeds/temperature.

I would say you have a reasonable expectation for tire pressure to be correct when purchasing ANY vehicle, new or used. If I were you, I would ask the CarMax folks to

A) Realign your vehicle
Replace the damaged rim
C) Replace all 4 tires.

You have no idea how structurally sound/unsound (is that a word? It is now!) those other 3 tires are. They may have been running 8-10 low for the last 2 years.

That being said, I expect they will only offer to replace the 1 tire, but you should buy 4 anyway. At least 2, never replace single tires if you can avoid it.

2868

Zeon wrote: »

Are you absolutely sure the tires were underinflated? Because thats something they check... Youre going by the vehicle manufacturers recommended PSI, not the max PSI on the tire, right? Because generally the max PSI the tire can hold is about 5-10 PSI less than than the cars recommended tire pressure.

I used the vehicle recommendation. The tires were under-inflated, that may be something that is normally checked, but I don't think they did. As evidenced by the fact I had a blowout within a week of purchasing the car. The that blew has no impact evidence or other damage that would indicate the cause of a blowout other than the low tire pressure.

I'll keep all this in mind. I'm not gonna flip my shit, but I'll insist they fix it and the alignment the best I can. If they don't then I'll eat it I guess, but I'll not be happy about it. And I'll make sure no one I know buys from carmax. I may go as far as to threaten to cancel the extended warranty I purchased (of course, that would only hurt me down the road, so it'll just be a baseless threat, and useless if they call my bluff.)

I guess there is always the tire manufacturer if they give me the receipts for purchase.

(to answer someone's question the tires had the rubber nubbins that new tires have on them, that's how I knew they were new.)

eternalbl

Always inflate tires to the spec in the door rather than the number from the side of the tire. Just how low were the tires vs the door spec? Were the tires supposed to be new? Also, what's the specs of the tire from the sidewall?

I've seen people who like to run their tires as low as 26 PSI but generally 29-32 is where they're recommended to be by manufacturers, with the lower end being for trucks and higher for cars.

Edit: Didn't see your last response saying you inflated to the door.

Edit 2: Tire Manufacturers warranty will likely cover the tire. Tread life warranties aren't standard, but damage like this generally is.

illig

has it been less than a week? in many states there's a 'buyers remorse' period for used cars - you have a week and X miles to return the car

if that's the case in TX, then you have a great chance of them fixing the damage... if not, you're probably SOL... acts of god and all that

King Kong

How do you know these were new tires?

jadatis

I kept myself busy with re-calculating tire-pressure with use of the system the tire-manufacturers in europe also use.
Once got hold of it and worked it out. Learned myself Excell to make spreadsheets for it.
http://cid-a526e0eee092e6dc.office.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public/Recalculating%20tyre-pressure
You can use the newest in this map wich gives even saver advice then the European tyremanufacturers give, wich are up to now the savest ones.
You can read next article about a new way of calculating to see that the American old way gives to low pressures. After 2005 it is upgraded to the European one , but there are still many old list .
http://cid-a526e0eee092e6dc.office.live.com/self.aspx/.Public/tirepressureatreducedloads.pdf

If you calculate it you wil see how low you can savely go for sertain conditions of speed an load, and you see if the pressure your tires had where so low that it is expected to give damage to them or not.

Try it and let me know here
Greatings from Holland
Peter

2868

Looks like they are going to cover it. The tires were only three weeks old and put on in Fort Worth before they shipped the truck to me. They're gathering warranty stuff up now.

Hopefully they fix the alignment too.

Spudge

eternalbl wrote: »

Always inflate tires to the spec in the door rather than the number from the side of the tire. Just how low were the tires vs the door spec? Were the tires supposed to be new? Also, what's the specs of the tire from the sidewall?

I've seen people who like to run their tires as low as 26 PSI but generally 29-32 is where they're recommended to be by manufacturers, with the lower end being for trucks and higher for cars.

Edit: Didn't see your last response saying you inflated to the door.

Edit 2: Tire Manufacturers warranty will likely cover the tire. Tread life warranties aren't standard, but damage like this generally is.

My 2c here - info I got from a tire guru, 30+ years in the business

Average PSI for car/light truck tires is about between 30-34 psi. This is good and all as a basis but if you're interested in a minor boost in MPGs, longer tread life and better handling from your tires, inflate to near max PSI the tire is rated for. If the sidewall info says "Max 44 PSI" I've found that inflating to somewhere around 40 is great. You sacrifice some quietness but the tires generally last longer and get better tread wear. To help, here's a diagram



The "standard" inflation of 32 PSI generally comes from the days of bias ply tires. Today's advanced radial ply tires (with all the steel belts and such) really do benefit from inflation closer to the maximum pressure. This allows more tread (in to out) to contact the road without bulging or cupping. Also the tires don't flatten at pressure points which can cause the steel belts to warp

Beltaine

Every car has a sticker (usually inside the door jam) that lists the manufacturer's recommended inflation pressure for COLD (i.e. haven't been driven on in an hour or so) tires.

I would suggest you stick to this, or deviate only 2-3 psi in either direction. Some cars even have different pressures between front and back.