I purchased replacement tires for a 1999 Chevrolet Astro on this date. The dealer Firestone tire & service centers, 7950 E speedway, tucson, AZ 85715 represented the tires as suitable for my vehicle. After I got home I discovered the tires, Firestone FR380 P215/75R15, were rated for 1742 lbs at 44 psi but this should be reduced to 1585 lbs when using this tire on a truck or multipurpose vehicle which, I assume, would pertain to a van as well. The tire just meets the minimum requirements of the van which is a load capacity of 1575 lbs. But it meets the requirement only when inflated to 44 psi. Chevrolet recommends a tire pressure of 35 psi and when the Firestone installed the tires they inflated them to only 30 psi. I increased the pressure to 44 psi since only then would the tires meet the van specs. I tried to get the dealer to upgrade the tires about 25 days after I bought them but they said they met the requirements of my van. Later when I went in for an oil change the change said the tires were over inflated and reduced them all to 35 psi. I am very concerned that the tires are not safe but cannot get consistent advice nor any action from the dealer. Does the nhsta have any standing in such a dispute ?

- Tucson, AZ, USA

On the way home from a conference I noticed my left tire making noise, I inspected it visually and found no obvious problems, I proceeded home and had a blow out of the tire which I found out later to be related to a defective idler arm. This in turn caused me to havea accident with damage to my van and another car. At 57000 (approxiamate) miles the idler arm should not have been worn that severely to cause an accident. I would like to see someone investigate this problem and see if other Astro vans have had this problem before. Thank you.

- Burgettstown, PA, USA

Brakes have been severly worn out consumer stated the seatbelts, arm rests, console the trim on the seat cushion has torn, there is wind noise from high top roof, window is loose, radio is inoperative, power steering fluid leaking, steering coolumn is making a noise, weatherstrip coming off of back door, tires shake, there is a hard thump whe going over bumps, cigarette lighter is inoperative, transmission shifts hard, pressure guage gets stuck, window gets stuck, there are no low beam lights, windshield wipers are inoperative, door lock do not come all the way up, the front end of vehicle dips, and the shocks feel weak, the lifgate does not stay open, interior lights stay on to long, vehicle remote is inoperative, sliding door is hard to open at times, oil pressure guage reads high, refrigerator not operating from rear socket, heating system is inoperative, battery goes dead.

- Newark, NJ, USA