We purchased a new set of Michelin Pilot sport 2 tires at costco in poway, ca on 10/8/07 for my wife's Mercedes. After just less than six months and under 6,800 miles, we noticed her left tire was low. Suspecting she had picked up a nail or such, we fully inflated the tire and drove the three miles to costco. The representative there, patrick, called me to say it was a nail but it had damaged the sidewall and the tire could not be repaired. When I went back to the tire center, patrick's supervisor, william kennison, insisted that six months and 6800 miles were perfectly normal life expectancy numbers for high performance tires. He informed me there was over 75% of the tread on the front tires (different size than the rears 225/45R17 vs. 245/40R17) but only 38% on the left rear and 0% on the right rear. I never saw the right rear tire. His manager, herb, was off duty but was supposed to call me on Monday to discuss my dissatisfaction. He never called. I paid $379 and change and left with a new pair of rear tires. My wife will be 56 next week. She is a nurse practitioner and primarily drives this car to work and our daughter's school. It has been on three road trips to ucla from san diego since we bought new tires in October. There is nothing unusual or aggressive in my wife's driving style and the factory tires lasted 40,075 miles. Clearly, these tires came from a bad batch and should have been recalled. Had we not had a low tire the consequences might have been much worse. I have notified costco and Michelin. Costco invoice #007750053220 dated 10/08/2007. Membership #111760783421. Barry lovell.

- San Diego, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2002 Mercedes Benz Cl class. The vehicle has Goodyear dunlop D401, size 90/90-19 52H tires, which were purchased four days prior to the failure. While driving 45 mph, the contact heard a thump and noticed that the vehicle drove differently. She pulled over and noticed that the passenger side rear tire was hanging from the rim. The vehicle was towed to her residence. The tire company stated that they would replace the tires. The powertrain and dot number were unknown. The current and failure mileages were 69,875.

- Long Beach, CA, USA

I have Mercedes C230 2002, with oem Michelin mxv4 plus 205/55 R16. One tire was blown and replaced 3 years ago. Now all tires develop huge cracks on the edge of tread and sidewall as well as inside of tread. Tires are in between 5/32nd and 7/32nd tread with 40K miles, and would be good to go for another 2 years easily. But, according to Mercedes and Michelin dealers (les schwab) tires unsafe to drive! I called Michelin 866-866-6605 November 03-07, after 30 min conversation with les schwab manager involved, Michelin admit manufacturing defect, and offered 45% off new tires purchase. Here is what Michelin offer actually means: 1) 45% discount apply only to Michelin and same mxv4 plus is $205/ea and it means $820 X0.55 = $451 to pay. 2) I must pay dismount + mount + balance + disposal fees, which is $20 per tire X4 = $80, so total out of my pocket becomes $531 +tax!

- Norcross, GA, USA

In October of 2001, I purchased a new (2002) Mercedes Benz C-240. It came equipped with german made Continental contouring tires. It is with these tires that I am experiencing a problem. I have 19,000 miles on the car and already have had two slow leaks in two different tires (passenger side front/rear). The first tire leaked (at about 17,000 miles) but able to be patched. When I brought the second tire into an sts tire dealer, I noticed that they sold Continental tires. Since I had the two problems, I asked the manager if they sold many Continental tires and explained my experiences (in both cases the tires had nails, or similar metal, embedded in their tread). Again, in the first instance, the tire was repaired. In the second instance, the damage was too close to the shoulder of the tire and could not be properly patched. I had to purchase a new tire. Here is my concern. The sts manager, asked me if my tires were factory tires. I indicated that they were the ones that came with the (new) car. He indicated that factory tires are typically made to the specification of the auto manufacturer, not the tire manufacturer. He explained that because the auto maker orders tires in such quantity, they can set their price. In most cases, for the tire manufacturer to be able to meet that price, they need to adjust the composite formula of the tire -- essentially manufacturing inferior tires. This was his explanation of why I might be experiencing problems with my factory tires. He further indicated that tires sold to tire retailers are manufactured to the tire makers' standards and will provide a much longer useful life (he indicated 60,000 + thousand miles for the Continental contouring tire I just purchased to replace my original equipment tire). The kicker is that Continental does not warranty their tires against road hazards! if his explanation about factory tires is true, this is very disturbing and I believe that consumers have a right to know.

- Piscataway, NJ, USA

Vehicle has experienced one flat tire and one blowout, no tire information given, consumer states that the vehicle shakes when driving over 60 mph.

- Espanola, NM, USA