Continental Tires

Leslie of Fort Wayne, IN February 8, 2010

On December 31 I was on my way to work when my car began pulling hard to the right and I heard that infamous thumping noise. Yep, a flat tire. I drive a 2007 Pontiac G6. I took it to the dealer, Don Ayres Pontiac in Fort Wayne IN, where they could not find anything wrong with the tire and would not cover replacement under warranty. I shelled out 240 for one tire. Today, February 7, I woke up to another flat tire. Thank goodness I was at home. Why has Continental not been forced to issue a recall. I also had a second tire that lost more than half the air. That's three tires in 2 months. The dealer even told me that Pontiac put low quality tires on the car. Why do companies NOT have to stand behind their product?

Richard of Pattonville, TX January 21, 2010

New Continental tires on Chevy Cobalt cash for clunkers front right tire was wore down to hydroplaning before rotation was at 3,000 was done. This is to soon to have to rotate tires with each oil change. When tires are handled hands become jet black unlike other tires.

Tia of Boynton Beach, FL January 11, 2010

Had blowout on 2006 Ford Expedition that I just purchased in April 2009 from Carmax. The blow out caused massive damage to my truck and made my insurance rates go up. When I took my expedition in to have the tires replaced the tire dealer told me that it had to be a tire defect because he had never seen a tire tread separate from the rest of the tire that way.

The tread around the outside of the tire came off and ripped up my rear bumper and passenger door, and outside mirror, but the tire was still fully inflated with air! He said there was no way a visual inspection could have clued anyone in that the tire was going to do that. The collision shop that I took the car to said the exact same thing.

I'm taking the car to my insurance adjuster tomorrow. Thank God I was going below the speed limit on I95 or I would have rolled! My new car suffered major body damage. Insurance costs went up. I lost time from work. Had to replace all the tires.

Bill of clearwater, FL January 9, 2010

Purchased 4 replacement tires8/5/08 Walker Ford Clearwater fl. org. tires had 43,952 mi. On 12-23-09 my wife called saying she has a flat tire, she called AAA AND I went and switched out cars with her. AAA changed tire with my spare and showed me the hole on the bottem of the tire almost in the center.I drove about a mile to the ford dealer walker ford clearwater fl. service said no problem it will be about 30 min. 15 min later ser. came out said tire could'nt be repaired it was a sel sealing tire. hole was less then1/4".I blame myself for buying a tire that can't be repaired, but now i"m sitting with one new tire and three with

Robert of Durham , NC January 8, 2010

Continental tires are trash! My 08 ranger came with them, and when I saw them for the first time, I didn't like the looks of them. Well after 23 months and 18,000 miles plus the proper tire rotations, the treads are actually chipping away a little at a time. I noticed road noise during the last 1,000 miles did the rotation and balance thinking they were out of balance. The mechanic pointed out the treads were chipping away on them in random places. I've never seen that on a tire before. I've seen uneven wear, cupping, feathering etc, but not this! I took it back to ford and they tell me it's my fault for not rotating every 3,000 miles! That's ridiculous! That's way too much.

Plus these will only last at the most 35,000 miles. I doubt I'll get 25,000. After reading these posts I see that continental is just garbage. The only solution is for the consumer to buy new different brand tires. I've had bf goodrich on all my previous vehicles with out any abnormal trouble. I'm putting away money for a new set of Goodrich tires. Hopefully I'll survive long enough without a deadly blowout to get them! Remember Firestone! I guess Ford still has not learned their lesson from that fiasco!

Mary of Tucson, AZ January 8, 2010

I bought a New Ford Ranger 2007 from a Ford Dealer in San Diego, CA. in April of 2007. The truck was equiped with P225/70/R15 tires. After 32k miles the drivers side tire blew out on the freeway. Now I am told that all the tires need to be replaced due to faultly construction. I am out of work and can not afford this. From the looks of it alot of people have problems with these tires made by Continental. Is anyone going to make Continental change their ways?? Blow outs are very dangerous as everyone knows and I just "thank God" that no one in my family was hurt.

Steph of Georgetown, ON January 4, 2010

I own a 2009 Toyota Corrolla (Great car very happy), but it came with Continental Tires on it. A vibration started at 45,000 Km that made the steering wheel move. Toyota actually boasted about the "tire reliability" due to the built in pressure sensors and the fact that they were filled with nitrogen.

I took my car to Toyota and they informed me that although there is still plenty of tread on the tires, they are finished. They said the steel belts have shifted and they can not be balanced. I did what they reccomended and put on 4 new tires (not continental) and did a 4 wheel allignment. The cost to me was 716.00 cdn. They told me that they do not deal with the warrenty of these tires and I would have to take it up with the company itself. I don't blame Toyota dealers, but the company as a whole should smarten up.

I will buy Toyota again, but I will demand different tires. From what I have read on this site the word needs to get out before people die.

James of Delafield, WI December 19, 2009

I purchased a new BMW with Cont. run flat tires. in less than 30M miles they continue to leak air, ride is terrible,poor traction, they now need to be replaced. I have your tires on my Smart Car,Honda, and motorhome. Is there some program to purchase 4 Cont. since I do like the product. I understand this is typical for run flats. I would appreciate any help. Thank You.

Eugenia of Columbus, GA December 6, 2009

I purchase a VW Passat in Jan 08 which came with Continental tires. About eight months later, I started hearing a thumping noise on the front of the car while driving (with less than 10,000 miles). I took it to the dealer ship to find out what the problem was. The dealer could explain to me what could have cause the problem and was told that I either would need to purchase a band new tire or ride it out.

With less than two years owning this car, I took my vehicle in for service this morning and was told that I need to replace all four tires, a wheel alignment, and a tire rotation. All tires are doing the same thing and if I don't replace them, it won't be long before the damages are greater. I can't. I didn't have a copy of the tire warranty when I purchased my car and now I need to spend money to fix their mistakes.

Tom of Midlothian, TX December 2, 2009

My daughter was driving our 2008 Cobalt home from work in the Fort Worth area at 11.000 PM at night when the tread on the left front original factory installed tire came completely apart and did extensive body damage to the left front of the vechicle. I took the car to Chuck Fairbanks Chevrolet in DeSoto Texas and they informed me that nothing would be covered under warranty.

The car has 25,000 miles on it and it has all the extended warranties we could buy at the time as well as 5 years, 50,000 miles from the factory. I inspected the tires 2 weeks prior to the accident and there was sufficient tread to be safe. I am some what of an expert in this field due to my 37 years of service with General Motors Engineering in their vehicle test department. The tire did not deflate, but the tread totally removed itself from the tire.

In my experience, I have never seen this except on a recap. The vehicle is now at Chuck Fairbanks body shop awaiting the insurance adjuster. Any help and consideration in this matter would be deeply appreciated as my daughter is stuggling financially with a part time job and I am retired.

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