pharding

My son got a flat on one of his run flat tires on his e90 330. He is young Project Engineer in LA with an expensive girlfriend and no money to replace the tire. What is a good reason to get the tire replaced as a warranty item? It had a bulge in it before it went flat. Is this a good reason? Please offer good advice otherwise he will attempt to get me to bail him out.

E60M5E60

It depends on how he got the flat. If hit a nail or a pothole then its not a warranty item. I don't think any dealer will buy a lame excuse to replace the tire under warranty.

If he can't afford a tire then there are several options; replace the e90 with a cheaper car; replace the girlfriend with a low maintenance one; put the tire on his credit card. I can go on and on on this list. Its just not fair for any dealer to pay for the flat tire unless it was defective.

kscarrol

Only possible way is a very friendly dealer and then they must have seen the bulge before the flat. What caused the flat? MAYBE then they will replace under warranty, but I doubt it. Good luck. And ditto for what E60M5E60 said about the girl friend, get a lower maintenance model!

Rudy

The other question is what caused the bulge?

Usually, a bulge is a result of a hard impact on a pothole or something. In most cases, when a tire has an impact that creates a bulge, there is clear evidence of the impact on the inside wall of the tire. If you claim the bulge was a defect and they remove the tire from the wheel, they'll be able to see for sure if there was an impact of not. If there is no sign of an impact, then you could probably get a replacement under a tire warranty since it would, in fact, be defective. Keep in mind that this scenario isn't very likely...

JSpira

One thing I learnt concerning bubbles and such on tires is that the ones which are defects are not visible from the outside (this is from a Bridgestone product manager). If you have a bubble or bulge that is visible, that means you hit something.

I purchased wheel and tire insurance to preclude having to think about such things. Very inexpensive solution to a problem.

To Paul, unfortunately, he will have to buy at least one tire, possibly two if the tires are worn. Then he should purchase wheel/tire insurance from theautoclub.com for $2.50 a month.

1994_RX-7_Tour

1- Tell the truth to the dealer about the damage. Better yet encourage your son to tell the truth- to dealer and girlfriend too. Lying gets addictive which is obviously no good in the long run.

2- If your son is 18 or older (assuming that since he is an engineer), consider gently breaking the news that he's officially out of the nest now and time for him to be self-sufficient financially (except for bona-fide emergencies which this is not). Hey, you're always there to give good advice but not fixing his money problems.

3- While you relax with your checkbook untouched and your son doing some original creative thinking, give yourself credit for giving him a much better gift than quick cash or a penchant for making up excuses... A great lesson in integrity and responsibility.

4- +1 on tire insurance per Jspira rec. For future.

And yes - I have gotten in trouble before for lying and tried to duck responsibility in the past - but learned much due to great role models.