Not sure if this should be a complaint just yet but wanted to provide a watch out perhaps. Our Ascent is 6 weeks new and has around 1900 miles on it. Wife driving today as low speed when low tire pressure warning came on. She drove on a little way to a safe area and as she stopped noticed smoke from the rear. Got out to see a blown out sidewall in the rear tire (about 10 inches). Early in our investigation and will engage dealership but certainly a manufacturing defect is in my mind. Presuming they are the Falken tires. Hopefully a one-off situation and no one was hurt but don't want anyone else to be hurt either. If anyone has had a similar experience, please respond with details. Thanks all - glad to be a new member.
Tire blow out
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Flat tires don’t go very far. I wouldn’t be too upset or play the blame game. My wife destroyed a rear tire on her 2 week old Ford Fusion drove less than a half mile after the dash light to get to cell phone coverage and safe parking. Tire was totally destroyed. In her case rock went right through the center tread brand new Michelin tire! Got a $190 credit from Michelin cost me $5 to replace it.
The tire monitoring is there for this exact reason. Many people were driving till they had rubber flying off and were loosing control and crashing. Though I have seen minivan drivers doing 70mph in vans full of kids with a flat and multiple cars trying to wave them down and get them off the road. Plenty of people out there are oblivious till they end up in a ditch.
The tire monitoring is there for this exact reason. Many people were driving till they had rubber flying off and were loosing control and crashing. Though I have seen minivan drivers doing 70mph in vans full of kids with a flat and multiple cars trying to wave them down and get them off the road. Plenty of people out there are oblivious till they end up in a ditch.
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You can look for my thread but we have had 2 tires killed by debris. I was starting to lean towards just debris but if there are more of these it may be the falkens. I've never had a blowout tire issue till this car (easy nail fixes sure but no blow out change tire on side of road problems)
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About 3 weeks after getting my Ascent, I developed a slow leak in the sidewall from a pinhole leak along the seam in of one my rear tires (noticed only because of the TPM). Within 2 days, before I could get to the dealer, the tire wouldn't hold any air at all. I had to put the donut on before driving it to the dealer.
I had to fight with them a bit to replace it under warranty... they tried blaming it on a nail, even though they could not produce the nail. They said that tires were not covered by the Subaru warranty. I argued that they must have some kind of relationship with Falken, and that they should charge Falken back for the tires. In the end, I did not pay anything, but I wasn't thrilled with the overall experience.
I had to fight with them a bit to replace it under warranty... they tried blaming it on a nail, even though they could not produce the nail. They said that tires were not covered by the Subaru warranty. I argued that they must have some kind of relationship with Falken, and that they should charge Falken back for the tires. In the end, I did not pay anything, but I wasn't thrilled with the overall experience.
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Tires are a consumable so they wouldn't be covered. We picked up one of those tire replacement road hazard plan deals. I agree they probably could have done better for goodwill but they aren't obligated to do anything technically.
Keep an ear out for other tire problems as I'm not overly thrilled with these OEM tires.
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Every car I have ever bought clearly came with tire manufacturers warranty booklet and the car warranty was obviously not part of tires issues. But perhaps I’m better at reading the paperwork on my purchases?
Update
I should also give a huge shout out to Falken tires. I did consult with them on this type of tire failure and they were very responsive and provided a lot of good tips and suggestions. As a final sign-off (without me asking), they told me to keep the blown tire and they would send a FedEx pickup to collect it and refund the outlay for the new tire to me as a goodwill gesture. Not knowing Falken at all, this gesture certainly provides a good insight to me on their attitude to customers.
Just wanted to say thanks for everyone’s comments on this and update on the actual cause. Once the wheel was off, there was a small slice to be found in the tread area adjacent to the sidewall blowout. Obviously, the cause on this occasion - maybe I have been lucky over the years not having a blowout such as this - but I am now better informed and aware of what happens when a puncture occurs in lower profile tires - quite dramatic how the tire wall collapses.
I should also give a huge shout out to Falken tires. I did consult with them on this type of tire failure and they were very responsive and provided a lot of good tips and suggestions. As a final sign-off (without me asking), they told me to keep the blown tire and they would send a FedEx pickup to collect it and refund the outlay for the new tire to me as a goodwill gesture. Not knowing Falken at all, this gesture certainly provides a good insight to me on their attitude to customers.
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A defective tire (and related expenses?) would probably be paid for by the tire maker. In any case, IMO, your Subaru dealer should have helped you to figure this out and explained it to you one way or the other. You’re not the first one with this problem. They could have avoided you needing to write a post like the one you wrote IMO. If you need more clarification I’d suggest calling 1800Subaru3 and talking to them about it.
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Well there was a time when I remember at Disco Tire when the Falken brand was one of the bargain brands that they pushed. I was disappointed to see them as OEM on the Ascent. Same model as on the Crosstrek too IIRC?
Maybe I need to have a more open mind. :smile_big:
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But that warranty only covers defects from what I recall. They were calling it a puncture which would not be a defect.
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Correct. Tire warranties only cover manufacturers defects. Since as soon as the tire hits the ground and starts rolling, it's subject to road hazard issues, nearly every single instance will come back on it being a road hazard and NOT the manufacturer making an error. I give you the brochures with the tire warranties when I do my delivery, but realistically unless you purchase a road hazard warranty on the tires, if you have an issue with a tire, you're on your own.
Monday the 14th of January 2019 I had a blowout in San Antonio to beat all blow outs. No warning just ripped the (Falken) tire off my 2019 Ascent with 440 miles on it. Have only owned it for 3 weeks. Thankfully it happend on a freeway where I was by a huge grassy median. Had it been in any other construction zone etc this would be a whole different post. The control left the vehicle and the tire was completely ripped away from the wheel. I’m not going to drive it with Falken tires ever again. Still in a rental. I too smelled smoke like the others. No pot holes no nails. Just a faulty tire. Very thankful to be here.
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NOT good. I had this kind of issue with my fifth wheel trailer. The sidewall split within a week of my taking delivery. Turns out the tires are China Bombs. I replaced them with a commercial rated 14 ply tire. Then I took the trailer on a 6000 mi trip with no issues.
These Falkens are so crappy that I'm leaning towards replacing them with the Continental All Terrain Contacts before we embark on a 1600 trip to Vancouver in April. I'm not going to risk a blowout with my entire family in the vehicle.
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263 Posts
Seems like all of the blowouts are happening on 20” rims. Anyone having a blowout with the 18” ones?
Out of curiosity......
In the highway wandering/too-quick-off-center thread, we've now logged several instances where the tires were (in winter temperatures) measured cold at 40 PSI, and where after airing the tires down to door-jamb manufacturer's recommendations, the high-speed straight-line handling issues were reported by those same owners as either being markedly improved or completely resolved.
Have the folks who have experienced blow-outs ever measured the cold inflation pressures of their vehicles at any time prior to the incident?
In the highway wandering/too-quick-off-center thread, we've now logged several instances where the tires were (in winter temperatures) measured cold at 40 PSI, and where after airing the tires down to door-jamb manufacturer's recommendations, the high-speed straight-line handling issues were reported by those same owners as either being markedly improved or completely resolved.
Have the folks who have experienced blow-outs ever measured the cold inflation pressures of their vehicles at any time prior to the incident?
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The Continental A/T sounds good but it is not made for the 20" size. As far as I know no-one makes a AT tire for the 20" in our size. So what is the best 20" tire for the Ascent?
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238 Posts
I've had lower profile Falken tires in the past and have never been much of a fan. The ones on the 20inch wheel work, but they are not all that great when the snow is fluffy. I've had lots of turn slides with the last snow fall.
From my experience new car tires are budget tires that never last. Usually at the 30K mark it is time for a next set anyway. It is unfortunate that car manufacturers don't spec better tires since it leads some people to swap them early on and results in unneeded waste. I would gladly pay a little more for a better set of tires on a new car.
My wife struggled with crap tires for the last 75K miles (2 sets) I finally convinced her to spend the money and we bought the Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady Tires. What a difference in ride quality and traction. It was like driving a new car.
They make them for the Ascent FYI.
From my experience new car tires are budget tires that never last. Usually at the 30K mark it is time for a next set anyway. It is unfortunate that car manufacturers don't spec better tires since it leads some people to swap them early on and results in unneeded waste. I would gladly pay a little more for a better set of tires on a new car.
My wife struggled with crap tires for the last 75K miles (2 sets) I finally convinced her to spend the money and we bought the Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady Tires. What a difference in ride quality and traction. It was like driving a new car.
They make them for the Ascent FYI.
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597 Posts
Sorry to hear about all the blowouts happening.
I had my first near flat from a screw in the tire. Plugged it myself but the screw was only 3/4-1 inch long and it was enough to go fully into the tire.
I really plan on moving to 18 inch rims and thicker rubber in the future as my old car never had issues like this.
I had my first near flat from a screw in the tire. Plugged it myself but the screw was only 3/4-1 inch long and it was enough to go fully into the tire.
I really plan on moving to 18 inch rims and thicker rubber in the future as my old car never had issues like this.
The amount of money that the manufacturers spend on OE pairings is actually pretty staggering. Considerations of average-use needs (not just mileage, but also "typical" conditions traction) paired with NVH concerns means that outside of some very, very specific pairings (think ultra-high-performance vehicles), these issues lead to numerous compromises (including the cost to the consumer).
But unfortunately for most enthusiasts, the vast majority of such offerings do not fit our requirements for either durability and/or performance. That said, Forumites and social-media users of similar communities are a very specific subset of owners, so there's a bit of bias here, too. :tango_face_wink:
You're right - for most of the vehicles that most of us drive, "budget" does figure heavily into the equation. But at the same time, realize that this is in large part a by-product of the segment we're shopping in. :smile:
I was lucky enough to have been given the opportunity to participate in a world-release of a very, very high performance tire from a very highly regarded manufacturer nearly a decade ago. The amount of money they spent in developing the tire with their OE connections was apparent in EVERY aspect the event they hosted, including every detail of how each member of the press and private-citizen enthusiasts like us - we're not even talking about VIPs - were treated. To someone who was not in the industry, my eyes were popping as I tallied up what I thought would be a reasonable per-person dollar amount that they spent on us, not to even think about how much the event itself must have cost.
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978 Posts
Blowouts are rare unless the tires are 6+ yrs old. All of these look like textbook flats that were driven on. The awd system plus the size of the Ascent make noticing a flat while driving pretty difficult. Which is why tire pressure monitoring is such a big deal these days.
The Ascent is no light weight you put passenger tires on it and your going to see higher numbers of unhappy people regarding tire durability and life.
The Ascent is no light weight you put passenger tires on it and your going to see higher numbers of unhappy people regarding tire durability and life.
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