NXOwner

My wife was driving the RX330 today and had a flat tire. The tire has a gash in the sidewall. I don't know if she hit something or if the workmanship on the tire was inferior.

If it is determined that it was a road hazard, would this be covered by warranty in any fashion (pro-rated, etc.)?


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TunedRX300

Did you buy the road hazard warranty? If a nail tore the tire up, the purchases insurance will cover it.
Manufacturing warranty only covers manufacturing defects. Personally I never seen a gash, only bubbles or unbalanceable tires.

mandyfig

If the gash on the side is a factory defect, it can be anyalyzed, then it should be covered pro-rated.

salimshah

For new vehicles, you get 1 yr road side assistance ... so your wife could have called the number provided and got the road side assistance for free.

The tire ... if it can be traced to manufacturing will be covered by manufacturer (not Lexus although Lexus can mediate). Lexus would have given you a brochure from tire manufacturer when you purchased the vehicle.

If the wheel/drive caused the problem, the Lexus would cover it.

If it was road hazard ... construction... then the contractor is liable and they will have to deal with the repairs ... [if the contractor is a handyman ... you may have to go to court .. recovery may be very hard] but if it is large or insured/bonded then they will gladly write you a check.

Salim

NXOwner

This is an '05 RX. She called the toll-free roadside assistance number and they changed it for free. So, I think the roadside assistance benefit is more than 1-yr. I called them a few weeks ago when my battery died and they were willing to come out. I didn't use them in that case because the airport had their own free jump-starting service.

So, here's what my Lexus dealer told me about tire warranties. Original tires are not covered by Lexus (it's the manufacturer's responsibility). If you subsequently buy tires from a Lexus dealership, then it does include road hazards are part of the (pro-rated) warranty. If you buy them elsewhere, then the warranty is dependent on what you bought.

The dealer quoted me "$550 to $600" for a pair of Goodyear Eagle RS/A's, or about $285 for one. That's ridiculous, IMO.

I went to "America's Tire Co." and bought a Yokahoma tire for $195.


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TunedRX300

Tires came with the car do not have road hazard warranty because dealers do not purchase it to save cost. Did the dealer tell you to buy two or your axel will be broken?

mandyfig

So, your spare wears Yokohama, right?

NXOwner

The spare was a Michelin.

mandyfig

So, you have 4 Yoko's, what size are they, OEM 235-55-18's?

JasDmw

Just a note for us Canadian owners; we have 3 year/50K Km road hazard warranty from Lexus on the tires. I have a nail in one. Wife is takiing the car in this PM and they are going to fix or replace, depending on location of the nail.

mandyfig

How come you have that and we do not? Hey, hey, what's up with that!

Bill_GS3

lexus provides roadside service with all new lexus's sold. It is for four years. They usually dispatch AAA and they will install your spare or tow you to the nearest dealer. You get them at the 800 number, 800-25-Lexus for USA and 30-Lexus for Canada. Cetified cars also are covered for three years.

-Bill

JasDmw

Second question the Service Advisor asked was if it's a US or Canadian car. I asked why and that's what he told me.

Note of course that with the current exchange rate, you guys are likely buying at a far better price than we are. I presume the question was asked because the dealership, about 1.5 hours from Buffalo, is seeing some US cars. I came very close to buying one there, but decided to support the local folks. That and the deal was attractive enough, included a trade, etc.

Bill_GS3

Sorry, I forgot to say something about the road hazard. In the US each dealer may have the option to sell one, maybe in Canada they may offer one with each vehicle. In the US the tires are warranted by the tire manufacture, not the Lexus dealer. Defrects and such should be brought to your local tire store, there are listing in the owners manual. But, after you buy a set of tires froma US dealer you may have a road hazard insurance on the new tires, some dealers get their tire from a service called Dealer Tire. They do offer road hazard for a limited time. But you have to show the tires were purchased by a dealer from them. Hope that helps.

-Bill

flintRX04

RXOwner, you mentioned that there was a gash on the sidewall, this sidewall damage may have occured when your wife drove on it while the tire was already flat or very low on air (this is a common occurance). So the gash may or may not have been why the tire went flat in the first place. Even a tire that is very low on air can seem to run normal for a while until you reach higher speeds which will eventually generate to much heat on the sidewalls from the flexing and eventually give-way. The manufacturer can easily determine this by examining the inside of the tire (which you typically do on warranty fullfillments).

With that said I think that was great customer service by the Lexus toll-free roadside assistance people to replace it regardless. For the most part your dealer was right, whether you buy the tires from them or another tire dealer they can and will try to sell you a road hazard warranty because they are a big money generator for the tire dealers. Sounds like Lexus bundles their road hazard fee into the cost of the tires which is why they seem to be more expensive, well that and because you are at a Lexus dealer. Most tire manufacturers are pretty good at honoring warranty issues and some my cover warranties that have nothing to do with the tire's workmanship, i.e. running over a nail. Yokohama's are very good tires, I should know I use to do corporate marketing for them. Their engineers are very good at determining cause of failures.