So I finally pulled my wheels and got my winter set-up mounted. When I removed the left rear, I found that the tire had been plugged .

The car was shipped from South Carolina and I received it with 200 miles this past spring. Currently at 5800. I've never had the car to any shops or the wheels off. So, had to be done at the dealer within the first 200 miles.

Do you think I could get anywhere by contacting my dealer/salesman now and explain my discovery, or should I just deal with it? ...it'd be nice to get a pair of tires out of it.

 

You mean patched? Thats kind of weird if you bought it at 200 miles. Its probly a lost cause but I dont see what it can hurt.

 

Unless you can prove it, doesn't look good.

 

Why? If its not given you any issue in 5600 miles it's probably not likely to. Not to mention that it is completely futile to try to make it an issue now because there's no way you'll get anyone to do anything about it since you've had it so long. Is it possible that the person or dealership you bought it from didn't know about it either?

If you bought it as a used vehicle you have no recourse anyway. If you bout it as new and it has a plugged tire, I guess you'll just have to chalk it up as a loss and charge it to the game.

 

You'd have no way to prove it was there when you bought it...and if it's not a problem, than what's the issue?
People get tires plugged every day and drive for the rest of the life of the tire.

 

One of the stipulations in my purchase order is that they'll rack the car for my inspection.

Mainly i'm looking for under carriage damage from improper tie down while in transit, or any other damage present.

I'll add this to my list of items to check for.

If you don't drive like a nut, having a plug in a tire is not that big of a deal. A proper patch is better, but a plug will get you to the nearest station.

 

You wouldn't get a set of tires out of it. At best, you'd get them to patch it instead of plug it.

My advice is to take this as a sign that you need a tire upgrade. OEM tires are junk, get some nice ones.

 

its so long ago its your word against theirs. plugs are fine and you haven't had any issues it probably won't

 

The 17" OEM (Goodyear RSA's) tires are indeed absolute crap for our higher HP cars, but the Potenzas are a good tire, they just wear out extremely fast, but the do grip like glue.

 

I wouldnt let the dealer get off so easy. A quick call to ask why they sold you a brand new car with a plugged tire will get the ball rolling. As mentioned, it's possible that your dealer is unaware of the situation but possible the dealer they got the car shipped from may have knowledge. Either way someone owes you the value of 1 new tire.

A patched or plugged tire no longer has the same performance rating or warranty from the manufacturer. In other words, if that tire has a blowout (unlikely) then upon inspection it would be noticed it was previously plugged and therefore would not be covered under the manufacturers tire warranty, which I assume is still valid on a tire with 5800miles on it.

That being said, I wouldn't be worried about using the tire but I would definitely be looking for some answers.

 

Hope you're not talking about the Potenza RE050A!

 

Once again he bought it with 200 miles.
Dealer isn't worried about a tire plug on a car they sold months ago.
Take the small L and keep moving.

 

Once again ?

200 miles is nothing. I assumed it was sold to him new, never registered. Therefore the tires should be without any damage. Bridgestone will not warranty a plugged tire and the dealer knows that, or should. Tires are easily one of the most important safety items on a vehicle.
If a dealer dented the car, filled it with bondo and sold as brand new without telling you, would you let that go if you found out later?

 

Correct, it was bought brand new with 200 miles.

 

Almost all manufacturers have a "receiving location" (don't know the industry term) where the cars are shipped to before heading out to the dealer. Once there, they're inspected and repaired (if necessary). From what I've been told by many friends who work at dealerships, any repairs done at the facility do not have to be disclosed to the purchaser.

In the OP's case, if the tire was plugged at the facility, they may not be required to disclose it to him, but if it was at the dealership, they should (IMO).

Same goes with repairs.