Issues With 19" Michelin Tires On 2010 Rx350?

[dv235]

My mother has purchased 2010 RX350 back on November. I just found out she has replaced 5 tires, 4 rear passenger and 1 front passenger. All had sidewall damage. My guess she's bumping into the curb, however she's never had this issue with the previous RX she owned for 10 years. I'm wondering if the difference has to do with the new standard tires being 19" while the previous RX had 18" as a standard tire. It may also be Michelin's new model has more fragile sidewalls.

In any case, each replacement was $350 and she wasn't buying tire damage warranty. Getting into discussions with your mother as to why she didn't buy the warranty is fruitless so my suggestion she goes with 18" tires all around (which the standard rims appear to support) + damage warranty.

As simple as it looks to pin this on the driver, the sudden change is hard to explain. Not a single damaged tire in 10 years and then 5 busted sidewalls in 6 months? I did some calling around various tire places such as tirerack and few local dealers and learned they're seeing more than a usual number of people with '10 RXs having similar problems. So maybe it is the new size that people are not used to when parking/driving, or the sidewalls are a bit flimsier.

In any case, we'd like to get to the bottom of this. It may be a tire defect or change in specs, or something else about the car that previous owners didn't adjust to yet. Would be nice to know if anyone else has experienced or heard of this issue.

Thanks

Dave

[Paulmj]

My mother has purchased 2010 RX350 back on November. I just found out she has replaced 5 tires, 4 rear passenger and 1 front passenger. All had sidewall damage. My guess she's bumping into the curb, however she's never had this issue with the previous RX she owned for 10 years. I'm wondering if the difference has to do with the new standard tires being 19" while the previous RX had 18" as a standard tire. It may also be Michelin's new model has more fragile sidewalls.

In any case, each replacement was $350 and she wasn't buying tire damage warranty. Getting into discussions with your mother as to why she didn't buy the warranty is fruitless so my suggestion she goes with 18" tires all around (which the standard rims appear to support) + damage warranty.

As simple as it looks to pin this on the driver, the sudden change is hard to explain. Not a single damaged tire in 10 years and then 5 busted sidewalls in 6 months? I did some calling around various tire places such as tirerack and few local dealers and learned they're seeing more than a usual number of people with '10 RXs having similar problems. So maybe it is the new size that people are not used to when parking/driving, or the sidewalls are a bit flimsier.

In any case, we'd like to get to the bottom of this. It may be a tire defect or change in specs, or something else about the car that previous owners didn't adjust to yet. Would be nice to know if anyone else has experienced or heard of this issue.

Thanks

Dave

My RX has these tires. I have more than 5000 miles on the vehicle with no problems whatever.

Even more interesting is that Tire Rack quotes these Michelin - Latitude® Tour HP tires @ $155. Costco is $263. Where did the $350 come from?

[dv235]

My mother has purchased 2010 RX350 back on November. I just found out she has replaced 5 tires, 4 rear passenger and 1 front passenger. All had sidewall damage. My guess she's bumping into the curb, however she's never had this issue with the previous RX she owned for 10 years. I'm wondering if the difference has to do with the new standard tires being 19" while the previous RX had 18" as a standard tire. It may also be Michelin's new model has more fragile sidewalls.

In any case, each replacement was $350 and she wasn't buying tire damage warranty. Getting into discussions with your mother as to why she didn't buy the warranty is fruitless so my suggestion she goes with 18" tires all around (which the standard rims appear to support) + damage warranty.

As simple as it looks to pin this on the driver, the sudden change is hard to explain. Not a single damaged tire in 10 years and then 5 busted sidewalls in 6 months? I did some calling around various tire places such as tirerack and few local dealers and learned they're seeing more than a usual number of people with '10 RXs having similar problems. So maybe it is the new size that people are not used to when parking/driving, or the sidewalls are a bit flimsier.

In any case, we'd like to get to the bottom of this. It may be a tire defect or change in specs, or something else about the car that previous owners didn't adjust to yet. Would be nice to know if anyone else has experienced or heard of this issue.

Thanks

Dave

My RX has these tires. I have more than 5000 miles on the vehicle with no problems whatever.

Even more interesting is that Tire Rack quotes these Michelin - Latitude® Tour HP tires @ $155. Costco is $263. Where did the $350 come from?

Thanks for the reply. I think she was going to the dealer to get the tire replaced. Another consideration is she's bumping the curb with an overinflated tire, although its hard to imagine all 5 tires were overinflated.

[The G Man]

Maybe she just need to get use to parking the new RX.

[SW03ES]

Also...18" tires will not fit on the stock wheels. The 19s are an upgrade, you would have to buy the 18" wheels and sell her 19s to make 18" tires fit...