2002 Toyota Prius Tires Problems

TIRE THREAD SEPARATION OCCURRED WHILE DRIVING AT ABOUT 60-70 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY CAUSING VEHICLE TO WEAVE NEARLY OUT OF CONTROL. A COLLISION WAS AVOIDED BY THE DRIVER. DAMAGE TO THE FENDER, BUMPER AND SIDE MARKER LIGHTS ON THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE. TIRE BRAND WAS BRIDGESTONE INSIGNIA 175/65R14 DOT IC8I E20 1604 EQ8R. *TR

I GOT THIS VEHICLE IN 2005 FROM MY FATHER. I HAVE SINCE THEN HAD TO REPLACE THE TIRES OF THIS CAR MANY TIMES AND I HAVE ALWAYS REPLACED THEM WITH THE TIRES RECOMMENDED FOR THE CAR. SINCE THIS CAR IS A HYBRID, THE CAR REQUIRES TIRES MADE TO WITHSTAND THE WEIGHT OF THE CAR BATTERY AND THEREFORE THEY COST 100 DOLLARS OR MORE PER TIRE DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU PURCHASE THEM FROM. THE INCIDENT DATE LISTED IS MY MOST RECENT TIRE FAILURE. *TR

EXCESSIVE TIRE WEAR ON BRIDGESTONE POTENZA RE92 TIRES. TIRES REPLACED ON MY 2002 TOYOTA PRIUS MAY 2004 AT 23,555 MILES. SERVICE MANAGER ADVISED THAT ORIGINAL TIRES WERE UNSAFE AND CONTINUED USE COULD RESULT IN A BLOW OUT. CURRENTLY, THE SECOND SET OF TIRES ARE AGAIN WORN (44,000 MILES) AND UNSAFE. *AK

CONSUMER HAS A 2002 TOYOTA PRIUS. THE VEHICLE WAS BOUGHT BRAND NEW BUT NOW HAS 16000 MILES ON IT. IT IS EQUIPPED WITH BRIDGESTONE TIRES. ALREADY THE FRONT TIRES THREADS ARE LITERALLY COMING APART. THERE WAS NO RESULTING INJURY. *NM *JB

MODEL: TOYOTA PRIUS 2002 PURCHASE FROM : PUTNAM TOYOTA, CERTIFIED UNIT, JUNE 2004 FAILURE TYPE : TIRE BURST ON SIDE WALL OF THE TIRE, TWICE IN 5 MONTHS. FAILURE ROOT CAUSE : DRIVE OVER PARKING CURB, AT LESS THAN 2 MPH. FAILURE LOGIC : WHY THE TIRE BURST IN SUCH A MANNER, ESPECIALLY TOYOTA CLAIM, THIS IS A SPECIAL DESIGN OVERLOAD PRESSURE TIRE. PART REPLACE/SERVICE: BOTH TIRES WERE REPLACE AT CAPITOL TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. COST PER INCIDENT: TIRE =$79.00, LABOR = $60.81, TIRE ONLY AVAILABLE AT TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. CONCERN: WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF I DRIVE 60 MPH ON FREEWAY, AND HIT A BUMPER UNEVEN PATH ON THE HIGHWAY, WOULD IT BURST AS WELL ! *JB

THE TIRES WERE DEFECTIVE. AFTER TAKING THE VEHICLE TO DEALER FOR SERVICE IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT CHUNKS ERE MISSING FROM THE INSIDE OF THE TIRES. MANUFACTURER OFFERED REIMBURSEMENT.*AK

IN NOVEMBER OF 2003 I HAD A TIRE BLOWOUT WHILE ON THE FREEWAY. THE CAR HANDLED WELL AND I WAS ABLE TO GET OFF THE FREEWAY AND PUT ON THE SPARE. WHEN REPLACING THE TIRE I FOUND THAT I HAD TO PURCHASE A "SUPER HEAVY DUTY" TIRE BECAUSE OF THE WEIGHT OF MY CAR. THE TIRE WAS INFLATED TO THE SPECIFICATIONS IN MY OWNER'S MANUAL (35LBS). IN APRIL I HAD A SECOND BLOW-OUT AND REPLACED THE TIRE AT MY TOYOTA DEALERSHIP. AT THAT TIME I WAS INFORMED THAT TOYOTA FOUND THAT INFLATING THE TIRES TO 45LBS SEEMED TO BE WORKING BETTER. I HAVE NOW REPLACED ALL FOUR TIRES AND INFLATED THEM TO THE RECOMMENDED 45LBS. IF TOYOTA HAD NOTIFIED ME AS AN OWNER THAT THE MANUAL WAS NOT CORRECT AND THAT THE TIRES SHOULD HAVE BEEN INFLATED TO 45LBS I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN TWICE AS MUCH USAGE OUT OF MY TIRES AND I WOULD NOT HAVE EXPERIENCED TWO BLOWOUTS AND A WHELL REALIGNMENT COST. THERE SHOULD BE A RECALL, NOTICE TO OWNERS AND A RPLACEMENT OF TIRES AT TOYOTA'S COST.*AK

SEVERAL MONTHS AGO I HAD A BLOW OUT ON MY LEFT REAR TIRE. THOSE THINGS HAPPEN- SO I REPLACED THE TIRE, GLAD THAT THERE WERE NO INJURIES OR DAMAGE. TWO WEEKS AGO THE SAME THING HAPPENED ON THE LEFT FRONT. WHN I WENT TO THE DEALER I WAS ADVISED TO KEEP THE TIRES INFLATED TO 45LBS THOUGH THE OWNER'S MANUAL (ON MY 2002 PRIUS) ADVISED INFLATING TO ONLY 35LBS. THE DEALER SAID THAT THEY FOUND THAT 45LBS ALLOWED BETTER WEAR AND AVOIDED THE BLOW-OUTS. OWNERS SHOULD BE ADVISED OF THIS AND GIVEN REPLACEMENT TIRES WITH AN ADJUSTMENT FOR WEAR. I WAS OUTRAGED THAT TOYOTA HAD THIS INFORMATION AND ESSENTIALLY SAT ON IT. ON THE 2004 PRIUS (WHICH WE ALSO OWN) THE TIRE IS LARGER AND THUS THE "PROBLEM" HAS BEEN CORRECTED BY TOYOTA...EXCEPT THAT OWNERS OF 2002 PRIUS'S ARE DRIVING AROUND ON TIRE THAT LITERALLY BLOW UP.

FRONT DRIVER'S SIDE TIRE HAD TO BE REPLACED 3 TIMES BECAUSE OF CRACKS IN THE SIDEWALL. CONSUMER FELT THAT THE TIRE DEALERSHIP DIDN'T WANT TO CLAIM LIABILITY, SO THEY WERE BLAMING THE CRACKS ON ROAD HAZARDS. *AK

WHILE DRIVING AT 25 MPH PASSENGER'S SIDE REAR TIRE BLEW OUT. PRIOR TO THE BLOWOUT DEALERSHIP INDICATED THAT ALL TIRES HAD ABNORMAL WEAR. AT THE TIME OF BLOWOUT CONSUMER WAS ABLE TO SEE THE METAL BELT THROUGH THE SIDEWALL. *AK *SC

PURCHASED TOYOTA MR2 SPYDER IN AUGUST OF 2002. CAR NOW HAS 18,300 MILES AND BOTH FRONT TIRES (YOKOHAMA ADVAN A043 185/50R15) ARE WORN BEYOND RECOMMENDED TREAD DEPTH AND BLISTERED ON INSIDE(BECAUSE OF FRONT-END MISALIGNMENT ACCORDING TO DEALERSHIP). *AK

PROBLEMS WITH TIRE EQUIPMENT ON 2002 TOYOTA PRIUS.*MR CONSUMER REPLACED THE TIRES SEVEN TIMES TO DATE. PROBLEMS WITH THE TREAD AND SIDEWALL. MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE DEFECT. *PH

2002 TOYOTA PRIUS HAVE HAD FIVE TIRES REPLACED ON THIS CAR AND ONLY HAVE 28,000 MILES ON IT. THE TIRES WEAR UNEVEN, AND THE SIDEWALLS BREAK DOWN TO CAUSE FLAT. THE TREAD COMES OFF IN CHUNKS. STEEL WIRES SHOWING. EVERY TIRE HAS HAD A DIFFERENT THING HAPPEN TO IT. I HAVE 3 TIRES REPLACED BY THE DEALERSHIP IN ONE DAY. THE 1ST TIRE WENT FLAT FROM THE SIDEWALL BRAKING DOWN AND BEING WEAK. THE ONE I HAD REPLACED ON 8-28-03 WAS WEARING UNEVENLY AND JUST HAD THE CAR IN FOR MAINT. THESE TIRES ARE UNSAFE TO DRIVE ON AND I WOULD HOPE FOR A RECALL. *AK

TWO FRONT TIRES WORE OUT PREMATURELY. DEALER SAYS THE REMEDY FOR THIS PROBLEM IS TO ROTATE THE TIRES AND KEEP THE APPROPRIATE TIRE PRESSURE. *AK

TWO BRIDGESTONE POTENZA RE92 [P175/65 R14 84S, DOT EL(PJDH4801] TIRES FAILED ON MY 2002 PRIUS WITHIN ONE WEEK. THESE ARE THE TIRES INSTALLED ON THE VEHICLE WHEN WE BOUGHT IT. OUR VEHICLE CURRENTLY HAS SLIGHTLY LESS THAN 25,000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER AND IS DRIVEN PRIMARILY FOR COMMUTING ON FREEWAYS. WE DISCOVERED THE RIGHT FRONT TIRE EXTREMELY LOW ON AIR WHEN RETURNING TO A PARKING GARAGE ON 4/12/03. AS WE WERE UNABLE TO LOCATE A GAS STATION MY HUSBAND CHANGED THE FAILED TIRE WITH THE TEMPORARY TIRE AND HAD THE THE FAILED TIRE REPAIRED THE NEXT DAY. WHEN SERVICED WE WERE TOLD THE TIRE HAD A PIN HOLE AND IRREGULAR WEAR PATTERN. WE TOOK THE VEHICLE INTO THE DEALERSHIP FOR ITS SCHEDULED 22,500 MILE SERVICE AND TO HAD THE TIRES INSPECTED AND THE FRONT END ALIGNED. WHEN QUESTIONED ABOUT THE TIRES WEAR PATTERN WE WERE TOLD THE "TIRES WERE MARGINAL" AND THAT WE SHOULD EXPECT TO REPLACE THE TIRES IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS. THE SECOND TIRE FAILED TODAY WHEN MY HUSBAND WAS CUT OFF IN A PARKING LOT (TRAVELING LESS THAN 5 MILES AN HOUR AND SWERVED TO AVOID BEING HIT AND HIT THE PARKING CURB), THE TIRE FAILED AND REQUIRED IMMEDIATE REPLACEMENT WITH THE TEMPORARY TIRE. WE ARE HAVING ALL FOUR TIRES REPLACED, AT THIS TIME, DUE TO THE FAILURE OF THE TWO BRIDGESTONE POTENZA RE92 [P175/65 R14 84S, DOT EL9PJDH4801] WITHIN A SEVEN DAY PERIOD. *NLM

THE RIGHT FRONT TIRE BLEW FOR NO APPARENT REASON. THE SIDEWALL WAS TORN. THE DEALER HAS REFUSED TO REPLACE IT BECAUSE THE MANUFACTURER WOULDN'T REFUND THEM. THE TEAR IS FROM THE INSIDE OUT. THE SIZE OF THE TIRE IS 205/65R15 92T. THE TIRES ARE BRIDGESTONE POTENZA RE92. NLM

I HAVE HAD THREE TIRE BLOWOUTS, ONE WITHIN 24 HOURS AFTER PURCHASE OF THE TIRE.*AK