[mrteeth2005]

We bought ours a few months later (SXP). Can you show us a picture of what it looks like? I'm not sure what you mean by 'Peeling'. I was in the tire industry for over 5 years. I've never seen tires 'peel' from the sidewall. I've seen separated. I've seen bulges in sidewalls. I've seen cords..cupping..uneven wear...I've even seen chicken bones sticking out. Peeling? Not that one.

 

[mrteeth2005]

OK. Not definitive here. I would have to inspect the whole tire. But based on the two pictures you posted, that is road hazard damage and NOT manufacturer defect. It appears you ran over something..and the object 'folded up' and caused further damage to the sidewall. Like I said, I use to deal with manufacturer defects A LOT managing a tires retailer. Tread separation was the most common. Tire out of round is also common. But this is a cut that is caused by a blunt object on the road. It doesn't appear to be intentional...like someone trying to slice your tires. That would be a fine line cut.

You can see an inch off the tread and into the sidewall, the white marking? Something rubbed against the side hard. Again, if I had to take an educated guess, the tire ran into an object that folded up and damaged the sidewall. Imagine stepping on an empty beer can as it sits on its side. You step in the middle, the edge 'folds' in to your foot. That is my guess. The manufacturer sees that and they will say the same thing.

 

[mrteeth2005]

Not making accusations here, but do you know what you run over? Like I said, I've seen chicken bones inside tires, nails, rods, forks, metal chunks, rail road spikes, plastics,etc. People come in and say, "I just bought these tires from you and now one blew up". "Sir...we found a huge nail in the sidewall". "I didn't run into any nails". OK. Good luck with Continental. If they say it's a tire defect, let us know. I have the same on mine.

 

[mrteeth2005]

Mrteeth2005…..they are defective. I got new tires installed at NO COST.. just to let you know and never doubt me

Well good for you. It's good to know. But like I said, I was in the tire/auto business for over 5 years. To me, that clearly looks like road hazard... IE...you ran over something based on the discoloring of the sidewall and the cuts. Cuts are never consider defective. Defective tires don't get cuts or punctures. Defective tires usually causes imbalance, out of round, separation of tread, cord separation, bulges in sidewall. Trust me: I have seen thousands of defective tires in my lifetime because we had a warehouse full of tires we had to send back to the manufacturer. We were trained on what to look for and the characteristic of a defective workmanship tire. I know a thing or two about it.

Also, you should know that 'dealership' guys don't specialize in tires. They usually push things to the manufacturer. Why? Why argue with the customer when you point to Continental? In this case, its just taking care of the customer. They took care of you and that's great to see. But anyone that knows tires, been in the tire business, can clearly...clearly see it was impact damage, whether you believe it or not.

 

[mrteeth2005]

Again...I appreciate the education. But as you can clearly see on your picture, these are not sidewall "Breaks". If the sidewall or tread peels like a banana, then that's one thing. This to me, is clearly road hazard. They are random cuts. As you can clearly see in your second picture, there is a stain on the sidewall near the tread. It's a brown/tan stain on the black rubber. Something rubbed up on there to cause that stain. Again, don't believe me? Wash your tires. Then go to the curb and rub against it. You'll see the exact same 'stain'. OK? Not trying to make a big deal here. But you're talking to a tire guy. I know my tires. You can see what sidewall "Peeling" looks like here. You can also see what is described as "Sidewall cracking". Yours looks nothing like these. I've also attached a 3rd picture of what a sidewall road hazard looks like. This is similar to yours. This came from a Corvette tire and was posted on a Corvette forum. Pretty much all agreed it was road hazard. I mean, for people that don't know tires, they are all the same. But to me,every picture tells a different story.