Backing out of my driveway today.....what, all of .5 MPH and I felt that I ran something over..........then a pop. Sensor for air pressure comes on and yea its flat.

Cant seem to get the lugwrench off the jack so I call AAA. He comes, its off, donut is on. I take a look. I ran over what appears to be something about 3" long and it went through the thread. OK off to local tire shop, dude says they stopped making them and the local vendor doesnt have them.

Call the dealer I got the car from and he can get one for $113 and mount and balance free since we are " buds "......problem is he is a LONG way from me.

Local dealer says $143 out the door......MONDAY. Damn! looks like my weekend plans are scrubbed.


Ok I vented.........I feel better now.

No chance of a plug, at least as a short term fix?

Are you saying Firestone discontinued the Firehawk Wide Oval tires? If so, that's too bad. I had a set on my Vette.. 255's on the front, 285's rear and although they spun fairly easy (but 350 lb-ft will do that, lol) the lateral grip in cornering was very good as was wet road (rain) traction.

Did you read this thread http://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12840 we all know Firestone tires suck and should only be used to burn stumps out of the ground, but guess we aren't allowed to do that anymore. Hope you can replace yours with a better tire. Replace 2 now and the other 2 when you can.

Firestone = bridgestone, bridgestone = firestone, and neither sucks. If you want a tire that sucks, buy Goodyear. The Goodyears that used to be on my vette almost got me killed-- twice. Never again.

Since GM vehicles come with a variety of tire brands and the dealership warranties the tire during the 3/36 warranty let me give you my 2 cents on this. Michelins are by far the best in my 33 years of experience. You can then throw all the others into 2nd place as (Goodyear, Firestone, Bridgestone, Dunlop, BF Goodrich, Continental and Uniroyal). Just like any other product some tires will never have defects and some will. The worst tires that are warranted the most are GENERALS. Generals are great for hanging from trees in Viagra commercials.

Since it is literally 50 days new, I am opting to have just the one replaced. When it comes time for some new shoes, I will upgrade. Thanks all...

BTW, Some jackass slipped a bottle under my tire, I found a HUGE sharp shard from a Grey Goose vodka bottle the same size as the gash in my driveway upon arriving home.

Nothin' much worse than getting goosed in your own driveway!:rof:

So some idiot put a vodka bottle under your tire and that makes Firestone's suck?

I'd say you have some fine outstanding neighbors......

You also should have called roadside assistance, since you had a jack issue also....

Jack and vodka, sounds like a fun morning.

I agree with what Chevymgr wrote.

I wouldnt blame a tire for going flat. Blame the object that punctured it.
Have your dealer order you the tire, and have it delivered, and be thankful you found 1.

It does suck when a OE tire gets discontinued...but it could have been worse-
back in the 90's when Michelin had the "Pilot MXM" tire as a OE Volvo tire, they were a phenominal tire, in a KILLER size for Imports who ran aftermarket rims...this is before cars even came with low profile tires...but the Pilot tire made everyone with a modified Honda want one.

Guess what? They started running out...if you brought your brand new Volvo 850 in to a Michelin dealer with a tire warranty problem, you couldnt get a tire because they were on backorder.

Michelin had to institute a "consumer hold" on the tire....you could not buy one unless you could prove ownership of said car...that's right...Michelin would not sell it to a retailer unless they had documented proof that there was an actual Volvo owner needing one.

Oh...and it was $429 per tire...if it wasnt covered under warranty.

Michelin makes a phenominal product. Bridgestone/Firestone are a close second, IMHO. keep in mind folks...many of the tires on the market today are made by one of the larger tire brands...want a Summit tire? How about a Dayton? No? maybe a Falken?...best see who REALLY makes those tires.

I am sorry that your day/week sucks...and I too would be livid. My Michelin XGTZ4 on my Mark VIII let go on the freeway in the rain at 5:30am, on my way to work....to make a bad day even worse, the other 3 were only a couple thousand miles old...so I had to match it...I found one...it was $179+++
I could have bought 2 of something else, or even 4 cheapos for a little more...but the XGTZ4 was a great tire, and I had 3 more just like it on the car, so I bit the bullet...a $200 flat tire, basically.

Generals are great for hanging from trees in Viagra commercials.

I thought the Army had a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy

I couldn't choose between Viagra or Cialis, so I just use Vitalis.

#1. I was venting. I should have known better, wont happen again.
#2. As posted, I did call AAA / roadside assistance.
#3. One would think running over glass wouldnt puncture a new tire at the tread, guess im not as smart as I thought I was.
#4 Im not complaining about the little money spent for the tire and yes, I am grateful I found one.
#5. It's just a "thing" and things can be fixed.
#6 Im certain it was one of my residents at the sober living home I own, He was drunk, I kicked him out.

I agree with what Chevymgr wrote.




Michelin had to institute a "consumer hold" on the tire....you could not buy one unless you could prove ownership of said car...that's right...Michelin would not sell it to a retailer unless they had documented proof that there was an actual Volvo owner needing one.




Wow! I remember that "Emergency Release" program Michelin did a few years back.We had to give year,make, model, VIN# and all of the customers info, then once MAST verified that it was in fact for that car they would send a tire. And try to get two, that was an act of God! I have seen that several times. Yokohama still does that today for the OE tires that came on the Acura NSX.

$143 for a non-performance "who cares?" tire??? Wow, that is terrible!!!

I might switch my HHR over to 13's. You can pick those up for $30.

I might switch my HHR over to 13's. You can pick those up for $30.

Good one....ever see those mailers they send "4 tires for just $99"
...then you read the fine print... "155R13"...a tire that fits...oh, i dunno...a Ford Festiva!

Well, I just got fed up with my Firestones, after numerous times trying to defend them. I thought they were OK in the snow, but today in heavy snow, I seem to be the only one that can't get there. The car got stuck in the un-plowed street, while it seems that all of my neighbors were able to leave. One of them even has a Cobalt, and they made it out. I have ordered BFGoodrich Traction T/A's to replace these because we had good service from them on our previous Pontiac.

o0o!....13's!.........Dayton spokes and 520 whitewalls.....A low RidHHr

I might switch my HHR over to 13's. You can pick those up for $30.

You're going to have to do the famous front brake conversion to drums for that. :lol:

Yves

Gotta get a set of hydros too :thumb:

Lord Help Us!

Did you read this thread http://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12840 we all know Firestone tires suck and should only be used to burn stumps out of the ground, but guess we aren't allowed to do that anymore. Hope you can replace yours with a better tire. Replace 2 now and the other 2 when you can.

Thank you for the reference to my post. :thumb:

BTW, today it rained....and rained...and rained...the Pilots were EXCELLENT on the wet pavement; they "gripped" the road. 100 times better that the Firestone Firehawks.

I have not noticed anything bad about the Firehawks, they were ok on dry pavement, no problem in the rain..... then came last weekend, where I had trouble getting out of a driveway with 1/2" dusting of snow and a slight angle As soon as I get my new TPM sensors, the new wheels & Cooper Lifeliners going soon.

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q199/diskullman/HHRsnow640x480.jpg

Do your Firestones cause a thumping noise at 50 MPH? Mine seem to be out of round or something:confused:

BTW, Some jackass slipped a bottle under my tire, I found a HUGE sharp shard from a Grey Goose vodka bottle the same size as the gash in my driveway upon arriving home.
Good ol' Long Beach. So glad I made it out of there...

No thumping so far, the tires seem to be ok on the hot Cali pavement. I was just put back that a piece of glass could go thru the tread. They seem thin.

I just got 44,000 out of mine. Haven't drove in enough snow to make a comment, but in dry and wet they were fine.

I have not noticed anything bad about the Firehawks, they were ok on dry pavement, no problem in the rain..... then came last weekend, where I had trouble getting out of a driveway with 1/2" dusting of snow and a slight angle As soon as I get my new TPM sensors, the new wheels & Cooper Lifeliners going soon.



Mind if I ask why you have to get NEW TPMS sensors?

Only reason for new sensors is new wheels with tires coming in, and I will sell the 17" polished aluminumm wheels with Firehawks and sensors, probably in the classifieds on this site. I will hope to sell them to someone that doesn't need to put up with snow. Probably ask for $600 for wheel & tire package or $750 for the wheels WITHOUT the Firestones! :lol:

Maybe I'll have the dealer balance them again :(

Firestone makes some decent tires, but these are not among them. Had them on a Ford Contour SE a few years ago. They somehow manage to do nothing well.