Tires: GOODYEAR INTEGRITY P185/65R15 SIDEWALL BLOWOUT, goodyear integrity, goodyear dealer

Question
OEM tires on my 2008 Prius.  Wife driving at night 65mph freeway, clear & dry conditions.  Right rear flat.  Tire shows tear through sidewall, so she didn't run over anything.  I'm reading a lot of unsettling stuff about this line of tires.  Can you point me in direction of info so I can get a credit from GoodYear or Toyota?  I can't let her drive on the other three after seeing this.

Thanks for any guidance.

John M

Answer
John,

Let's start with perspective.  You've done a little searching to see if there may be reports of problems, but it is my experience that no matter what business you are in, there will be complaints - and since there are something like 900 million tires on the road, there ought to be a lot of tire complaints.  So the question is:  Is this out of proportion.  I suggest do a similar search, but use a different tire and see if you don't find that people complain about THAT tire, too.

Sidewall failures are extremely rare and nearly always caused by an external source - and usually this is the result of operating the tire flat.  About 90% of the time you can find the puncturing object - and, of course, the other 10% you can't find because the puncturing object went through the sidewall and is now disguised by all the damage.  This has been confirmed by a study an industry expert named Rex Grogan did on a Police fleet.

Besides, sidewall blowouts that are manufacturing related are always preceding by extreme bulging in the sidewall and the vast majority of the time, this is seen long before the tire actually blows out.  

So I think you and your wife have nothing to worry about.  But to reassure yourself, look at the other tires and see if you have any large bulges.  If not, then those tires will be OK.  Inspect them from time to time to add further reassurance - and, of course, take the failed tire to a Goodyear dealer and ask them what happened.  Be very neutral in the way you approach this in order to get a true assessment, instead of a defensive response.  What you are looking for is the truth, not a defendable position.

BTW, Toyota does not do warranty on tires, so they will refer you to a tire dealer.