Heads Up for anyone that fitted Michelin Primacy 3 tyres, as others will know I purchased a set of four non run flat Michelin tyres on 25th April 2018 and at the same time had a 4 wheel alignment check done.

Since then, I have only done 12,500 miles on these tyres, and I noticed this year during the start of the lockdown, that the tyres were cracking on the shoulders on all four tyres, more so on the front tyres, so I waited for the MOT to be carried out at the start of June 2020, and mentioned it to Formula One Autocentre who fitted the tyres new, and also done the MOT test.

They said that they should not have cracked like that, and I should contact Michelin direct which I did, only to be told that the supplier has to fill out a Michelin complaint form, all this time I was emailing Michelin and Formula One for approx four weeks, and hearing all sorts of reasons why the tyres may have cracked, and non of their reasons matched my particular tyres.

I should state that the tread of the tyres were still new like showing at most only 1mm to 1.3mm wear.

Anyway after being persistent with my claim for premature faulty tyres, Michelin done the right thing in honouring their warranty, they replaced all four tyres with the newer Michelin Primacy 4 S2 tyres FOC, all I had to pay was the fitting and balancing of the new tyres.

The faulty tyres 205/45/R17 V were manufactured in Italy on the 8th week of 2018, it may have been a faulty batch.

I noted the new replacement tyres were manufactured in Germany this time.

So if anyone else has similar problems with their Michelin tyres be persistent and don't give up, at least for me it restored my faith in the premium brand Michelin tyres are.

I had similar on the Michelin Pilot Super Sports on the BMW, my research showed that it was unfortunately a known issue on those tyres, especially if they had been subject to a range between cold an hot temperatures and having been on the car during the beast rom the east believed that to be the cause. I had done a similar mileage - 11,800.

Hi Phil, Did you manage to get FOC replacements tyres, I did quote to Michelin that I have Michelin primacy 3 tyres on our BMW which are a year older, and they are in perfect condition if anything those have been standing more than the mini Michelins, I did say to them the only difference mini ones were made in Italy and those fitted to the BMW are German manufactured, they assured me all the manufacturing standards are to the same high standards.

But as said before the new replacement tyre are now made in Germany as well !

justelfie wrote:

Hi Phil, Did you manage to get FOC replacements tyres, I did quote to Michelin that I have Michelin primacy 3 tyres on our BMW which are a year older, and they are in perfect condition if anything those have been standing more than the mini Michelins, I did say to them the only difference mini ones were made in Italy and those fitted to the BMW are German manufactured, they assured me all the manufacturing standards are to the same high standards.

But as said before the new replacement tyre are now made in Germany as well !

No, as I said the feeling I got from the Mlite forums was that you couldn't

That is just what the tyre manufacturers want every user to believe, Michelin do have a warranty period of I believe for three years, I have seen five years mentioned, but it is very difficult to found any such warranty.

I suspect that is deliberate on the manufacturers part to make it obscure to find, but any such defect such as this requires a complaint form to be filled by the tyre supplier along with the DOT code information which is embossed on every tyre, and photographs of the tyre defect, the supplier will also state how many miles the vehicle has done since the tyres were fitted.

I believe totally being successful in my claim solely was, because of being forceful and persistent and also polite.

Hopefully this may help others that may have premature trouble with their tyres.

Yes, any link to warranty i found for Michelin led me to their US site -which it is quite clear. However as us MINI owners know, warranties, recalls etc differ massively. The US owners get far more defects covered on their MINIs than we do here don't they!

Hi Phil, I have just managed to found some more details of Tyre Warranty for the UK.

https://www.oponeo.co.uk/blog/tyre-warranty-comparison-of-manufacturers

Hope this helps to explain their individual tyre manufacturers warranty, but most important bit of advice, is do not accept any offer unless you consider its fair offer, especially low mile tyres.

Another useful tip when purchasing new tyres check the DOT code for week and year of manufacturer, best before they are fitted, because some suppliers may have had the tyres on the shelf for an extended period of time before fitting them, and tyres can start to degrade naturally even without being fitted.