I am having a problem with the factory installed Pirelli PZero tires my 2008 S65 and wondered if anyone else is experiencing the same problem.
I live in Northern California and have been driving the car since late October. When it came in for it's service appointment at MB Walnut Creek in January @ 4,185 miles the service tech noted that the wear bars were showing on the rear tires.
Having owned a lot of cars and tires I thought it was very abnormal to see wear bars @ 4,185 miles on any tire (high performance or not), especially since I only use this car for daily driving / not racing.
At 5,885 miles my left rear tire blew out and now the right tire is bulging. I brought it into the dealer again last Friday asking them to treat this as a manufacturer defect and they are saying they wont cover it as a warranty issue because "Mercedes doesn't cover tires".
This doesn't make sense to me since I would expect at least 10,000 miles out of a set of tires, so I wanted to check here to see if anyone has any advice for me.
Mercedes says to work with the service manager but Mercedes Benz of Walnut Creek has a TERRIBLE service department and they are basically unwilling to help so I am on my own. Terrible and insane considering I just spent $200K with them on this car!!
Vehicle: 99 S420 (76k Mi) 90 300SE (87k Mi) 08 Lexus ES350 (7k Miles) 07 GMC Sierra (8k Miles) Sold list -->
Location: FL
Posts: 2,419
Go somewhere else!!! There isn't only one Mercedes dealer. Tell them that you will never ever return for any work ever again if they refuse to pay for this. You just purchased a top end car. Even if they have to eat the cost of the tires, then so be it! You do that when you are a dealer who sells very expensive cars. I would make a big scene if I were you. Something is clearly defective, whether it be the car or the tires. Toe, camber, tracking, alignment, ect.. may be off and causing your tires to go. That would be a defect. Have you tried going back to your sales agent and complaining? He/she is the one who made the big bucks off you. They need to stand behind the product they sold.
As of now I have done everything I could think of which included putting up a big stink with the Service Adviser, Service Manager, Service Director, General Manager, Sales Manager, and Salesman at MB Walnut Creek. They just sent me to MBUSA who has reluctantly opened a ticket for their regional field team to "look into" which may take a week or more.
I considered taking it to another dealer but ultimately the problem seems to be with Mercedes corporate who just wants to send me to Pirelli who wants to send me to Mercedes and the cycle continues. Top that off with a terrible and downright rude service department and I am left holding the bag.
It would be easy to get good tyres flat within 4000 miles with an S65 but if you say you are driving decently, then you should expect 10 000, perhaps 15 000 miles.
Did you get a bulge before the plies were hurt? Sounds really like a terribly bad set of tyres.
Anyway in a case like this, I would assume the tyre manufacturer taking care of the cost for a new tyre, not MB (although MB should give new tyres and get the money from Pirelli)?
Vehicle: 99 S420 (76k Mi) 90 300SE (87k Mi) 08 Lexus ES350 (7k Miles) 07 GMC Sierra (8k Miles) Sold list -->
Location: FL
Posts: 2,419
Now you need to find the regional rep for Mercedes and not let them off the hook until this is resolved. I would also visit at least one other dealer. You may get lucky and the other dealer will just replace the tires without question because they may want your business in the future. Most dealerships are not in the business of playing games with people who purchase $200,000 cars. If all else fails you could have your attorney write a letter to the dealership and MBUSA. These types of letters will usually scare the dealer into doing something.
I had a problem with the rigt rear tire wearing on the back of my previous S500. It came with Michelins, which I've always had good luck with. Dealer replaced both rears twice for me, although on 2nd replacement I paid for 1 tire and they replaced the worn tire. THis was all inside of 8K miles. 3rd time was a charm, as those tires did not suffer the premature wear. I always wondered if they maybe adjusted something in the rear alignment.
I'd use caution involving an attorney, as what often happens then is the recipient of the lawyer's letter goes into a defense mode and shuts down communication because at that point they believe they will be sued.
As others mentioned, there are other dealers who may want to earn your business.
When you spend that kind of money on a car they should be doing all they can to assist you. Years ago when the first 8 cylnder E class came out the 400E, we bought the limitted ediition for 60k which was a lot for that car back then and the tranny was slipping after only a month. Would jerk going into gear and the dealer did everything to take care of it. They had a corporate rep come out and pick up the car and leave us a new loaner. Turns out there was a defective small bolt or something like that. They fixed it and never an issue. We also received a nice gift basket with wine and other goodies thanking us for our business and apologizing. Ever since then I have the same dealer and I am pleased each time. My SA really goes the extra mile for me.
Definitely try another dealer. Your dearler is dumb to lose a customer such as yourself because of poor service and brushing off the issue to the tire company! They sold you the car not Pirelli! BTW my ex husband always had Pirelli on his Porsches and the tires were never an issue.
Trust me, don't think the regional district is bad because of one dealer. The dealer can work with a regional district a lot better than a district can work with a bad dealer. Our closest dealer I wouldn't trust with a ford, but drive an hour more (we don't live too close to dealers) and Greensboro or Winston-Salem are great dealers. A lot of power rests at the dealer, if the dealer says an issue exists, regional is rare to question them. You need to find a dealer that remembers the old honor of selling a Mercedes. I hope under new leadership Mercedes will make those the only kind of dealer that exists.
Thanks everyone for your replies. I took the car to another dealer yesterday RAB Motors about 30 miles away (better service dept) and they are waiting on MBUSA since "they don't cover tires".
I ended up purchasing 4 new tires at my expense (Michelin PS2's this time) so I can get my car back today instead of waiting on MBUSA (which could be next week or who knows when) and am leaving the Pirelli's with the service manager at RAB so he can approach the issue with Mercedes and Pirelli without holding my car hostage.
It is a shame that Mercedes has such a serious problem with service at MB Walnut Creek. It really lowers the value of their vehicles. I am new to the Mercedes line from owning several BMW's over the years hoping for a better experience.
I really appreciate the high engineering quality on the S65 (unmatched by any car I have driven) and it's really terrible that this amazing car's image is tarnished by such terrible tires and even worse service.
2008 S65 - Defective Tires? 
When you spend that kind of money on a car they should be doing all they can to assist you. Years ago when the first 8 cylnder E class came out the 400E, we bought the limitted ediition for 60k which was a lot for that car back then and the tranny was slipping after only a month. Would jerk going into gear and the dealer did everything to take care of it. They had a corporate rep come out and pick up the car and leave us a new loaner. Turns out there was a defective small bolt or something like that. They fixed it and never an issue. We also received a nice gift basket with wine and other goodies thanking us for our business and apologizing. Ever since then I have the same dealer and I am pleased each time. My SA really goes the extra mile for me. 
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