Hello jakevito-ga,
Short answer is Yes, there are plenty of reports of problems with the
Bridgestone Potenza tires. But from what I can see, most of the
reports have to do with bulges, bubbles and premature failure of the
tires. I did not see any descriptions of noise problems like you
described in the summary reports I looked at, but perhaps those
complaints are buried more deeply in the full reports. More about
that below...
First, a bit of a caveat. With millions of tires on millions of cars
in the U.S., it is certainly not unusual for consumer complaints to be
filed on any given tire. I don't think the fact that complaints have
been filed for Potenzas is unusual in that respect.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigations site
is at:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/Equipment/Tires/index.html
There, you can see three data bases that you can search for
information about problems with tires:
--------------------------
Search NHTSA's databases for tire information
Look up Recalls about tires
Search NHTSA's Recalls database.
Look up Technical Service Bulletins about tires
Search NHTSA's Technical Service Bulletins database.
Look up Consumer Complaints about tires
Search NHTSA's Consumer Complaints database.
--------------------------
I ran the Bridgestone Potenza's through the databases. No recalls, no
technical service bulletins. There were, however, 68 consumer
complaints on the tires. A typical complaint summary looks like this:
------------------------
Complaints Summary
Make: BRIDGESTONE
Model: POTENZA
Year: All Years
Complaint Number: 732448
Summary:
THE TIRE HAS THE WIDELY DOCUMENTED "BULGE" IN THE TIRE WALL PROBLEM.
IS IT SAFE TO DRIVE ON THIS TIRE? *AK( DOT NUMBER: TIRE SIZE:
225/45R17 )
------------------------
As I said, I did not see complaints regarding noise. HOWEVER, the way
the database is set up, it's not possible to search through the
complaints for the word "noise" and identify relevant records.
Instead, the NHTSA makes available a "Request Research" function. If
you select this option after you have a list of the consumer
complaints, you can submit a research request directly to NHSTA (e.g.
please identify any complaints about noise regarding Bridgestone
Potenza tires). They will conduct the search for you. There is a
small fee for the service.
Note that you can also file a complaint of your own at the NHTSA site.
I also ran a Google search on various combinations of [ Potenza
run-flat noise problem ], but did not find any complaints floating
about in cyberspace.
I hope this is the information you need. If you need additional
information, or if anything here needs elaboration, feel free to post
a Request for Clarification, and I'll be happy to assist you further. |
