GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Have a major wear issue with the conti touring tires that came stock on the vibe. They have 14,000 on them and they are shot, will never pass inspection. Had the vibe in for service and the dealer told me they are seeing the same thing and worse from other people. They have two sets they kept that did not make it to 10,000 miles and failed an inspection. I know they ride like crap but shot at 15,000? The dealer told me they are complaining like crazy but GM said to bad.Anybody have these problems.

This is not new, dozens of people have complained about Contis.Searching for "conti*" yields the following threads relevant to your concern:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id ... ad?id=2559

I don't have this problem because I have the GoodYear. But my dealer told me last week many customers complained about that. The service manager placed many calls to GM and he hope he should find a solution.

My front Conti's were almost 1/2 gone with 3200 miles on them and were replaced under waranty after much haggling. I then turned in the 2 new ones and the 2 rear used ones on a set of Falken FK451s. They gave me $250.00Can. at the tire shop.

Quote, originally posted by VibeSalsa »I don't have this problem because I have the GoodYear. But my dealer told me last week many customers complained about that. The service manager placed many calls to GM and he hope he should find a solution.I hated the GoodYear Tires.

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »I hated the GoodYear Tires.agreed. still have them. i will say one thing, 33,000 miles and still good treadlife left.Shame they have no TRACTION!

I can't say I love them... But they seem to have a longer life than Conti. And they are better than the Firestone I had on my last Saturns

Hello,I'm hoping that since you posted this, you've had some resolution. I just took my car in to a Goodyear Dealer to have an alignment, balance and rotation. I know the manager well and he wouldn't do me wrong. They didn't do any of the items I requested because they said my tires are shot...14,007 miles!!! Showing belt through 2 of them already. Center tread is completely and unevenly worn on all 4 tires. Called the dealer this morning; they side my tires were overinflated and at 14,000 miles they can't do a thing. Maybe could've at 12,000 miles....like 2,000 miles is that big of a difference??He recommended I go buy some used tires...I should've have to replace tires on a car that has only 14,000 miles! I'm a single mother and bought this car because of it's safety rating and now, my car is unsafe because I can't afford to buy new tires!Any help??? PLEASE????

I would have gotten to about 30k on my Conti's to the wear markers. Changed at 26k to summer wheels. That's still short but I don't get the 10k stuff unless your drifting, inflating improperly or not rotating. If your front toe is off, that could cause a wear problem and should be addressed by the dealer. If the dealer won't help, call the tire maker or a consumer advocate to put pressure on a dealer. If you can work with Conti and a tire retailer to get a credit towards a replacement, the price might be more reasonable and the Conti Contact Extreme would be a fine replacement.

Perhaps you can get assistance from the service center that did the first rotation. Or whomever has been checking the pressures and not getting them right, your gas station?

Quote, originally posted by VEN »Have a major wear issue with the conti touring tires that came stock on the vibe. They have 14,000 on them and they are shot, will never pass inspection. Had the vibe in for service and the dealer told me they are seeing the same thing and worse from other people. They have two sets they kept that did not make it to 10,000 miles and failed an inspection. I know they ride like crap but shot at 15,000? The dealer told me they are complaining like crazy but GM said to bad.Anybody have these problems.The G/Y Eagle RSA's aren't any better. Get yourself a good set of UniRoyal Tigerpaws or Kelly's, those 2 have worked the best for me.

I got 30002 miles out of my OE Conti's.(Actually rode around town to across 30K!) This was after rotating them every 6K and maintaining air pressure religously, since reading of the horror stories hear at GenVibe.I replaced them with a set of Bridgestone Turanza LS-H. I've only got about 2K on them so far, but first impressions are very positive.

Quote, originally posted by pwarren4 »I got 30002 miles out of my OE Conti's.I had problems as well. Mine made it just past 20,000 with cords showing. Suddenly, Firestone is looking better......just kidding.

Well, at 14,008 miles, my continentals were down to less than 1/32 tread on one and 1/32 on the other 3. One dealer told me of a used tire place I could get a good deal at. I baulked and said, "I shouldn't be replacing tires at only 14,000 miles!!! I called the dealer I bought the car from and they told me to bring it in. They had other owners come in with the same problem. They got GM to pay 50% on replacement Goodyear Eagle LS's. Cost me $166 for 2 tires. Pontiac paid for the balancing & mounting fees on all 4. I still am tempted to complain to somebody to get the $166 back. If the tires were good, they should've last much much longer!

My Conti's lasted 26,000 miles. I had one go flat out on the interstate, so I exited at an upcoming ramp. By the time I had found a safe place to park and change the tire, the right rear tire was completely worn down to nothing. I think the culprit was hitting the curb in the parking lot at work. Rather than replacing one tire, I ditched the three good ones and just bought a new set. They actually had some good tread left on them, so I got a trade-in allowance for the three.The Conti's weren't that great, but they didn't make number one on my list for the worst tires I've ever owned... The Firestone Affinity tires the Malibu came factory-equipped with wins that award. Even with frequent rotations, I could only squeeze 28,000 miles out of those before things started to get dangerous. And wet weather traction was horrible, I slid the car off the road first time I drove it in the rain.

Just to set the bar a little higher re "normal" wear, the cheapy Bridgstones that came on my '87 Pontiac Firefly (Chevy Metro clone) went 165,000 km (~102,000 mi) of highway driving, and the cheapy Goodyear replacements went 162,000. The unbelievably cheap (less than $CAN 20!) Wal Mart can't-remember brand were looking great at 41,000 when I finally scrapped the car at 368,000...

"They got GM to pay 50% on replacement Goodyear Eagle LS's. Cost me $166 for 2 tires. Pontiac paid for the balancing & mounting fees on all 4. I still am tempted to complain to somebody to get the $166 back. If the tires were good, they should've last much much longer!"At 14008 miles! Get your $166 back.At 20,000 miles my Conti's were shot. My Dealer replaced all four at NO cost to me and with no arguement.

Quote, originally posted by Bdaz1 »"They got GM to pay 50% on replacement Goodyear Eagle LS's. Cost me $166 for 2 tires. Pontiac paid for the balancing & mounting fees on all 4. I still am tempted to complain to somebody to get the $166 back. If the tires were good, they should've last much much longer!"At 14008 miles! Get your $166 back.At 20,000 miles my Conti's were shot. My Dealer replaced all four at NO cost to me and with no arguement. With 20,00 miles your dealer replaced them for free? You must have the greatest dealer on earth. I had to grovel to get 2 replaced with only 3,200 miles on them. They were half gone already! I had to deal with GM of Canada and it took 3-4 weeks.

I have great news for you if you haven't replaced your tires yet. Please see this post for more info.http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=13040

My Continentals were completely shot a 8500 miles. I'm taking it into the dealer next week for inspection on a day when the GM rep is on site. I took it to them to look at and they're telling me that because I didn't rotate at 6,000 miles they can't do anything for me. Anyone have any suggestions?

When my tires were spent at 14,000 miles, I took it to the dealer I bought it from. I showed them my receipt of rotation at just over 7,000 miles. They called the GM Rep who authorized replacement at 50% cost. In the end, it cost me 2 tires, for a total of $162.00. They paid the complete cost of 2 tires, plus mounting, balancing and all that for all 4. I've heard people get 4 tires replaced for nothing. I think it's all in how much you complain. I've also registered a complaint with Pontiac. Unless Pontiac & Continental recognize this as a real problem, there will be no "recall" on these crappy cheap tires.Best of luck!

I complained about a "wobble" sound coming from the drivetrain. 30 minutes later, the dealer said that my tires were bad, and that Vibes have issues with premature tire wear, and I'm getting a new set at no-charge. They are replacing with Conticraps again, unfortunately. I have almost 22,500 miles on the car, the tread still looks good, but you figure hopefully, I'll make it over 45,000 miles before I have to shell out any of my own money for tires. I also save performing one more tire rotation by getting all new tires now. The dealer is taking care of me regardless, so I really can't complain. What I'm not sure is whether this is an issue with Vibes and Conti's or Vibes and tires in general.

It's just the Conti's, they SUCK!

replaced contis at 28704 with GY Assurance comfortreds. nice tires. have them on an Impala also. could have replaced the contis in the late teens. held out as long as I could. Maybe Continental should stick to bike tires.

The G6 came with Contis...GRR...tried to convince pops to demand different tires as a part of the sale, based on people's experiences with those tires here on the boards, but he didn't want to. We'll see how they hold up under his "reserved" style driving. The G6 does not have a lot of miles yet, so it's too soon to judge.I can't speak to the quality of the ride...I've only driven the car a few times, haven't noticed any BIG problems...but I did lose control in the snow one day, despite traction control AND very slow speeds...So they definitely suck in the winter...Wonder if he'll be replacing them before the end of the summer, since the G6 has become the primary driver (and the Grand Prix has been retired to "work commuter only" status).

Seems the good folks at Pontiac have given us Vibe owners with Continental tires a Christmas present! There is now a TSB out regarding cupping of the junk Continental OEM tires. Showed mine to the dealer, who, with no argument whatsoever, agreed and hung a new set of Goodyear Assurance Comfortred tires on my '05 this morning. They had the Contis stacked next to the car, and they looked almost cone shaped, being much more worn on the insides, in addition to the horrible scalloping on the outside edges. I've only driven the Vibe 30 or so miles on the Comfortreds, and the difference is INCREDIBLE! Zero, and I mean zero road noise at all. I can't believe the difference. My Vibe had just less than 17K on it when they switched the tires. With an 80K treadlife warranty, these might be the last tires I put on the car!

I knew about the factory inflating the tires to like 45psi to set the bead. So, first thing when I got my car is to adjust the pressure to the recommended pressure of 32psi. I have the conti's and I agree they do suck in the snow. I only have 6,000 miles on my car and it is making me concerned. They appear to have all the tread on them still. I will get a tire gauge and measure the tread tommarow.

anybody here NOT having problems with the continentals ? I made it so far to 36000 km (22500 miles) and see nothing wrong, quite a bit of thread left, they ride ok too.But, mind you, i have not measured the tread thoroughly, just a quick 'test' poking the finger in the thread in a few places (having not removed wheels from the car). Will measure better soon.

Quote, originally posted by new05vibeowner »Seems the good folks at Pontiac have given us Vibe owners with Continental tires a Christmas present! There is now a TSB out regarding cupping of the junk Continental OEM tires. Showed mine to the dealer, who, with no argument whatsoever, agreed and hung a new set of Goodyear Assurance Comfortred tires on my '05 this morning. They had the Contis stacked next to the car, and they looked almost cone shaped, being much more worn on the insides, in addition to the horrible scalloping on the outside edges. I've only driven the Vibe 30 or so miles on the Comfortreds, and the difference is INCREDIBLE! Zero, and I mean zero road noise at all. I can't believe the difference. My Vibe had just less than 17K on it when they switched the tires. With an 80K treadlife warranty, these might be the last tires I put on the car! Where would I find a copy of this TSB my Conti are scalloped on the plus bare patchs ruffly 20,000kms on them

so i took off one of the tires and took a look. the thread on the outside is not as deep, plus if i stand the tire on the ground it falls on it's side. What is strange is that the extra wear it on the outside .when a tire wears down normally, is it supposed to be 100% uniform ?the extra wear is not too bad, i am kinda afraid that the dealer will pull off 'condition normal' on me.

For the TSB, check out the linkhttp://forums.genvibe.com/zero...53562

Thank you.This really pissed me off I aurgued with the retards at the dealer all summer and even phoned GM (waste of time)and all they said was I didn't rotate the tires well da there all fnn cupped on the edges.The car has 43,000kms and run snows in the winter

I came across this thread while searching the net to see if any other Matrix owners have had trouble with the Continental tires. I bought a new '05 Toyota Matrix last summer. It now has 15,000 miles on it (I drive 150 a day for work) and the tires are SHOT. One is ruptured ( the dealer is replacing that one) and two others are worn down. Granted, I haven't rotated them yet, (I know, me bad) was going to do that when I found that the tires were bad. Still, the tires should not be in as bad of shape as they are. After reading this thread I will be printing it off and taking it to the dealer. I think I am getting the shaft regarding this, that Toyota needs to be putting new tires on my car (and not those Conti-craps!). I am rather miffed to put it lightly.

i got also 26k on mine and they are bad... mostly the middle of the tire wares out, and no i did not over inflated it either... was rotated every oil change too, 5k... so so far 5 times...

As requested, I mailed all my documentation for the tire rotations to the Dealer Service Manager today. Perhaps they are just p-ssed off that I had 2 of the 3 done elsewhere. #1 was done at Procare as I had a coupon for an oil change and tire rotation - $19.95. #2 was done at the dealer as they had a free tire rotation coupon. #3 was done at Goodyear as they had a coupon for an oil change and tire rotation for $18.95. Both Procare and Goodyear are 1/2 mile from my home so I can leave the car and walk home and not have to wait. Now rhat they have the info, I await to see what GM is going to do. As stated earlier, I expectd zero as I always assumed that tire problems were up to the tire company. Anything I get is more than I ever expected. A new set of Goodyear's at 1/2 price would be fine. Free would be very very fine!

Service manager called me today - asked me to bring in the Vibe so he could look at the tires. Went in - he agreed they were definitely all cupped. Said he would call GM - apologized for making me come in but said that the first thing they would ask him is if he personally observed the problem. Again I was told cause could be alignment. Tires now in back (that had about 12,000 miles when on the front, 6,000 when on the back) were worse than the other two. Seems that alignment would cause uneven wear - not cupping. I once heard that bad shocks could cause cupping. Warranty is up in 9 days 1-27-06 (actually probably is 1-26-06 as bought 1-27-03).

Good luck Jake75!I called the dealership and they also wanted to see them up close. They were off the car and I'm on snows right now so a side-by-side comparison could easily be made. He said he couldn't replace because the wear was not even on all four tires and I could not prove a rotation schedule. They are fair guys and I'm fair as well and I explained that the Contis are crap and this is known issue, hence the TSB. I also explained I'm not trying to scam them but I did buy the car in good faith and to replace the tires after 15,000 KM is rather extreme. He explained that it is very difficult for dealership to get this covered and it is a battle between the tire manufacture/GM and the dealership. To their credit, he called back and he wants me to bring them back to the dealership so the GM Reps can see and then make a determination. So it is not over yet. I've been thinking about it and the X-Ices look brand new and they have almost the same KMs so it is not the Vibe (alignmnet, shocks, tire pressure) or my driving.Either way, I have to get new tires in the spring. I'll keep you posted.

The good news and the bad news.The good news - I'm getting 4 new tires.The bad news - they will be Conti's.I will have to pay for the mounting and balancing. I also agreed with the dealers suggestion to have an alignment.Anyway - four new tires (even Conti's) for the cost of mounting and balancing is better than a kick in the teeth.Wonder if I could take them to Disocunt Tire and trade them in on Goodyears.

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Yes you can! -Preferably without actually even bolting them onto your vehicle, assuming they won't just hand you the Contis..

Got the "new" Continental Touring tires courtesy of GM. It cost me $77.50 for labor (mounting/balancing) and I also had "align front and rear suspension" $56.95, plus $9.08 for Ohio Sales tax, toital $143.53. At least I didn;t have to pay a "shop fee" for misc. fasteners, rags, soap, etc.

Good news, I went back to the dealer because today the GM reps were in town and the service/parts manager wanted to talk to them about my tires. I left the two worn tires with him (less that 15,000 KM rotated now almost at the wear bars) and called this afternoon. They agreed to replace them with "new" Continentials next week. I was hoping to replace them with something else than Contis again but at this point I'm just happy they are replacing the worn tires. Thanks for everyone's help on with the TSB and complaining to GM.

Thanks for the info about the TSB. My tires have 26,400 miles on them and have feathered horribly. The rest of the tread is fine. I bought my 2004 Certified Vibe used with 19,122 miles on it so I know they were rotated by the dealer at that time. Hopefully I be able to get them replaced.