I recently had to replace two rear tires, on my 1996 VW Passat wagon, that only had approximately 30 thousand miles on them. They had bumps on them on the inside of the treads that were causing noise as the tires rotated. I should also say that the tires were more than four years old but still had plenty of tread on them. The dealer could not give me a good reason except to say they were old. Does anyone have a better answer.
Sounds like poor quality control to me. Even moderately priced tires these days will wear evenly if they are balanced and the wheels are properly aligned. I had this prblem with cheap Korean (Marshall) tires 10 years ago.
An expensive car made in Germany should at least have decent rires; you can get them on the cheapest Korean econobox.
Were these Michelin, as VW usually uses?
The tires in question were Michelin Pilots which are rated top of the line and for high speed driving. The car was purchased in Germany and used in Europe only.
By “bumps”, do you mean that the tread blocks were not wearing smoothly? Are there “cups” or scallop-shell like areas wearing into the tires? That’s usually caused by worn suspension components or worn out struts/shocks. On a 1996 that’s a good possibility.
visit www.kaltire.com for extreme examples. Post back.
I just bought 4 Pilots for my Passat. Hope it was not a bad decision.
That was probably irregular wear which is caused by misalignment and aggravated by insufficient inflation pressure and insufficient rotation intervals.