dv007

Dropped my 2004 off to tire store to fix a slow leak in one tire. He inspected all 4 and recommended an alignment due to uneven wear. Just got a call from him. One tire is "bald" on the inside and should be replaced. Two others have "belt shift" and are "unsafe". They are Conti Pro Contacts and two were bought in September and two in November (both 2008). They have 30,000 and 18,000 miles on them respectively according to the dealer. I bought them there. Aside from the obvious question of how I drove 12,000 miles in 2 months, I have never heard of belt shift. Is this something Continental should cover under warranty? The warranty is 60,000 miles. The tire dealer said he doesn't deal with the manufacturer warranties.

MP4.2+6.0

candidly my sense is that is among the worst tires out there, and like the Pirelli P6 used by Audi on tons of cars. My view is they use them because they are cheap and maybe help them pass a fuel economy test, but that doesn't mean they are good. There are a fair number of reports of frankly unsafe things happening with those tires on A6's and particularly A4's. Almost unbelievable stuff like cracks in the basic tire casing for example. I have even seen one live on a neighbor's basic A4. I would switch tires if they are remotely as you describe. My wife ended up with them on her Smart car with 1/6 the HP and less than 1/2 the weight of my car, and they will be changed out on hers too at the first sign of an issue.

I think Conti makes some great tires by the way, but not that one.

dv007

They weren't the Audi OEM tires. Continental does make the OEM ones but they are not the ProContact (at least they weren't in 2004). Anyway, I looked them over myself and cannot see anything wrong. I'm going to bring it to a different dealer Monday.

Mister Bally

Your words included:
1."Dropped my 2004 off to tire store "
2." I bought them there. "
3."The tire dealer said he doesn't deal with the manufacturer warranties."

Ask the tire dealer where you bought the tires: What warranties does he deal with?

If he doesnt deal with any, call the manufacturer of the tires and report the dealer for not honoring the warranty and also report him to your State Attorney's office. What a bunch of garbage.