Want a nightmare? Deal with Continental. They are the best salesmen that any other tire company ever had.

First of all, no dispute from me that the warrantee does not cover road hazards. I did not write the warrantee, they did. So it is whatever they want it to be. I got a bubble. No rim damage. Not a mark of any kind on the tire. No matter, they consider it road damage, not covered, it is after all, a bubble.

Here is how it went. Looked up on their website, found a dealer, only fifteen minutes away, went there as instructed. After waiting ten minutes while the guy behind the counter shuffled papers, and not seeing a single Continental tire in the store, he was ready for me. "Are you a Continental dealer?" I asked. "Sure" he says. So I tell him I got a problem with a tire. Off we go to look. Bubble, usually impact damage, he says. Well is this one impact damage? No response, have to go call them up. Does not know what the warrantee is. Calls his "adjustment manager". He doesn't know either, thinks I will have to deal with Continental directly, they don't know who to call, they do not have any phone numbers. Turns out being a Continental dealer means "we sell a few once in awhile". So I ask if my warrantee card will help. Perks right up, yeah, you got that? So I wander out to the car, get the card, and call Continental. They answer right away, a pleasant sounding fellow. I tell him I am in the driveway of one of his dealers and I have a problem, and they cannot figure it out, what do I do. He asks where I am. The dealer does not come up in his system. He is at an impasse. I ask if he has Internet access to his own website. As he does, I suggest he bring it up, click the find a dealer link, enter the zip, and lo and behold, there they are. Well have them call us, he says. So I hang up, go back in with the warrantee card, show him the number, and he calls. And we wait, and wait and wait, fifteen minutes. Someone answers, he gets transferred, then disconnected. So we start over, same miserable wait, but now he is talking. They want to know if I started a file number with them. No, I did what I was told. After much discussion, mostly about things like name, miles, tread wear etc., Result: They will allow for half the price of a new tire, I pay mounting, balancing, and taxes. Naturally, I can buy a tire new down the street for that price. I decline and leave, an hour wasted, and a half hour travel time shot.

So I get home and call Continental. I ask how the warrantee goes from hundred percent replacement including mounting and balancing to fifty percent, not including mounting and balancing. They look me up. They say that the guy in the tire store told them that I had a road impact. They are making an accommodation to me for 50%. Funny, I cannot recall that in all the time I stood beside him. They want to call him back. I let them know that they are on the verge of losing a customer for life. They do not care and challenge me to go elsewhere. I never knew how to turn down an offer like that.

Just for grins and giggles, I decide to call my dealer to see if there is anything they can do. I have the great fortune to end up talking to a total moron. Glad I know their service department is to be avoided. So Michelin wins. A whisker over $400 at BJ's, road hazard included. Anyone want three slightly used Continental's? 9/32 left. Only had ten to start with. Ten thousand miles/ seven months.

 

Well, that sucks. Sorry it turned out that way. I guess I'll never buy Continentals either. I don't understand their unwillingness to replace the tire AND give you mounting and balancing since it isn't crystal clear whether the damage is a defect or road damage. A company will normally err on the customer's side in a case such as this. If I owned Continental, I'd also give you a discount on your next set of Continentals in an attempt to put a smile on your face.

 

I absolutely don't understand why Mercedes Benz -- the standard other cars are measured against -- picked Continental as their tire supplier of choice.

Cars equal or less than a Benz have Michelin MXV4 Plus as standard tires. We all know Continental is nothing close to Michelin. Some sports cars come with Goodyear Eagle RSA.

The choice of Continental over other tires by MB must be some sort of back-room deal where someone from Continental bribes someone inside MB who can make a purchase decision. It's more like a no-bid contract awards, I guess.

When the OE Continental tires ran out on my car, I put Michelin MXV4s. I am quite happy with them. Ideally I wanted MXV4-S8, but I could not afford them.

Since MXV4's sidewall does not look as good as Goodyear's, next time I might try Eagle RSA or Assurance.

 

It's just a guess, but it's probably a decision forced on M-B by the bean counters who are more concerned about stock holder's profits than whether the cars get the best tires. Continental made the lowest bid, or a bid that appeared to be the best value.

On the other hand, car manufacturers will put out a request for bids (for tires, for example) and include technical specifications, which may be unique. The winning bidder may make just a single production run for that tire contract. The resulting tires would not be the normal tires, in other words.

It's also possible that the winner would purchase someone else's tires and rebrand them. There are only a handful of tire companies nowadays. They're have been many mergers. I forgot the group that Continental is in, but they could easily rebrand any tire in that group. Michelin could be in there. I'll try to find the list.

 

From some mag article. Looks like Continental is a German company. I didn't know that. It could be the straw that won them the contract.

 

this is very common on continental tires.

i have seen so many of them and some doesn't even notice they got it.

mercedes-benz won't offer warranty because it is made of rubber (not unless the car is still under Pre-Delivery Inspection).

continental will let you run around circles before replacing it for free. they know these problems!

i have inspected 1 W220 S600 on which the lump was on the inside rubbing against the steering knuckle. the tire blows out at 120km/h and destroys the whole front left of the car, deploys the airbag, and broke the customer's heart.

other tire brand don't have this problem.

 

Wow. That's disgusting.

 

...we thought Firestone was the worst. Now Continental issues. That S600 story got me shaken.

From now on, I will only feel safe with either Michelin or Goodyear. Neither one has horror stories.

Just curious, do anyone know, why Michelin, a French company became so good, almost the de facto standard on good cars? (We never heard of French engineering, right? We know Germans are good at mechanical parts and Italians make damn fast cars.)

 

Re: the French

You've heard that story mathematicians like to tell about an infinite number of monkeys smacking typewriters eternally until one of them eventually types every word of every Shakespeare play... or something like that? I guess the French stumbled onto making the best sauces and tires.

 

Michelin is not as flexible as continental, but they are strong and lasts longer (only in my observation).

continental is the same as yokohama...the way i feel it, but they are really good on traction and comfort.