Ok here's the deal with these nasty Bridgestone RE 040's: At the slightest hint of hitting a pothole or other road hazard, these puppies swell up like your face was just hit by a baseball bat.
If you contact Bridgestone, they will advise you that their manufacturer warranty does not cover road hazard, but rather manufacturing defects only.
If you speak to your dealer, they will advise either 1.) Contact Bridgestone, since Lexus warranty does not cover tires, or 2.) They with provide a one time goodwill gesture and replace it for free.
I had a similar experience with a nasty pothole in L.A. and the tire started to bulge, however the alloy "seemed" undamaged from the exterior nor vibrate at speed. Upon remove of the wheel from the IS, it was pretty obvious that the wheel had bent pretty seriously on the inner lip where you normally do not see it on the vehicle.
These tires/alloys are so fragile, that I am seriously considering either getting 225/45/ 17's next time I replace the tires or to got down to a 16" wheel and move up to a 50 or even a 55 series sidewall!!
The funny thing is, is that these nasty Bridgestones, I think have an inherent design flaw which makes it more prone to damage from hitting potholes. Bridgestone, after all is the same company and Firestone, and we all know of their debacle with Wilderness AT's.
If you do a search of these tires on the Audiworld forum, someone actually posted a letter that Audi sent out to all S4 and TT owners (OEM tires on some S4's and TT's as well) stating that regardless of the cause of the bulging of these tires (and the letter specifically mentions hitting potholes) that Audi will offer a voluntary recall and replacement of these tires. Also if Audi owners have already replaced these tires out of pocket, Audi will reimburse then for it. In fact owners over at Audiworld have had so many problems with these RE 040's that they nicknamed them: "BLOW-tenzas"!!
Thus, my question is, why are we not getting this type of service from Lexus? When you speak to your dealer, they either play dumb or take the fifth or deny everything. Is it just me or is this seriously a safety issue now and how come Audi owners receive more "Lexus" like attention than actual Lexus owners?
[ May 26, 2001: Message edited by: N1 ]