NHTSA Complaint #10086990 — 2000 MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE

SHORTLY AFTER LEAVING HOME ON THE MORNING OF 8/1/04 I BECAME AWARE THAT MY FRONT LEFT TIRE WAS FLAT. AFTER REPLACING THE WHEEL WITH ITS SPARE I WENT TO THE TIRE DEALERSHIP WHERE I PURCHASED THE TIRES SO THAT THEY COULD REPAIR THE LEAK. THEY INFORMED ME THAT THE LEAK WAS CAUSED BY A BENT WHEEL RIM. TWO OF MY WHEEL RIMS WERE BENT. I WAS AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM BUT UNTIL THAT DAY NEITHER RIM WAS BAD ENOUGH TO CAUSE AN AIR LEAK. ONE OF THE RIMS HAD BECOME BENT SINCE SOON AFTER I PURCHASED THE CAR IN MARCH OF 2000. THESE ARE THE '10 SPOKE' 17" ALUMINUM ALLOY RIMS THAT COME WITH THE 2000 ECLIPSE GT. AS FAR AS I KNOW, NO SINGLE EVENT CAUSED THE VARIOUS BENDS TO OCCUR. OVER A PERIOD OF MANY MONTHS I BELIEVE THE BENDS BECAME PROGRESSIVELY WORSE UNTIL THIS FAILURE OCCURED. AS A RESULT OF THE INCIDENT THAT OCCURED ON 8/1/04, I PURCHASED TWO RIMS TO REPLACE THE TWO BENT RIMS. I HAVE KEPT THE OLD BENT RIMS IN STORAGE.*AK