NHTSA Complaint #10273287 — 2005 TOYOTA PRIUS

I RECENTLY HAD A MICHELIN TIRE SEPARATE ON THE REAR OF MY 05 TOYOTA PRIUS. TIRE WARE HAS BEEN A CONTINUAL PROBLEM. I DISCARDED THE ORIGINAL TIRES AT 40K MILES, THEY WERE TOO CUPPED TO ROTATE AND TOO DANGEROUS TO USE. THERE WAS A LOT OF TREAD LEFT ON THE TIRE, AT LEAST HALF, BUT CUPPING GAVE INTOLERABLE VIBRATION. I HAD MICHELIN TIRES INSTALLED AND HAD THE ALIGNMENT CHECKED. THE ALIGNMENT WAS NOT PERFECT BUT WAS WITHIN SPEC. THE MICHELIN SEPARATED ABOUT 40K MILES LATER AND WAS REPLACED BEFORE IT FAILED. THE TREAD SEPARATION CAUSED A TOTAL LOSS OF TREAD IN ONE LINE AT A DIAGONAL ACROSS THE TIRE TREAD. LUCKILY I HAD GONE IN FOR ROTATION WHEN THEY DISCOVERED THE PROBLEM. THE EXTREME TIRE WARE CAUSES NOISE AND VIBRATION. I HAVE BEEN IN TOUCH WITH THE DEALERSHIP THROUGHOUT MY OWNERSHIP OF THE PRIUS WHICH I BOUGH NEW. I HAVE REQUESTED TECHNICAL BULLETINS BUT NONE HAVE EVER BEEN AVAILABLE. THE DEALER HAS NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE PRIUS HAS A PROBLEM BUT IT HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED IN ONLINE COMPUTER SITES. THE DEALER JUST KEEPS SUGGESTING THAT I ROTATE THE TIRES MORE FREQUENTLY. WITH MY PAST CARS I HAVE NEVER HAD A CUPPING PROBLEM EVEN WITH ROTATION AND WITH THE PRIUS SINCE IT IS WITHIN ALIGNMENT SPEC, IT SHOULD NOT WEAR TIRES LIKE IT DOES. ANYONE WHO DOES NOT ROTATE AND CHANGE TIRES FREQUENTLY ON THE PRIUS IS LOOKING FOR A BLOWOUT. *TR