NHTSA Complaint #10588147 — 2014 MAZDA MAZDA6

UPON A ROUTINE TIRE ROTATION SERVICE PERFORMED AT A GOOD YEAR RETAIL SERVICE CENTER, I WAS TOLD BY THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN THAT THE FRONT RIGHT TIRE HAD SUFFERED A DEFECT AND WAS UNSAFE FOR TRAVEL AT HIGHWAY SPEED. WHEN SEARCHING FOR A REPLACEMENT OF THE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT TIRE, A DUNLOP SP5000 P225 19R45, IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE TIRE WAS ON NATIONWIDE BACK ORDER. GOOD YEAR, BEING THE OWNER, MANUFACTURER AND DISTRIBUTOR OF DUNLOP TIRES, INFORMED ME THAT THEY WERE UNABLE TO FIND OR LOCATE A RELIABLE REPLACEMENT FOR MY DEFECTIVE TIRE WITHIN A FORESEEABLE TIME PERIOD, AND INSTRUCTED ME TO CONTACT THE DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP, RAY BRANDT MAZDA IN HARVEY, LOUISIANA, WAS LOCATED OVER 50 MILES AWAY. I THEN DROVE THE VEHICLE TO RAY BRANDT AND WAS TOLD BY THE DEALER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE THAT NO EQUIVALENT REPLACEMENT WOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR MY 2014 MAZDA6 FOR AT LEAST 3 TO 5 DAYS. I ASKED WHAT I SHOULD DO IN THE MEANTIME, AND WAS TOLD THAT I WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR EITHER DRIVING THE VEHICLE OR FINDING A REPLACEMENT AT MY OWN EXPENSE. IT HAS SINCE TAKEN NINE DAYS SINCE THE TIME IT WAS DETERMINED THAT A DEFECTIVE TIRE HAD COMPROMISED THE SAFE OPERATION OF THE CAR FOR A REPLACEMENT TIRE TO BE LOCATED AND DELIVERED TO THE DEALERSHIP, MEANWHILE THERE HAS BEEN NO ATTEMPT BY THE MANUFACTURER OF THE TIRE, GOOD YEAR, OR THE VEHICLE, MAZDA, TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE DEFECT OR PROVIDE REPLACEMENT TRANSPORTATION. I WAS TOLD THAT THIS TIRE WAS ABRUPTLY DISCONTINUED AFTER I PURCHASED THE VEHICLE IN SEPTEMBER 2013, AND I WAS NEVER INFORMED OF ANY LIKELIHOOD OF DEFECT OR OF A DISCONTINUATION THAT WOULD RENDER REPLACEMENT TIRES UNAVAILABLE IN THE EVENT OF DEFECT, ROAD HAZARD OR OTHER TIRE FAILURE. I HAVE BEEN FORCED TO CHOOSE BETWEEN RISKING LIFE OR LIMB BY DRIVING ON THE DEFECTIVE TIRE OR FACING ECONOMIC HARDSHIP IN ATTEMPT TO FIND ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION TO WORK. *TR