I got the low pressure tire warning on the way home from work yesterday! I pulled over and damn if I didn't have a flat on the left rear! I quickly spotted a screwhead protruding from between the tread. I carry a tire pump and re-inflated the tire and went on my way.

Runflats cannot be repaired according to Pirelli and have to be replaced. If you read your warranty (attached as a PDF, see page 4), it states that within the 1st year, Pirelli will replace the tire for Road Hazards. I called my Mini dealer this morning to check if they keep my tire in stock. Of course, the service advisor asked me if I had the tire and service warranty that they try to sell you when you buy your car. I had declined it at $1700! I can buy a lot of tires and wheels for that money. I'll take my chances. Anyway, I stated to him that Pirelli will replace runflat tires under the warranty for Road Hazards in the 1st year. He was completely ignorant of this fact, but did agree that if it was stated by Pirelli in writing, they would honor the warranty.

As a reminder to new Mini owners with Pirelli Tires, you should also register your tires with Pirelli for any warranty issues and to be notified if there is ever a recall on your tires. This is easy and painless. I've included this link https://www.pirelli.com/tires/en-us/...r-registration as it's sometimes hard to find it on the Pirelli website.

I'll be visiting the dealer later this week for my replacement. I'll update this thread with the gory details.....

 

Thanks!

 

Great info!

 

We had a lot of conversation about tires and what to do if a Pirelli has a road hazard issue in the first year, which IS INDEED, covered by Pirelli and SHOULD be something your dealer takes care of for you.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...man-tires.html

 

I went through TWO tires within weeks of when I first bought my car because of screws and ended up buying them because I didn't know about the warranty. Of course, by the time I found out it was too late. Read your warranties!

 

That sucks! Shame on the dealer for taking advantage of you and the service advisors for being ignorant of the products that they sell. I had to send to my service advisor the written warranty so he could have it for future use!

 

I don't think they didn't tell me on purpose, just that they didn't know about it. Caveat emptor - now I know!

 

I'm sure you're right that they didn't realize it was a warranty situation. Good news is it DOESN'T MATTER.

If your tires were under warranty and you went to a MINI dealer or any other authorized Pirelli dealer, and you were entitled to replacement under the Pirelli warranty, those tires are FREE.

Whatever authorized agent sold them to you represents Pirelli, and Pirelli will stand behind the warranty.

Honest mistakes by a dealer can be corrected. IMHO you should give them the opportunity to make things right.

I'm sure MINI USA would be very unhappy to hear if one of their MINI dealers didn't do right by you -- same if you went through another authorized Pirelli dealer. Go get your money back.

 

Hmm, every new car I have purchased has come with a replacement tire warranty from the OEM tire manufacturer. Heck, my '97 Cougar XR7 actually had (3) different tire manufacturers' warranty pamphlets included with the Owner's Manual, as Mercury must have been supplying Cougar's with tires from those (3) manufacturers depending on the availability and/or delivery market. '98 SVT Contour had the Goodyear card in its booklets and my '06 Subaru was the same way, but with (2) unique mfg pamphlets (i.e.- Bridgestone & Yokohama). Now I need to dig into my Mini's owner's pack a bit deeper to see if there are any cards in there...

To get the Mfg warranty, you certainly don't have to go back to a Mini dealer, any Pirelli tire dealer/agent should honor the warranty.

 

This happened two years ago, so I'm not really worried about it now. I will definitely remember it the next time I get tires though!

 

Mini provides you with a Tire Warranty Folder (white) of sorts that has a CD in it. It lists all the different manufacturers with PDFs of their respective warranties.

 

Went to the dealer this AM for my tire replacement under warranty. Tire replacement went relatively smoothly. Dealer replaced tire at N/C including installation. Funny thing though, they couldn't figure out how to bill the transaction, so will have to email me. They also offered to wash car at N/C. Car was pretty clean when I came in, but free is free and I accepted their offer. When I first saw the car after the service, it looked pretty clean and the tires were all slicked up with the tire shine crap, so I assumed the car had been washed and cleaned. Once I had a chance to inspect the car later, it became apparent that all they did was the tire crap and the car was not touched other than that! Next time back, and that is only for warranty work, I'll give the service department a piece of my mind!

 

An important caveat to the Pirelli road-hazard warranty (as I found out this morning): It only covers road hazard damage for the first year OR THE FIRST 20% OF WEAR on the tire, whichever comes sooner.

I hit a pot-hole a couple weeks ago and have a very slight bulge in the side-wall, not a bubble. Took it in to get it fixed under warranty because why the hell not, and found out the tires already have ~35% wear (after 5k miles), so Pirelli warraty does not apply

Quote for new tire at the dealer was $270 plus installation, so I'm gonna just buy a set of non run-flats on TireRack instead, and be done with this RFT scam.

 

Check out Tire Rack. They are running great deals on Pirelli. Depending which models and sizes

 

Thanks for the information. I assuming the warranty covers Canada as well?

 

Consult the warranty on the CD to see what countries it covers, but I would expect it should cover Canada and US the same.

 

Thank you so much for taking the trouble on this thread. I went to the link you provided and filled out the form today.