I bought my mustang about 1.5 years ago. I live in the Northeast, so for about 4 months, I had a different set of snow tires/wheels installed.

I've reinstalled the factory set since then, but lately, I've been hearing a whirring/grinding noise while coasting. So I took it to the dealership. They tell me that the noise I hear is due to misalignment. I have uneven tread on my tires because my wheels are misaligned.

When I purchased the car, I bought the TireCare ESP, so I thought it would be covered. He told me it only covers damage due to road hazards. And that the damage/unevenness of my tires are from regular wear & tear, so it's not covered under this warranty.


If my wheels got misaligned due to a pothole, which caused the uneven tread on the tire, wouldn't that fall under the warranty??? It doesn't sound like "regular" wear & tear, if the condition of the tire is due to misalignment.

What was the point of paying so much for the TireCare ESP if it doesn't cover this? It seems a little ridiculous to me that I have to purchase a new set of tires when my car is only 1.5 years old!

Anyway, do I have a fighting chance here to get this covered under the warranty?

 

I would say in general, it matters who you talk to. I would keep going up the ladder until I found a sympathetic ear. I don't believe what you are describing would be covered by the warranty based on your story but sometimes a manager sees a potential long term and repeat customer and makes modifications to the interpretation if the policy.

 

I had the same problem on my dodge minivan. Brand new tires worn down by bad alignment. Basically 350 dollars down the drain. It stinks but it wasn't covered. Alignment is suppose to be correct before I put the tires on. Or checked each time I put the tires on. Sorry this might not be what you want to hear.

 

Sorry Petunia, it stinks big time but this is why you never buy warranties for car related items, including those expensive 'aftermarket' repair warranties that supposedly cover 'everything'. Every excuse in the book is made not to pay for claims. They will fight you every inch of the way. It's an evil business that only grabs money and rarely pays out. Let it be a lesson learned. You may have helped many others that read this. This is common and happens more times than not.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone. It's tough to hear, but I guess you're right - I even read all the fine print the other day. Never buying an extended warranty again! I'm tempted to call Ford and get a prorated refund on it.

 

You can have perfect alignment today, put new tires on tomorrow, hit a bad deep pothole next week and kill the alignment, and if you fail to watch tire wear or ignore symptoms ..... have noisy tires or even worn out tires in a few short months or even weeks.

The damage from the pothole was to the suspension, the tire wear was due to not having suspension damage corrected.

Maybe it's just me .... but I don't see how one can expect "TireCareESP" to cover that?