2011 Hyundai Sonata Tire Problems

kyrpto

hope u get some help.

skip1744

this is skip1744 and I am the one that started this thread about 2 years ago and I keep getting copies of postings on the forum. Since I had my tire cupping problem back then, I have put about 25 to 30k on a new set of Michelin tires and they are still quiet and balanced. I have had them rotated 2 or 3 times since they were installed. This week out of the blue my dealer called me (no recall letter) and wanted my car for 3 hours to replace a strut or maybe both, I'm not sure. Does anybody know anything about this recall? I had the car back to dealer 2 weeks ago for another safety recall involving a stop light switch. Maybe they noticed there was a problem with the factory installed struts, I just don't know. My sonata has about 45k miles and the tire problem 2 years ago is the only problem we have had with the car. 3 times a year We drive it to Florida from Delaware and we always get over 30 mpg driving at 75-80 mph all the way. I hope the new strut/s won't cause a problem rather than solve a problem that doesn't exist on this car.

crankeee

Skip: I am planning Michelin tires for my 2012 GLS. What size & type Michelin did you decide on? I really feel Hyundai is trying to determine which cars had problems and why. I did advise the Hyundai engineers that I felt that the alignment problem I had at 2400 miles was solved by the realignment due to the tech's expertise. The Kuhmo tires were cupped and preworn at that point so I do not expect very good life. The Kuhmo's were replacements for the Michelins that Hyundai used to mount on their cars and has obviously had an impact - too bad IMO. Anyway what size and type is working for you?

skip1744

The tires that I had installed are Michelin p205/65r "energy saver" tires. Strangely, My Hyundai dealer service mgr. matched the best price that I had been able to find ( thru BJ'S ) and since I had my sonata at the dealer for a discounted alignment, I bought the Michelin tires from the dealer at the same time. The car now has 44k miles and the tires are quiet and wearing well. If your Hyundai came with Michelin tires and they cupped at 2400 miles, you have a major problem and kumo tires probably won't solve the problem. If you have read all the posts for this problem, you will see that you have to "raise hell" to get it solved.
the service manager after checking the alignment that was showing when I drove in convinced me that a new alignment and regular rotation would solve my problem and apparently it has. Not every sonata owner has been that fortunate. Good luck

growler99

I am finally considering a late-model-used Sonata Ltd. or 3.8 Genesis w/ lo.mi. and these contributions have been appreciated greatly. I've test-driven both; the Genesis is, of course, far superior and I could make the $ stretch, but it is pretty vanilla-looking and I am first considering the Sonata. I have viewed your tire and suspension problems, which look common to the car and almost controlling to me. That tire/alignment/suspension problem with the Sonata has become pretty common, even at very low miles. That's scary to me as tires these days run about $600 per set. That is huge to me as we drive little and gas, even with my V8 Mark VIII and her XJ6, is not a meaningful consideration. So, thanks for all of your posts.

crankeee

Skip: Actually I had Kuhmo as OEM tires. Now at 18,000 miles and they are wearing flat across the tread but IMO prematurely due to the alignment problem at 2400. I do still feel that Hyundai's decision to go from Michelins to Kuhmos was a marketing mistake. Cars are a total package and poor tire wear, on a new car, is a self induced sales nightmare. The tech addressed the alignment problem but was not empowered to do anything about the resulting premature wear on the Kuhmo tires. Result is total package was affected.

gaucho9

I'm leasing my second Sonata. It is very interesting that the rumbling noise I heard on my first car (due to unevenly worn tires although I'd rotated them every 6,000 miles) has now appeared on my second car at about the same number of miles (20,000). The service person at the dealership said "if you want the noise to go away, buy new tires". I will continue driving and rotating the tires and checking alignment as usual, but when and if I lease a new Sonata I will insist they replace them with Michelins before I leave the dealership. If not I'll lease a different car...

ryster

gaucho9 said:

I'm leasing my second Sonata. It is very interesting that the rumbling noise I heard on my first car (due to unevenly worn tires although I'd rotated them every 6,000 miles) has now appeared on my second car at about the same number of miles (20,000). The service person at the dealership said "if you want the noise to go away, buy new tires". I will continue driving and rotating the tires and checking alignment as usual, but when and if I lease a new Sonata I will insist they replace them with Michelins before I leave the dealership. If not I'll lease a different car...

I replaced the OEM Kumho tires on my 2011 Sonata after 31,200 miles with Michelin Primacy MXV4's. Yes, the Michelins are quieter than the Kumhos. They are also wearing much better than the Kumhos. I now have 30,000 miles on my Michelins and they are still at 7/32's tread depth. They will easily go another 25,000-30,000 miles. The Michelins, however, have very poor wet weather performance. Very disappointing considering the price of them. I would not buy Michelins ever again based on my experience with these tires. I will stick with Coopers, Continentals, or Goodyear.