DUNLOP MAXX GT Tyres - splitting

[CarlT]

Hello.  So sorry to hear another story like this.  I’m sure you have seen from the thread just how many of us have been effected by the same issue.  Nottingham Audi are certainly aware of the issue and I did ask them if they would now stop selling Dunlop max tyres to A7 owners and they wouldn't give me a straight answer.  

 

Your tyre splitting IMO has nothing to do with the slight under inflation.  You have done the best thing by changing them over to continentals.  I have done the same and so far I’ve had no further problems.

 

As you may have read I did eventually get good service from Audi who replaced one of my tyres at their cost and 3 other tyres which had all split I got changed using my tyre insurance

[KimboltonA7]

Hi all,

Sadly I’ve discovered this forum from a google search trying to work out why on earth Im forking out for new tyres so frequently.  

Audi Huntingdon did a routine repair under warranty today but informed me that all 4 of my tyres have huge split in the inner wall including 1 tyre which is 3 weeks old. I’m exasperated to be honest, what made it worse was that the technician recommends in his video that I select a different manufacturer!

Ive spent a fortune on replacement Dunlop’s during my 2 years of ownership (Black Ed Quattro) and I’m not faced with another £1,200. To be honest I just want to hand the keys back under the PCP as I’m fed up with the car.

Im wondering what my best options are. I can’t imagine Dunlop are going to be very helpful.

 

I was beginning to think I just had terrible luck or was doing something wrong but this forum has eased my mind!

 

Alex

[Magnet]

Hello Alex,

Very sorry to hear you have been experienced issues with this brand of tyres, and my opinion - for what it is worth - remains the same as recommended previous affected parties should follow. 

‘I’m wondering what my best options are....’. 

If I was in your situation then I would read through the posts, and in the absence of any alternative advice from forum members, then I would follow my earlier recommended actions. To repeat that advice would bore, but if you are still in doubt after reading, then of course come back. 

If you just wait for Audi/Dunlop to do something without pressure from yourself, then unfortunately you may not get very far. 

Perhaps you could let the forum know how you get on. 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[BarneyBear]

Hi 

i am a Mercedes owner and have just developed a split on the inside edge of my Dunlop sports Maxx tyres on the front. this was found by chance as the car was only 18 months old and was deflating i called an many garages to see if the would undertake a puncture and found a split on my inside drives tyre. this was around a 3rd the way around the tyre and was horrified to the size of the split. 

Tyres had tread on and looked ok and legal with nearly 30.000left in the tyre and may have been driving around for 3 months in this condition.

[Magnet]

Hello Dave,

Sorry to hear of yet another example of issues with these tyres. 

As you will now know from studying this forum - you are not the first, and probably won’t be the last, to experience serious, potentially life threatening issues with these tyres. 

Although I sympathise with your misfortune, it must be said that the next move is up to you:- 

Do you now intend to change any other tyres of the same type on the car, before they endanger your and other road users lives? 

Do you intend to follow this up with Dunlop? 

It would be great to know how you get on from here.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Nick Shill]

Having read the posts on this forum I have to say that I have had exactly the same problem.  Just approaching 30,000 miles on the second set of Dunlop Maxx GT tyres my MOT tester phones to tell me the tyres are a failure and I need to take action.

33% delamination right down to the steel braiding on the front drivers side and a large blister, with serious cracking on both rears.  All this on the inside edge so there is no chance of me seeing this on a visual inspection.

I am lucky that we haven't experienced a blow out as some of your contributors have experienced, but this car is specified to have these tyres and also quite capable of travelling up to 150mph on a German Autobahn.  I wouldn't be driving that fast but failure at this speed doesn't need much imagination as to the outcome.

Our tyre supplier wasn't surprised because he had an Audi A7 only the previous week with the same problem!!

Dunlop have agreed to pay the unused amount of the tyre, saying that I have had the use of just around 9000 miles.  Problem I see is that they know full well that this is an ongoing problem yet they are still fitting them and Audi are still specifying them!!

I am having the damaged carcasses returned and will be speaking to Audi regarding this and if I don't get any satisfaction BBC Watchdog may be the next port of call.  Watch this space!

[Magnet]

Hello Nick,

I would strongly advise you to retain one (typical) faulty tyre. 

‘BBC Watchdog may be my next port of call’ . If it were me, I would be alerting them of the issue while you deal with Dunlop. 

Perhaps you could let the forum know how you get on.

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Nick Shill]

Hi Gareth

Dunlop have agreed a credit to cover the amount of unused rubber. This has been sent across to the dealer that fitted the tyres, and I have a bill for £753.00 minus the credit note to pay to the dealer.  Great.  My problem is that Audi are specifying these tyres knowing full well there is an issue with their integrity.  Dunlop are supplying them with a track record (clearly shown on this forum) of failures not only on Audis, but Jaguar and other manufacturers.  First of all it is clear that someone somewhere won't be as lucky and end up having a catastrophic failure at high speed.  I am pursuing a full refund and either Audi to stop recommending these tyres or Dunlop to redesign.

Audi are appearing to suggest that tracking, inflation or driving style are factors, and Dunlop try say there was a bad batch.  This isn't sorting out the actual problem of safety.

On a car that cost in excess of £50,000.00 with well over a £1000.00 worth of rubber you would expect it to be able to operate safely up to the national speed limit of both the UK, and its home country of Germany.  We are not talking about a Ford Ka or a Nissan Micra here.

I am talking to the Dunlop Technical Department, I'll let you know how far I get.

Nick

[Nick Shill]

Hi Gareth

 

Just heard that Dunlop will not send my tyres back because once they have issued a credit note they do not want to be exposed to me sending them back to claim another credit!!  Lucky I have photos of them all!!

 

Nick

[Magnet]

Hello Nick,

Cutting to the chase:- so Dunlop are crediting you for the ‘loss of mileage’ that results in you having to renew these tyres now rather than where they wear to the legal limit! Don’t tell us the compensation is conditional on buying replacement Dunlop tyre. 

Great and generous?? Not in my book. So simple question - if someone had lost your life as a result of these defective tyres, are we on the right lines in believing that the compensation would be the same? I doubt it. 

If it were me I would consider myself simply under qualified to discuss any technical or monetary detail with them, and would be leaving that to those with a legal background. 

Good luck with sorting it out, and indeed it would be great to know how you get on.

Kind regards, 

Gareth.

[Matty316]

Hi guys, I found this post today as it looks like i'm another victim to the Dunlop Sport Maxx tyre's splitting. I've got a 2014 Audi A7 Quattro Black Edition. I bought it from Motordepot 11 months ago, it had a fresh set of Dunlop Sport Maxx RT R01 put on them. I've done approx. 11k miles and I have noticed a couple of times that the low pressure message has come up on my dash, but I've just put air in them and gone on my way. Now yesterday it came on again and I noticed it wasn't feeling right to drive so I pulled over and my front left tyre was nearly flat, I had to leave it at work and got our local tyre company who services our fleet of trucks at work to take a look at it and they showed me the inner wall of the tyre. Then he checked the others and found 2 more with the same splitting of the tyre wall 😞 

I've been told that the ones I have on are no longer being made as they switched to the Sport Maxx GT's but there's no way i'm sticking Dunlop's back on it, I've gone with a set of Michelin's that's setting me back £1075. I've emailed Dunlop and there guy got back to me pretty quick and said if I can get hold of the company who put the tyres on then get them to arrange a Warranty Inspection and send the tyres back to them. 

I'm not holding my breath that i'm going to get anything back from them but Audi shouldn't be putting Dunlop's onto the A7's as we can all vouch its a dangerous issue that needs to be fixed asap before anyone is killed.

[BiTdiA7]

Hi guys,

I'm slightly relieved to have come across this thread as I own an A7 black edition and have done since September 2018. In that period I have lost money on 3 new tyres at the cost of over £750. Each time it was the exact same issue, inside splitting!!! I genuinely thought I was super unlucky and it has got to the point where I don't enjoy driving the A7 as I know sooner or later I'll have to fork out for another tyre! I came across this thread as I had another puncture yesterday and wanted to know what is the best tyre to go for? I will be replacing all 4 tyres in one expensive hit and wanted to know how others have got on with using other tyres or are they still splitting? I'm leaning towards the Continental sport contact simply because it's cheaper then P-Zeros and Michelin Pilot sports!

 

As for Dunlop, I will be tweeting them everyday for the rest of my life to warn others about buying their awfully manufactured tyres!

[Magnet]

Hello Mahi,

Oh dear, not another one. When is someone going to form a group of owners affected by this serious issue and set about a co ordinated   ‘attack’ via. the media? 

Continental vs. Michelin? Please bear in mind that I drive a humble A3 which came fitted with Michelin from new. We don’t go haring around corners so I cannot comment on roadholding comparisons which may be far more important when driving an A7, but I believe the Michelin were outlasting (mileage wise) the current Conti Contact 5 - I think it’s 5. In other words, although the Contis may be cheaper to buy than Michelin, you may eventually get more miles for your £ with the Michelin. Michelin more noisy when they get worn? I think so. 

I also have Contis on a large non-Audi saloon and find them fine. 

Hopefully others will offer advice on equally suitable alternatives. 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[BiTdiA7]

On 9/11/2019 at 2:53 PM, Magnet said:

Hello Mahi,

Oh dear, not another one. When is someone going to form a group of owners affected by this serious issue and set about a co ordinated   ‘attack’ via. the media? 

Continental vs. Michelin? Please bear in mind that I drive a humble A3 which came fitted with Michelin from new. We don’t go haring around corners so I cannot comment on roadholding comparisons which may be far more important when driving an A7, but I believe the Michelin were outlasting (mileage wise) the current Conti Contact 5 - I think it’s 5. In other words, although the Contis may be cheaper to buy than Michelin, you may eventually get more miles for your £ with the Michelin. Michelin more noisy when they get worn? I think so. 

I also have Contis on a large non-Audi saloon and find them fine. 

Hopefully others will offer advice on equally suitable alternatives. 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

Hi Gareth,

 

thanks for the advice, I've gone with the Continentals so fingers crossed they should be OK and at the very least won't be splitting on the inside. I'll keep everyone posted in 6 months time or so, hopefully I won't be having no blowouts.

[BiTdiA7]

As you can see, split the whole way round on the inside!!

[aj84]

Hi all,

New poster here and by chance ended up on here with exactly the issue.

Car has gone in and had the video sent over to me with deep cuts on all 4.  As it's all 4, I had a quick look around as I've not done much mileage on them - all round, I have between 4-5mm so half-way down and they were replaced this time last year due to "cuts" on the old Dunlop GT Maxx tyres.

I'll be contacting Dunlop tomorrow at some point and work out what the next course of action is - there has got to be some sort of compensation here - it's all good having pothole damage due to the state of roads in the UK but this is clearly a defect in the tyre.

[mart16]

hi all, it looks like i'm the umpteenth a7 driver to report the same issue with the same tyres. i had the inspection video sent through from audi when i booked it in for the recall recently and like everyone else all 4 tyres were split on the inside wall. I've had a service done today at my local independent and he's told me i need all 4 tyres replacing 😲. like others have asked, what does everyone recommend i fit in there place please?

who do i complain to regarding the tyres? they were on the car when i bought it. its a 2015 3 litre 272 black edition. there's 4mm left on all 4 tyres and they all need replacing, surely this can't be right.

[aj84]

I'm going to go back to Conti's I think - Not sure what everyone else is on.  I have always had Conti's on the previous A6 cars I've had (both C7 and C6 shapes) and never had any issues apart from not getting as much mileage as the Dunlops but if Safety is an issue here with Dunlops...

Mart16 my case mimics yours - 4mm all round, all 4 tyres with inner wall splits, advised via an audi video and 272 2015 too.

 

[Topdog]

Hi all,

I’m a new member but been through this once 6 months ago and again now!

had a tyre go on me with a side wall split, sent it back to Dunlop through Audi Glasgow and got refunded £33!

just last week had the same again this time 70mph on the motorway full car luggage, kids and wife! 
 

decided to change all 4( one only done 4K miles!) to Continentals

I have contacted Audi and Dunlop again to do the same process but looking to be fully compensated this time!

fingers crossed, how did the rest of you get on? Definitely a manufacturer’s defect I think?

cheers,

James. 

[Topdog]

On 10/1/2019 at 7:56 PM, mart16 said:

hi all, it looks like i'm the umpteenth a7 driver to report the same issue with the same tyres. i had the inspection video sent through from audi when i booked it in for the recall recently and like everyone else all 4 tyres were split on the inside wall. I've had a service done today at my local independent and he's told me i need all 4 tyres replacing 😲. like others have asked, what does everyone recommend i fit in there place please?

who do i complain to regarding the tyres? they were on the car when i bought it. its a 2015 3 litre 272 black edition. there's 4mm left on all 4 tyres and they all need replacing, surely this can't be right.

I sent an email to this guy tyre_doctor@dunloptyres.com and the Audi garage I bought the car from, Audi didn’t want to know so told them to speak to the guy from the Dunlop email and he was back on the phone to me to drop the defect tyre off, this time I sent the complaint email to both!

[AK88]

Hi All,

Unfortunately I am too part of this group now - my latest set of Sport Maxx have developed cracks on the inside shoulder and annoyingly enough the tread depth is a good even 5mm across the face of each tyre. I was advised whilst the car was in for a service (23rd October) and they kindly sent me over a video below (hopefully it plays) - they claim the tyres had been run under inflated but I don't believe this is the case as the sensors never tripped and they never looked low on pressure.

Since owning the car from 2015 I have changed the tyres twice, the first set were a catastrophic failure to the inner walls to the extent to which the inner carcass was showing on each tyre - I only found out when I took the car in and requested a rumbling to be investigated, I was surprised with the findings as my usual tyre check were focussed on the tread depth and visual inspection of the outside walls and the positioning of these faults could not be seen whilst the car was sat on the drive (how practically can the inside walls be inspected whilst on the drive?)

so I replaced with a like for like and did not think about investigating this on forums as I essentially blamed myself for not being more conscientious with checks and thought this is part of the parcel of owning a "premium" car on 21" alloys and fortunately my tyre insurance paid out for 3 of the 4 tyres.

However the situation now is replacing the entire set as I need to use the car  - for sure a set of Dunlops is out of the question but the dealer was more than willing to quote another set at £360 per tyre!

I have the Audi Cam video of the 1st failures (tyres now disposed of) but have the accepted claims forms from insurers and now need to look at how I report the latest set to Dunlop and whether I retain this scrap set in the garage in hope of payback later on - as others already have I quickly reported the issue to watchdog for what its worth.

any advice and guidance welcomed - I am looking this week to replace all 4 with Continentals so will take some pictures too for records.

 

[DanTroy]

Hi All,

I've just come on this thread through a Google search, due to 3 tyres on my A7 going in quick succession. I bought my Audi A7 second hand from a private dealer in February this year and have just had to replace 3 of my Dunlop tyres through splitting on the inside tyre wall all in the last 3 weeks. I used a tyre call out company to sort them each time and they said that the kind of splitting they'd seen would typically be for tyres that were 10 years old, not 1- 2 years old. They took pics of 2 of the tyres again both with lots of tread on. Looking at the responses I'm not sure what I can do?

 

[Silvershadow55]

Hi All

 

Same story here i am afraid, Reading Audi are washing their hands of this, saying its the soft compound of the tyre and that 

The last time, I remember, us taking something like a defected tyre (which I don't believe it is)  up with a manufacture, they took 5 months to come back to us and deemed it not defective. We do not make the tyres, only fit them. If this is a route you wish to go down, by all means you can, and we would set the tyre aside for you to try and make a claim, but this can be very long winded with not much result at the end of it. We are only here to advise what we find. 

 

 

Clearly this is a common fault,  

 

Has anyone successfully got either Audi or Dunlop to pay for / or towards a new tyre - if so, do they have the point of contact to jump to it? 

Many thanks in advance 

 

#55.

 

 

[Magnet]

As a general comment:- 

I am amazed that the majority of owners (apart from Anish) seem happy to treat this totally unacceptable recurring situation with a ‘how much am I going to be reimbursed’ attitude. 

Surely folks, someone has the sense to see this for what it really is - a serious and genuine life threatening issue - and one which has reasonable potential to leave your loved ones where you would not want them to be, and that is if you neglect to consider the consequences on other innocent families should your car be in collision with them. As I see it, the monetary side of it compares little with your life, and that effect on other people’s lives.

Anish has chosen to report this to Watchdog for example. Has anyone else? If so, what response have they got? 

What is the strength of social media? - I don’t know.  Isn’t this strong enough to be able to practically co ordinate a group of owners affected by this, and to gain the necessary publicity to bring this unacceptable issue to a conclusion before someone loses their life? 

Does the management of this forum have any clout in assisting in this respect? 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

[Topdog]

1 hour ago, Magnet said:

As a general comment:- 

I am amazed that the majority of owners (apart from Anish) seem happy to treat this totally unacceptable recurring situation with a ‘how much am I going to be reimbursed’ attitude. 

Surely folks, someone has the sense to see this for what it really is - a serious and genuine life threatening issue - and one which has reasonable potential to leave your loved ones where you would not want them to be, and that is if you neglect to consider the consequences on other innocent families should your car be in collision with them. As I see it, the monetary side of it compares little with your life, and that effect on other people’s lives.

Anish has chosen to report this to Watchdog for example. Has anyone else? If so, what response have they got? 

What is the strength of social media? - I don’t know.  Isn’t this strong enough to be able to practically co ordinate a group of owners affected by this, and to gain the necessary publicity to bring this unacceptable issue to a conclusion before someone loses their life? 

Does the management of this forum have any clout in assisting in this respect? 

Kind regards,

Gareth. 

I reported it to watchdog last week the same stone I sent an email to both Audi and Dunlop, Audi and Dunlop have both responded to send the tyres back for analysis, nothing from watchdog!

are you volunteering to take this higher?