1997 MERCURY MOUNTAINEER Complaints

AFTER VACATION CONSUMER INSPECTED THE TIRES, LOOKING FOR NUMBERS ON TIRES, BUT FOUND CRACKS ON THEM. HAD RECEIVED A RECALL NOTICE, BUT IT DID NOT INCLUDE THE DOT INFORMATION. FIRESTONE, WILDERNESS AT, P235/75 R15, MADE IN CANADA. *AK

UPON INSPECTION BY MY AUTO MECHANIC, I WAS INFORMED TODAY THAT MY RIGHT FRONT TIRE WAS NEAR IMEDIATE FAILURE FROM SEPERATION OF THE TREAD FROM THE TIRE CASING AND THAT THE TWO REAR TIRES WERE ALSO NEAR FAILURE. I CALLED MY DEALER AND THEY STATED THAT THEY WILL NOT INVOLVE THEMSELVES WITH TIRES THAT ARE NOT PART OF A RECALL. I MUST REPLACE THE TIRES TOMMORROW FOR THE SAFETY OF MY FAMILY. PLEASE SECURE THE SAFETY OF OTHER FAMILIES BY ALERTING THE PUBLIC OF THE PRESENT DANGERS. RECALL OR NOT, GET THESE TIRES OFF THE ROAD.( DOT NUMBER: VNHL TIRE SIZE: P2357515 )

DAMAGED TIRE WAS NOTICED WHILE STATIONARY.( DOT NUMBER: W2HL TIRE SIZE: P235/75/15 )

ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT ON A 1997, MERCURY, MOUNTAINEER, P235/75R15 SIZE DOT# WZHL1PY107 AND WZHL1PY296. TREAD ON THE LEFT REAR TIRE WAS STARTING TO SEPARATE. FIRESTONE HAS INSPECTED TIRES. *AK THE RIGHT FRONT TIRE FAILED. THE CUSTOMER BOUGHT FOUR NEW TIRES FOR SAFETY REASON. *YH

ABS FAILED AT LOW SPEED , SLID INTO CURB BECAUSE VEHICLE WOULDN'T STOP, BROKE WHEEL

CRACK [SEPERATION?] AROUND CIRCUMFERENCE ON SIDEWALLS ,3/4 INCH IN FROM TREAD( DOT NUMBER: W2HL TIRE SIZE: P235/75R15 )

I COMPLETED A COMPLAINT FORM YESTERDAY, AND HAVE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TODAY. ONE OF THE DEALERS WHO INSPECTED MY TIRES CLAIMED THEY WERE MADE IN SC; I REVIEWED THE Q AND A FOR FIRESTONE AND AND TIRE WITH "VD" WAS MADE IN DECATUR, ILL. I HAVE ALSO REVIEWED THE OTHER POSSIBLE TIRES THAT MAY BE RECALLED, BUT THE TIRE INFORMATION FROM THE DEALER DOES NOT APPEAR TO MATCH. HOWEVER, I STILL HAD A BLOW OUT ON THE WILDERNESS AT, AND DO NOT FEEL SAFE. PLEASE CONTACT ME AT YOUR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE. I AM WONDERING IF THE TIRES I HAVE WERE PART OF THE 1.4 MILLION AFTERMARKET TIRES THEY HAVE DESCRIBED. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION. RESPECTFULLY, LINDA CATANZARO( DOT NUMBER: VD66 TIRE SIZE: 30X9.50R15 )

PE00-020; P23575R15, DOT W2HC1PY ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT WITH 1997 MERCURY MOUNTAINEER WITH 40,000 MILES. CONSUMER RECEIVED RECALL FROM FIRESTONE , CONSUMER TOOK VEHICLE TO FIRESTONE. DEALER INDICTATED THAT TIRES WERE NOT PART OF THE RECALL, BUT WASTOLD THAT ALL 4 TIRES HAD SAME DEFECT. TIRES WERE SHOWING EVIDENCE OF CRACKING AS VD PLANT TIRES. CONSUMER HAS TO PAY TO REPLACE TIRES.*AK FIRESTONE WILDERNESS AT P235/75/R15 *MW

THE TIRES ON MY VEHICLE ARE THE SAME TYPE AND SIZE AS THE RECALLED TIRES. ACCORDING TO A LOCAL FIRESTONE LOCATION, MY TIRES HAVE NOT BEEN RECALLED. HOWEVER, FIRESTONE STATED THAT MY TIRES ARE DOING THE SAME THING AS THE RECALLED TIRES AND SHOULD BE REPLACED. IT IS A CONCERN THAT AFTER THE FIRESTONE CUSTOMER SERVICE WAS TOLD MY TIRES ARE SHOWING THE SAME SIGNS, THEY DID NOT QUESTION WHICH PLANT MY TIRES CAME FROM. APPARENTLY, THE RECALL SHOULD INCLUDE TIRES FROM OTHER PLANTS. *AK( DOT NUMBER: TIRE SIZE: 235/75R15 )

AS YOU CAN SEE, I HAVE FIRESTONE WILDERNESS AT TIRES. FORTUNATELY OR UNFORTUNATELY, THEY ARE NOT THE TIRES RECALLED. THEY WERE INSPECTED BY TWO DIFFERENT DEALERS AND THEY ARE A DIFFERENT SIZE (LARGER) AND THEY WERE MADE AT THE SOUTH CAROLINA PLANT. I HAVE ONLY HAD THE TIRES FOR ONE YEAR (JUNE 1999) AND HAVE ONLY PUT ABOUT 13,000 MILES ON THEM WHEN I EXPERIENCED A BLOW-OUT. MY TIRES ARE ALWAYS PROPERLY INFLATED - I WAS NOT IN A HOT CLIMATE - AND I WAS NOT GOING AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED. I WAS GOING 35 MPH ON A MAIN STREET IN CINCINNATI, OHIO, IN JUNE. MY LEFT REAR TIRE LITERALLY EXPLODED - THE SOUND WAS DEAFENING, LIKE SHATTERED GLASS. FORTUNATELY, MY FIVE-YEAR-OLD SON WAS NOT WITH ME, BUT WHAT IF HE WAS AND SOMETHING WORSE HAD HAPPENED? ADDITIONALLY, ALTHOUGH NOT RELEVANT TO THE RECALL, THE TIRES MAKE THE VEHICLE HARDER TO CONTROL AND PROVIDE A VERY ROUGH RIDE. IF I ACCIDENTALLY HIT A POT HOLE, I BETTER HAVE BOTH HANDS ON THE STEERING WHEEL. AND SINCE I HAVE HAD THE TIRES, I AM CONSTANTLY LOSING HUBCAPS - YES HUBCAPS (FOUR IN LESS THAN ONE YEAR). I DID NOT HAVE THESE PROBLEMS WITH THE GOODYEAR WRANGLERS THAT WERE ORIGINALLY INSTALLED ON THE VEHICLE (NO HANDLING PROBLEMS, NO LOST HUBCAPS). THE ONLY "GOOD" THING ABOUT THE TIRES ARE THEY ARE EXCELLENT IN THE SNOW AND ICE. WHAT I HOPE YOU CAN DO IS TO EXPAND THE RECALL. IF A CERTAIN MODEL OF CAR IS RECALLED, ALL MODELS ARE RECALLED REGARDLESS OF WHERE THEY ARE MADE. WITH THE BLOW-OUT I EXPERIENCED AND THE CURRENT RECALL, I DO NOT FEEL MY FAMILY IS SAFE. RESPECTFULLY, LINDA CATANZARO. *AK( DOT NUMBER: VD 66 TIRE SIZE: R 90 )