Yeah, NY/NJ roads can really kill tires. But scratched rims also say something about the way the car was driven.
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Didn’t seem like pothole damaged rims - looked like someone used the curb to gauge how close they were to the curb. I would know - Northern VA/DC roads aren’t that much better 
Yes, that’s what I meant. Pothole damage could’ve been much worse. NoVa roads much better.
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How much is one tire?
There’s a time for principles and a time for taking the path of least aggravation.
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Couple hundred bucks. Not my lease, my parents’ and they have all the time in the world but one of their friends lives in NJ about 15 mins from the dealer. My parents are also more price conscious than I am with smaller things
But they have to replace two of them.
I “fix” things like this for my parents all the time, and often it’s simpler just to pay out of my own pocket and then invent vague answers for any questions they may have later. Might take some creativity to talk them out of the car for part of a day.
Good luck.
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lot easier to do that if I didn’t live a 6 hour drive away.
Waiting to hear from the dealer at this point (and not from the broker who doesn’t seem like he asked the dealer until maybe last night).
Then tell them the dealer sent you a Discount Tire gift card, and then buy one and send it to them.
Work with me here.
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lol you thought about this more than i have clearly. Will cross that bridge when I get a definitive answer from he dealer. Don’t think the dealer even knows about this right now (couldn’t get in contact with the sales manager yesterday, left a VM and a note with the receptionist and the broker asked for another pic towards the end of the day)
While I would agree with the broker that “Loaners are loaners,” and they aren’t likely “showroom cars” anymore, I disagree with the fact that a safety item wouldn’t be addressed by an honest dealership sales manager either, and that they “wouldn’t replace a tire.” It’s also highly likely they didn’t even notice this, as they rely on young kids to wash and prep the car before delivery, most of whom couldn’t care less, as it’s not their car.
That said, you’re going to likely have a battle on your hands as it wasn’t caught at signing. Playing devil’s advocate, there’s nothing that says you didn’t cause this damage in the eyes of the dealership at this point. I’m not saying you did, but you can’t prove it was there when you took delivery either, so it will likely become a game of finger pointing.
I would suggest doing what @jeisensc said and use the survey as leverage. Be polite, but firm, and if they flat out deny you a replacement, casually bring up the survey, and that you’d hate to provide less than a perfect score for something like this, but you’ll be forced to. I wouldn’t go in to this with a scorched earth mentality though, as it’s a surefire way to get them to lift their middle finger at you.
If it becomes too much of a hassle, it may be easier to just bite the bullet and pay for the tire out of pocket. Contis do suck though, and don’t expect to get the full lease term out of those tires if they are driving 10k/yr in the Northeast, especially being that they are RFTs. You’ll be lucky to get 2 years. I know you’ll get some that say that they do, but it’s the exception, not the norm. Plenty of negative reviews on those, myself included.
Lastly, if a broker was used from this forum, make sure to leave a review of said broker. While this technically isn’t the broker’s problem, he could’ve done more than just threw his hands up in the air and say “tough shit,” so to speak, and at least contacted the sales manager on your behalf. He very well may have, but it doesn’t sound like he did, or at least you weren’t convinced he did.
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I dunno. I think the reality is, the shake is the concern. Those small chunks out of the tires aren’t a big deal if there is no loss of air and if it isnt affecting the performance of them.
Im not a mechanic, but I highly doubt those small missing pieces of rubber in the tire have any effect on the drivability. However, they indicate that maybe something did happen to the car, which would affect it, though. I would like to think an alignment would solve the issue.
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While that was my first thought when looking at the tire as well, the fact that multiple gouges (albeit small) have been taken out of the sidewall of the tire, in the same general area, and that sidewall holds all of the pressure, especially being a low profile tire, and we’re talking about a brand new tire, and not one with 30k miles already on the clock, I wouldn’t press my luck either, in the eyes of safety.
Plus, he has documentation from a different dealership confirming this…
Could that dealership mechanic have been trying to sell a tire…sure. That said, considering it’s in writing it’s a safety and/or driveability concern, and the tire can’t be balanced, I think he has all the right in the world to try and go after the selling dealership. Will he be successful…that’s anyone’s guess.
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I feel very lucky as my initial thought upon discovery was your nightmare. Not sure if it was my approach but talking through it directly with the salesperson made it extremely easy. Dealer taking S60 back to repair
@mp11477 yup - Think it’s probably the broker not wanting to deal with this/hoping we go away without actually asking the dealership. Not trying to fight an uphill battle, aware that from a legal perspective, my parents took delivery of the car that way, but would like to straight forward “no we will not cover this” or whatever they decide from the dealership.
The broker is on this site. Holding off on the review to try to sort this out first. Dealer that said it needed a new tire didn’t seem interested in selling a new tire. Didn’t give a quote to replace or anything - said that he put it in the R.O. and told my parents to go back to the selling dealership and they should replace it for free.
@Bostoncarconcierge Alignment was checked by 2 dealerships and came back fine. Wheels balanced by one and Road force balanced again by another. Not sure if the chunks missing have any impact or not.
I don’t think so, unless the dealer is a real jerk. They know what loaners are and should take care of any major issues. But like you said - SM has no idea about the condition of his loaners.
Agree with Boston that alignment, balancing and possibly tire replacement may resolve the vibration issue.
Edit: just read above about alignment. I guess then tire replacement and see if that fixes vibration.
I didn’t say it was guaranteed…but it becomes a he said-she said as soon as it drives off the lot, which could make it an uphill battle. Being in the NJ/NY area, I’d venture to say most SMs aren’t “teddy bears” either.
and I said
So, what are you arguing about? 
apparently nothing.
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