CONTACTS 

SUBJECTS
Millie's Mercury Sable, 940423
Wheel Alignment, Vibrations, Warranty
951008 Replace front tires

0605 -    ..
0606 - Summary/Objective
0607 -
060701 - Follow up ref SDS 5 0000, ref SDS 4 0000.
060702 -
060703 -                Mark Lewman
060704 -                5 Points Tire Imports, Inc.
060705 -                2115 El Camio Real
060706 -                Redwood City, CA  94063
060707 -                415 365 0280
060708 -
060709 - Received payment recovery documents explaining 5 Points understanding
060710 - of the General Tire warranty.  5 Points appears to apply the warranty
060711 - incorrectly, offering only partial payment whereas the warranty
060712 - supports entitlement to replacement of full value for the tire.  We
060713 - need to inquire from S&C on how to make appropriate recovery.
060714 -
060715 -       [On 951023 submitted request for recovery of damages from S&C.
060716 -       ref SDS 6 8564]
060717 -
060718 -
060719 -  ..
0608 -
0609 -
0610 - Progress
0611 -
061101 - Received ref DRT 1 4322 indicating 5 Points offers $43.50 credit
061102 - toward purchase of new tire to replace the failed tire.  5 Points says
061103 - industry practice is to offer credits rather than pay the customer
061104 - cash. ref DRT 1 5466
061105 -
061106 -        [On 951023 submitted request for recovery of damages from S&C.
061107 -        ref SDS 6 8564]
061108 -
061109 -        [On 951030 S&C offered to pay the amount suggested by 5 Points.
061110 -        ref SDS 7 3456]
061111 -
061112 -        [On 951031 S&C reduced recovery in false belief that Welch took
061113 -        car to Leo's Tire Shop, when S&C did this. ref SDS 8 8530]
061114 -     ..
061115 -     5 Points' offer conflicts with representations by Leo's Tire
061116 -     in the record on 951009, ref SDS 2 9645, and with understandings
061117 -     from S&C Ford that we can recover a reasonable adjustment on the
061118 -     price of new tires. ref SDS 2 4789 and ref SDS 2 4589
061119 - ..
061120 - 5 Points Tire indicates that the credit for the failed tire is
061121 - lower than it should be because it appears the tires were not properly
061122 - maintained. ref DRT 1 9675
061123 -
061124 -     This is supported by a Repair Order stating the tires were not
061125 -     rotated according to industry standards (see Description of Work,
061126 -     ref DRT 1 0086).
061127 -
061128 -     5 Points interpretation of the warranty actually appears to be
061129 -     incorrect, per analysis below showing the amount of tire wear is
061130 -     irrelevant to the amount of recovery. ref SDS 0 4209
061131 -
061132 - Received adjustment claim form #20570 ref DRT 1 4611, which seems to
061133 - be a customer copy of 5 Points' submission to General Tire.  We may
061134 - need to submit this in order to redeem the credit.  There are no
061135 - procedures set out in 5 Points's letter.
061136 -
061137 -
061138 -  ..
061139 - General Tire Warranty Provides New Tire, Mounting, Balancing
061140 -
061141 - There is also a General Tire document to record tire rotation
061142 - history.  It has a document number:  001477.
061143 -
061144 -     This document shows there is a 60,000 mile warranty on these
061145 -     tires. ref DRT 1 8456
061146 -
061147 -     The terms of the warranty are on the back of the form.  Section 2a
061148 -     entitled "Basic Protection" says the tires are warranted for a
061149 -     period of 48 months from date of purchase.
061150 -     ..
061151 -     This part further says that if a tire becomes unserviceable
061152 -     during the warranty period, it will be replaced free of charge by
061153 -     a comparable General tire, including mounting and balancing....
061154 -     ref DRT 1 3468
061155 -
061156 -            [On 990603 S&C applying General Tire warranty on
061157 -            replacement tires. ref SDS 10 3050]
061158 -
061159 -           ..
061160 -          Hankook Warranty Less Beneficial
061161 -
061162 -          It appears that the General warranty has considerably greater
061163 -          value than the Hankook, which offers full replacement only
061164 -          within the first 12 months or 25% of tire wear which ever
061165 -          occurs first, ref SDS 2 4511.  Hankook's warranty does not
061166 -          include services and taxes.
061167 -
061168 -          How should this loss of value be compensated to the customer?
061169 -
061170 -          What effect does installing Hankook tires have on the General
061171 -          warranty?
061172 -
061173 -     The only provision for pro-rating replacement costs is for tire
061174 -     wear to reach 2/32nds prior to 60,000 miles. ref DRT 1 4461 That
061175 -     part of the warranty does not apply because the tire was found by
061176 -     S&C to be unserviceable. ref SDS 2 9653 and ref SDS 2 9755
061177 - ..
061178 - It is unclear why S&C installed Hankook tires with a 12 month,
061179 - 50,000 mile warranty to replace General tires with a 48 month, 60,000
061180 - mile warranty which includes mounting and balancing, per the analysis
061181 - above. ref SDS 0 2146
061182 -
061183 - Barbara indicated this was because Leo's Tire shop was certified to
061184 - work on Ford Motor products, ref SDS 2 5222.  It is unclear why Ford
061185 - would not have a business relationship to service the tires sold on
061186 - its vehicles.  How did the tires get installed in the first place?
061187 -
061188 - Presumably someone is qualifed to install General tires on Ford's
061189 - cars.
061190 -
061191 - Part of the problem seems to be that S&C did not have a copy of the
061192 - General tire warranty on 951006, when they decided to send the car to
061193 - Leo's Tire, ref SDS 2 7640  If they had known the warranty terms, it
061194 - appears this would have saved S&C and Welch extra costs and time.  The
061195 - only other explanation is that sending the car to Leo's was a mistake.
061196 - ref SDS 2 5222
061197 -
061198 -        [On 951023 submitted request for recovery of damages from S&C.
061199 -        ref SDS 6 8564]
061200 -
061201 -        [On 951030 S&C offered to pay the amount suggested by 5 Points.
061202 -        ref SDS 7 3456]
061203 -
061204 -        [On 951031 Charles Mori found that installing Hankook tires to
061205 -        replace Generals was a mistake. ref SDS 8 8530]
061206 -
061207 -        [On 990507 Hankook tires failed after 40K miles, 2/3 the life
061208 -        of the Genearl warranty. ref SDS 9 2025]
061209 -
061210 -
061211 -
061212 -
0613 -