Tyres that come on new cars

We bought a 2012 Hyundai Accent in late 2011. We absolutely love the car BUT we have had 2 catastrophic blow-outs of the tyres that came on the car where the tyre was literally blown apart. One happened when the car had less than 21,000 km on the clock and the other around 29,000. Both tyres had lots of tread left and the correct tyre pressure. Both happened on the highway at speeds of 100 - 110 km/hr. We have also had to replace another original tyre because of a bulge on the sidewall that was spotted on a regular tyre check. I removed the remaining undamaged tyre with still about 1/2 tread left.

One of the tyre shop owners who provided the last replacement tyre after a blowout in rural NSW said that Hyundai supplied Kumho tyres manufactured in North Korea for these cars, and that they have had hundreds with problems. He also said that Kumho tyres sold in Australia are manufactured in South Korea and are OK as far as he knew.

I am only repeating what the tyre shop owner said and I have no way of knowing whether the information is accurate or not. It would, however, be interesting to find out if others have had major tyre problems on original tyres and if this is a problem that needs to be addressed as to whether tyres coming on new cars from foreign factories meet Australian standards.

For a few hundred extra, you can request the tyres you want on any new car.

Understand that, but should we have to do this to remain safe and protected from shonky products???

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It is questionable if Kumho has a North Korea factory - nothing on a google about that. Kumho did have a serious production problem at their Tainjin, China plant followed by a recall in 2011. Apparently it was related to remixing materials that violated its own production standards. Hope this info helps.

Thanks for that pdtbaum. That would have been the time frame these tyres were likely manufactured. I did not receive any recall notice and have had the car regularly serviced at a Hyundai dealership and it was never mentioned. The tyre dealer who told me N Korea may have been mistaken when it was actually China. Tyres now all replaced so unable to check the actual tyre, for country of manufacture. Thanks again for your feedback!

With our historically “strong” oversights it is possible the recall never made it here. There are many references to Kumho recalls “not here” via a google. Cheers,