Hi All,
Just a quick update, I was in the process of shopping around for tyres as driving with the Dunlops was not an option even with significant tread - I had another inspection done by my local National Tyres and Autocare centre (checked and the reviews were good) and the service was great, car lifted on the ramp and the technician was not surprised at what he saw. the price for the continentals was competitive too.
However as I am trying to get a clear answer from Audi or Dunlop and cant figure the logistics of sending my defective tyres back to Dunlop I got the new set replaced with Audi this afternoon as this is where I purchased the aforementioned Dunlops from in the first place (my reason being to maintain the history and "journey" of these tyres from the official supplier to me) and requested the tyres were sent back for examination. as discussed by other members there is a process the dealers are aware of and they completed an "Application Form For Tyre Examination".
The interesting part on this form to me was the tyres seem to be going back to the dealerships supplier in the first instance - I have been told this can take upto 12 weeks to get any response.
My biggest frustration of the process today was the fact I believe the parts team are aware of this issue and process to log complaints and get tyres sent back to source for inspection, however the Service Team (mechanics and front of house Service Managers) are ignoring the issue and have a solution to just sell tyres (like for like in the first instance) - my customer service feedback for the dealership had this information and was pretty critical and gave low scores so hope to receive a response.
The tyre pressure issue as a theory for the cracking is a dead end for me as there is absolutely no uneven wear on the tyres to indicate the pressures being either too high or low to cause this defect, plus there are so many instances now we cant all have been running incorrect pressure. The situation has got me thinking - you can get 3 points per tyre for inadequate tread depth however the risk associated with the cracks (which are not easy to identify in what would be basic tyre checks) could be a sudden blow out to which could be catastrophic, seems a lot of us could have received an instant 12 points + fine which we would as it stands have no defence to.
I've not had any feedback from Watchdog but will be submitting the issue to The Motor Ombudsman (not sure if anyone has already done this) - I think as they specialise in vehicular matters they may react quicker - my only concern is I have no physical tyres in my possession only the video clips from AudiCam.
I'm not hopeful for any recompense but a suitable official investigation to get the Dunlops off the market in the first instance would be a huge step forward, it may be a long process however these situations require significant perseverance.
