warranty void with non OEM tires?
 

I just bought a 2003 Boxster with 19,000 miles and Boxster SII 17" wheels. I need to replace the rear tires and was thinking of using Yokohama's instead of the Potenzas. I was told that the remaining 2 years of the MFGRS warranty would be void if I did not use the OEM brand of tires. Is this true, or is the Porsche dealership repair shop trying to "pull my chain"

Bdel

That sound a little nuts. You had better find out what brand of gas is OEM to Porsche and only refill with that too. ;)

Porsche does have a set of "Approved" tires. The "N" Rating simply says the tire is of Porsche specification, However, the data or qulifications to be a Porsche approved tire is never released to the public therefore we arent really told the difference in the regular tire from the "n" rated.

I have used both approved and non approved tires. The most notable difference i find is the stiffness of the sidewalls. The N Rated tire has no flex as the others might flex a bit.

As for the warranty issue, tires are not that serious. The only part of your warranty which may become viod are for your Rims. The rest of the car warranty stays the same. They are not allowed to void an entire warranty because of tires.

I personally like sticking with the approved tires, as the dealer cant really give you trouble about warranty repairs for stupid things such as rattles, or vibrations, which they may say are tire related.

Hope this helps.

Hi,

The N Rated tires are no different than any other tire (given the individual differences between Manufacturers and Models). The N Rating simply means that the tire has been subjected to Porsche Approved Testing and passed. The Tires are not designed to any Porsche specifications. The ratings are: N, N0, N1, N2, N3. The differences in the ratings mean nothing, just that the Manufacturer has changed the Tire and had it retested, so a tire rated N which has been changed and resubmitted for testing will now be rated N1 and so on.

I cannot see why a warranty would be voided for using non-approved tires, but they can interpret the requirements pretty much any way they want since they are fairly ambiguous to begin with. But, unfortunately, they (Porsche) makes the rules, it's their game.


I suspect a likelyhood of some sort of Sweetheart Deal with certain tire manufacturers, because there are many non-approved tires which are better than those approved. If Porsche was truly looking for the best performance from their cars, one has to ask why these tires are not tested for approval?

Anyway, an interesting article on the ratings and such: http://p-car.com/technical/tires.htm

BTW - This is my 100th Post!!!!

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

But, unfortunately, they (Porsche) makes the rules, it's their game.

What a weird game too. You can't specify the rubber on your new vehicle. The new 986's last year had Yoke's and Conti's or more and I know Cayenne's can have a Pirelli's or Conti's or whatever. So it seems Porsche has it's rating system but doesn't choose one brand.

My 2004 came with Yok AVS does that mean any Box is "approved" on those tires.

Hi,

Yep, the Yokes are approved. Check out the link I posted. The Yokohama AVS Intermediate is a Wonderful Tire. It is the replacement Tire of choice for the 'G' Model Lotus Esprits - MY '76-'87.

Unfortunately, Yoko decided to quit making it in the Esprit sizes causing many owners to scramble for suitable alternatives. And from all reports, there really isn't one.

I never used it, I went with the Dunlop SP Sport 8000 for my Esprit, which has been one of the best, if not the best, Z-rated Performance Tire I've ever experienced. It isn't the longest wearing tire I've ever used, but it is the best in overall performance. The good news is that it too is Porche Approved.

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

Congrats on 100! I do appreciate what you contribute here. You seem to have a wealth of good all-around automotive information.

Hey,

Thanks! But I learn quite a bit from all of you as well. This is a good Forum!

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

What does your warranty booklet say? If for some reason you do not have one then ask the dealership to show it to you.

Manfacturers often pick 2 or 3 suppliers per model. Each tire upplier is assigned a percentage of total production. If production goes up, the tire maker scrambles to provide more tires. If production goes down, they sometimes need to offload excess inventory. In a former job I worked as commercial director of an auto group overseas. We negotiated to be Conti's official distributor for our small national market. However, it took us a while to get started as Conti viewed our market as a market to offload tires when their commitments to auto makers waned. BTW to their credit, Conti was upfront about this from the get-go.

Steve