Problems with 2001 Kia Rio TIRES

I purchased new tires around february 2007 from sears at the virginia center commons store location. within three weeks between april and may of 2008 i experienced three flats. two of the flats were on the same day within 2 hours of each other. i had the fourth one replaced at this time. all three flats were because of faulty valve stems. recently i read about a 6 million recall of tr413 valve stems from tech international a distributor of shanghai baolong. i believe my problem is part of the recall which notified the clients but not the public. fortunately none of the flats occurred at high speed while on the highway but on secondary roads at speeds of 45mph or less. i did complain to sears on their feedback survey but received no reply. i had purchased road hazard with the tires so i was not charged for any of the repairs but am upset about the lack of reply and the lack of notice to the public. i am unsure if any tire damage resulted from the flats. sincerely denise barwick *tr

Consumer complaint: odi case number: 10136024 component: wheels gas ignition? you tell me? when are these people going to be compensated for their lemons kia-2001 details: dt: the consumer was involved in an accident and a tire blew out. after the vehicle stopped spinning, the consumer got out of the vehicle and it burst into flames, the fire department came and they said fire started from heat of power equipment and the ignition burned. this happened on august 6, 2005. *ak the consumer stated she was not informed about the recall regarding the wheels. the consumers daughter complained that the steering wheel vibrated from the time the vehicle was purchased. the same tire that the blew out was the same one that had been replaced numerous times. *jb occurrences: 1 injuries: 0 fail date: 08/06/2005 deaths: 0 date added to database: 9/9/2005 [file] your own complaint on this model car. *tr

Deficient wheel bearing on kia rio. *bf recurring problems with the wheel bearings. the current wheel bearing problem was diagnosed as the tires. the noise still exists. the consumer requested reimbursement. *sc *jb

Consumer states while driving approximately 55mph the right front tire blew out causing damage to vehicle's brake line and axle. ts

I have had my kia for 3 years now (bought on april 24,2001), after only having it one year(april 25, 2002) my two front tires were shredded all the way to the metal. the dealer said that my tires were only covered for a year so i had to replace them, come to find out it was caused by the alignment that showed no sign of being off. right after that the cooling fan shorted causing the engine to smoke and the car to be in the shop for 2 weeks because kia couldn't order the right part. soon after that both of my sunvisors broke to the point they are not usable. kia told me that it would be $35 each to replace, not covered under warranty considered normal wear and tear. my alignment has been fixed 4 times in 3 years with normal driving conditions and regular maintenance. the shifter ( automatic) has gone out twice. once resulting in kia having to replace the whole shifter. the car is constantly vibrating, really bad when a/c is on. the brakes have always made noise and occasionally "stick" dealer said there may be a recall coming out, that was 3 years ago, haven't heard anything yet. *jb

I bought my new kia rio in september of last year, its only 9 months old, and has 19,000 miles on it. the tires have worn to the steel on the inside edge only, no shimmy nor shake, that would make me think its an alignment problem. i called hankook the manufacturer of the tire, they told me to call kia but said no warranty, kia said the same, i am getting no where, the tires are supposed to be good until 36,000 miles.? already i have to buy new tires and no percentage off from the manufacturer or dealer? seems like they put an anything tire on here that looks nice, but no quality, that could blow at anytime. i will have to purchase new tires, i can not drive on these. i feel they have made a defective problem and they hankook, nor kia the dealer i bought them from wants to help. the service manager, chip carr, has not returned my calls at kia. thank you. *ak (tiresize: 13)( dot number: tire size: 13 )