Rear tires cupping

Thank you for sharing your experience. Unfortunately, I had to replace all the tires on my own expense because I am about to drive to Disneyland, CA from Texas and I do not want to take any chances. However, I will contact Honda and post the update.

I bought a new 2007 hch and the tires were cupping on the inside, they had 27,000 miles on them so i thought maybe they were cheap tires and that i drive a lot of highway miles it was my fault so i bought 4 new tires and did every thing i was suppose to tire rotation check air pressure and guess what here we go again down the same road with the same results cupping on the inside and it sounds like i have snow tires on it. There is 40,000 miles on the car now ,i am going to contact Honda were i bought the car. then if no result i will call corp.

Commuter, I feel your pain as I went through the same process. Unfortunately, the dealership I originally took my 2008 HCHII for servicing was not helpful. I only got any action when I called Honda Corporate and made a complaint. If you have not done so already, please do.

First, be prepared for the person you speak with at corporate to blame you for the problem by saying something along the line of "this would not have occurred if you rotated your tires every 5,000 miles" if you didn't. Don't listen to this diversion tactic as this is a well known problem with the Civic and timely rotating your tires would only spread the uneven wear to the other tires and extend their lives a little longer. This does not negate that there may be a problem with your rear control arm that is causing inner tire wear.

When you speak with corporate, you need to be firm with your position yet polite as that person will likely be your only recourse to receive a proper repair and tire replacement. If you burn your bridges with that individual then I do not know what else you can do.

When you took your vehicle to the dealerships did they look to see if there was a problem with the rear control arm? At first, the dealership I originally took my car to did not even look to see if there was a rear control arm problem. What did they say was the cause for the uneven tire wear?

How did you get honda to give you the replacement tires for free. I am fighting with them. They have offered to pay 50% of replacement value because they say they are good to 40 000km, and I drove them to 31000. Any help you could give me would be appreciated.

C Skjerven, I got the free replacement tires by going through Honda of America and placing a complaint and ultimately the dealership verified that the rear control arm was the cause of the inner tire wear. I had 18,000 miles (approx 28,900 km) when my tires failed so you do not have many more miles/km's than mine.

I have no real answer as to why I was provided cost free replacement and you have not. Though by going through other boards it appears that Honda is inconsistent in how it deals with this issue. I read where some lucky individuals like me get free replacements, some not quite as lucky as you get a cost reduction based upon use, while the completely unlucky are SOL. Perhaps it goes to which Honda manager one speaks with at corporate.

My suggestion who be contact that individual again and complain that you read others with approximately equal tire use have received free replacements. They probably will act that you are lying but it is worth a try. Good luck with dealing with this issue. If you are like me this is driving you crazy thinking that you may be dealing with this issue in another 31,000 km. I have over 9,000 miles after my rear control arm was replaced and so far so good. However, others have had the same repair only for excessive inner tire wear to return.

One disappointing trend I see on this thread is that when dealerships are first confronted with cupped tires they automatically point the finger of fault at its customers or say the car is simply out of alignment with no mention or inspection of what is a well known problem with this model. If we who are not in the business of servicing this vehicle are aware of this problem, the dealerships service bays certainly do as well. When I first took my car into the shop the service rep even had a technician talk to me and tell me that my car was out of alignment because I rotated my tires at 8,000 miles instead of 5,000 and in so many words I was told that it sucks to be me and to purchase a new set at my expense as well as an alignment.

I don't like that dealership service bays when confronted with this problem act like the three monkeys who (hear, see and speak no evil). It doesn't seem that we are getting our money's worth.

c skjerven, just curious:

You say you have 31,000 (assume miles) on your tires. What's the remaining tread depth? Also, what is bothering you about these tires, ie: is the wear uneven? How so?

We're also in Canada, have the '06, which came with Bridgestone Insignia SE200-02. Just coming up to 70,000 km's on these tires (they've been on the whole time, apart from ~2000 km's last winter), they have 5~6/32" remaining. I see no cupping on ours, maybe just lucky?

It could very well be your rear geometry is eating tires. Maybe there's variation, car-to-car? Maybe you can get the dealership to check the rear camber? The brand might also be a factor, at least with that very fast tread wear. Sounds like you need new tires ASAP, with that tread depth. What are your tires?

Regarding road noise, our '06 is a little loud, not that bad though. I think one factor is the factory-applied undercoat in the rear wheel wells, which in our case has mostly peeled off. As far as I'm concerned, good riddance: that stuff does more to promote than protect from rust, once it starts flaking off.

Here's the rear camber spec for '06, fwiw:

-1 deg, 39 minutes

and the tolerance for above spec:

+ 1 deg,05min
-0 deg,45min

I gather that means anywhere from -0 deg, 35 minutes to -2 deg, 24 minutes is within spec.

etp, what "new parts" were involved, prior to the new struts?

I have a 2008 HCH well and had the same problem at 22,000 miles. At first the dealership where I have my car serviced told me that my car was out of alignment and that was the cause of the excessive inner tire wear. They gave me the option of paying for a new set of tires and alignment or contact Honda of America, the reprepresentive at Honda was at first very rude, nasty even dissmissive and tried to blame me for the issue and did not want to help. BE VERY PERSISTENT with contacting the service manager at the dealership. I DID and they replaced my tires at no cost as well as the rear control arm of the car. I also received an alignment.

I am now at 53,000 miles and 2 rotations in and the SAME ISSUE! WITH THE REAR TIRES! Now the dealer wants nothing to do with it, and wants me to pay for it, and I am NOT. This is a HONDA ISSUE! Every 20,000 miles will my tires need to be replaced.

Like hell! I will trade this car first! PRICE HONDA in Dover, Delaware will remember me when this is all done and over with!

I have a 2004 accord with a rear inside tire cupping problem too. Write me please if you get honda to acknoledge this problem! thanks!!!!!!!!!

My wife and I bought a 2007 HCH and 2008 HCH. My car is the 2007 - it seemed to get louder and louder in the back, and I couldn't figure out why. I hadn't looked at the inner side of the tire in the back - but once I had my tires rotated the sound moved to the front of the car. I pulled over, turned my tires to the side and saw unbelievable cupping - I have owned Honda's for 20+ years and I have never had this type of issue. I am no saint when it comes to rotating tires, but I've never seen a tire cup like this. I've seen more wear on the inside of the front tires, but it is even wear, not cupping. I had never seen uneven wear on the inside of rear tires, until today - I didn't even know it was called cupping. So I promptly went to the internet and see that it is a common problem for the HCH. Damn - that is very un-Honda like. I thought it might just be the factory Dunlop tires, but it sounds like worse than that. My car has about 44K on it and hers about 26K - I'll be checking the 2008 rear tires tonight.

I know that they wouldn't send you the service bulletin but do you remember any of the specific wording from the bulletin? I bought my 2009 Civic in December 2008. We began hearing loud road noise and vibrations so we took it in to have it checked out. Car was at 23,000 miles. We were told that the rear tires were severly cupped and needed to be replaced. We replaced the tires and I returned home to do some research and found many forums discussing this same problem. I don't see a lot of posts about 2009 Civics but I bet that when those models start hitting the 20,000 mile mark we will begin to see a lot more. I am contacting the dealership tomorrow about this problem... let you know how it goes.

I too have a '07 HCH that experienced the inner tread cupping issue with increasing roar in the rear. The first time this was noted was at 23K and I asked the dealer to balance and rotate tires. The roar just moved to the front with continued rough ride. After 5K, again asked for the rotation and balance. Again, the roar moved to the rear but ride improved. At 32K, again asked for rotation and balance that resulted in no improvement. Bought new tires at 33K. All of these services were performed while under warranty and after the service bulletin was released. Yet the dealer said nothing of the service bulletin during each of these services. New tires show cupping after 15K. After moving to new location and getting service at 47K, the new dealer identified the issue as the Upper COntrol Arms. I asked then to pay for the repair ,they refused as the warranty had expired, so I paid. While waiting I used by phone to search the web for this issue and the first result returned under google was the service bulletin. I showed this to the service manager who still refused to cover the repair. I now have a request with Honda of America to reimburse me for the cost of the upper control arms. I provided all repair records from the dealer who should have identified the issue (after bulletin was released) and the actual repair. Filed this last week, waiting to see if I get a check.

To 09 Civic Owner, the link to the service bulletin is http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2225229 ...... see post number 6.

I have owned Hondas for 28 years, will continue to own them, but their reputation is slipping when issues as this are handled poorly. As stated earlier, this how GM and Chrysler got to be in the shape they are in, poor customer service.

If the replacement control arms do not correct the issue, I will sell and purchase an Accord.

Lawyers!-is this a case for a class-action lawsuit? This is a safety issue! AND HONDA HAS LOTS OF MONEY THAT THEY HAVE SAVED BY DOING US FORMERLY FAITHFUL HONDA OWNERS WRONG.

I too own a 2008 Civic Hybrd. Shortly after my second tire rotation I noticed the drive was much noisier and wearing, but chalked it up to lousy oem Dunlop tires. I brought my car in for an oil change recently to a great Honda/ Acura only private service center on Long Island and mentioned that one of my rear tires needed air. They said that my car shows symptoms described in the service bulletin for the rear upper control arm replacement.
I have over 37,000 mi so I would be out of warranty, but I have Hondacare on the car so I will pursue it through warranty repair. My repair center printed me a copy of the service bulletin. There is a detailed prorate chart for tire reimbursement. If you have more than 25,000 mi you will get nothing back, under 12,000 mi with little tread wear, you could get 50-75% reimbursement toward the same oem tires that were on the car.
I wouldn't put the oem Dunlop tires back on my car even if they were free, unless I immediately traded them in for other tires. I'm making an appointment for next week, so we'll see what happens. Regardless I am buying Michelin EnergySaver A/S tires. They seem to have a good review in TireRack and in the new Consumer Reports online. Currently Michelin is running a $70 rebate when you buy 4 Michelin tires. That will help offset the premium price for Michelins, but I find Michelin tires well worth it. I had Michelins on my previous two Acura Integras and curently on my Subaru Forester.

Hi, I have a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid and my rear tire issue has been a nightmare. I paid 500.00 to have rocker arms put on the rear of my car to stop the tires from rotating in. Honda said that would solve my problem with rear wheel chopping. NOT! I have spend 1500.00 in tire replacements. Long story. Today was the straw that broke the camels back. Took my car back as having the ol vibration again. Last time I replaced the tired I had Honda do it as they said they will monitor rotation etc. Well, guess what, took my car in because vibrating again and Honda tells me that basically sorry, you are out of luck. Nothing more we can do. About 10,000 miles after new tires I begin to experience vibration. I am going to get rid of this car and will not buy another Honda. I bough this car in hopes of putting on many, many miles. I paid the car off early because I did not want car payments, and now.... well.

I brought my HCH 2008 today at Honda in Orlando, FL. I read almost all the blogs and discussions about the camber problems and rear tire cupping, and I just want to make sure that I am well informed about the situation before I go there. I approached the service specialist in a very polite manner informing her about my predicament. I also brought my laptop so that I can show it to them about the bulletin issued by Honda. The service specialist just took the bulletin number and type it in their system and voila!!! They acknowledge the problem, took the vehicle in, and did the job they needed to do! And to think I only came in there for consultation because prior to the visit, I already informed them about the problem 2-3 mos ago and they never even mentioned anything about the camber that it was a missing part to correct the issue. To make this story short, I finally got a sign of relief that hopefully my next set of tires will last much longer than the 25032 i got into this tires which is really bad and cupped already because of the problem (and i thought most new car tires comes w/ 36000 miles warranty or longer, i was wrong) Anyhow, all I needed to do now is to find the best priced dunlop tires I could find because we all know that buying from the dealership can sometimes be disappointing (why just can't they take care of their own so that they can have loyalty of the customers???).
Hey, Honda is not a bad car. It has it flaws like any other vehicles out there. And besides, a lot of people are wanting to get their hands into any hybrid vehicles because of the gas prices lately and who knows until when. So if I were you, take care of your Honda hybrid, do your maintenance and do not neglect the vehicle. It takes two to tango, be an informed and responsible consumer, and befriend all you can in your dealership and they will take care of you. Adieu!!!

Same problem with my 06...the rear control arm was replaced and it solved the problem. Bought a 2010 and going back to dealer with the same problem!!!!!!!!!!! I am soooooo upset, ugh! They never fixed the problem and keep on installing it in the new cars.
Good luck !

i have a 2010....they just TOLD me the tires were cupped and i needed new ones. i bought the car yesterday with less than 10,000 miles. then they came back and told me that the tires are not, in fact, cupped....sure....they are just doing an alignment. if i find out tomorrow morning that they are cupped due to rear control arm problem or shocks or struts, i'm gonna be ticked.

so sitting here waiting for my alignment. it was AMAZING how one minute i needed new tires, and the next minute i did not need new tires....