"blems" why don't we see them?

[Joe1]

In the 70's and early 80's, many tire dealers usually sold "blems" that had cosmetic imperfections such as a misaligned whitewall or a bad imprint of lableing on the sidewall etc. Usually, they were sold at a discount. Anybody have any ideas why they have virtually disappeared from the scene?
My best educated guess is:
1) Better quality control, modern manufacturing equipment reduces imperfections
2) Legal liability
3) Large % of tires are now imported and do not want to ship defective tire to US

 

[alreadygone]

My guesses on your three scenarios, 1; yes, 2; yes, 3; If you look at most imports you may find they're most blems, just not marked!

We still get blems from Cooper occasionally. But several years ago Goodyear made it company policy to destroy imperfecions. Have no idea what policy others no have.

Bob

 

[CapriRacer]

Let me confirm:

1) Yes, modern automated machinery not only builds a better tire, but also builds it faster. This is one of the reasons why the cost of tires hasn't risen as fast as inflation.

Just to give you a feel for this sort of thing - in the 1970's we measured tire returns in percent. (Be aware that most returns are not for "defects" - mostly ride complaints). Returns are now measured in parts per million.

2) The liability aspect in this arena is fairly minimal. As you pointed out, these were strictly appearance issues, and not structural or anything that would affect durability.

3) Compared to #1, this is tiny. Importing tires that you can't get a good margin on is just not good business - especially when there are plenty of markets that would pay full market value (THEIR market value) for these tires.

 

[Mr. Boston]

Found some Cooper blems for my PU. My local dealer's on a waiting list for such...not sure how it's divid'd out. They "seem" fine other than a slight imperfection in the RWL's.

 

[GMGuy]

You have to ask for them, and as mentioned, if they are available. No one will 'stock' them, but usually can inquire higher up the supply chain for blems.

Alex.

 

[obbop]

My past girlfriends abounded with blems.

That was okay since I am a walking talking blem whose mere viasge makes babies cry out in terror.

 

[carlprop]

I to remember the blems being sold in the 70's and early 80's as noted by the original poster. I emailed the Tire Rack and got this response from them.

Hello

Since Tire Rack has only ever sold first-grade tire products, we don't have exact details on the practice.

The trend has gone to selling first-grade product only. Manufacturing processes have improved greatly which has significantly reduced the potential quantity of blem tires.

Also the TREAD Act passed in 2000, has added some new layers of accountability to the tire manufacturers. Any tire returned for a "cosmetic" defect gets counted as if there were a functional manufacturing defect, which is something the tire manufacturers want to avoid.

Under the act, defect return statistics are to become a matter of public record. All tire manufacturers are doing everything they can to reduce the number of claims, even ones for cosmetic issues. Manufacturers can help avoid any possible cosmetic return simply by not putting cosmetically imperfect product into the field.

Best regards,

 

[CapriRacer]

Allow me to comment on this statement:

"......Also the TREAD Act passed in 2000, has added some new layers of accountability to the tire manufacturers. Any tire returned for a "cosmetic" defect gets counted as if there were a functional manufacturing defect, which is something the tire manufacturers want to avoid....."

The TREAD Act wouldn't come into play here. For example, tire manufacturers are NOT required to report on tire returns for non-functional issues - like vibration returns - unless they wanted to - and I can assure they don't want to.

So "Blems" wouldn't need to be reported if they were returned, except for the same reportable issues as "First Class" tires - and that would exclude those items that made them "Blems" to begin with.

 

[eljefino]

I heard a radio ad for a "truckload tire sale" that included a blem clearance. Dismissed it as mostly hype.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

Check out Nebraska Tire and tiretown.com. They both sell "blems" and/or "buffed" tires, which are essentially blems with the name of the manufacturer buffed off. Some other stores sell OEM take-offs, too.