@CapriRacer I wonder if more or less tires are getting recalled than in the past? Seems like manufacturing should be mostly automated and sorted out these days with better tracking of parameters and automated testing?
I did a quick look:
2025 = 18 so far
2024 = 15
2023 = 10
2022 = 14
2021 = 18
2020 = 21
So, no I don't think it is increasing.
But I did notice 2 things:
The latest tire recall says that only 1% of the 36,919 tires being recalled are affected = 369. They were very specific about the production dates, but widespread on the sizes.
The next latest recall was 10% of 5,362 = 536. Again, very specific dates, and a few sizes.
This seems to me to mean they are using a set up that can identify very specific problems and are able to identify which tires may have the issue. When I was working, we had bar codes, but we hadn't gotten to the point where we could trace things back to the raw materials. I think they can do that now.
The second thing is that some of the recalls are for trivial things, like an incorrect markings. That means the tire is fine, it just has something wrong written on the sidewall (or not written). I've noticed a bunch of those.
Plus, the stigma of a recall is less than it used to be. There is also an incentive for tire manufacturers to recall suspect tires - lawsuits. Those can be quite expensive and the cost of a recall is much less than the cost of litigation. My best guess is a 10 fold difference.
I think the ability to identify problems and to trace them down has increased - and the inclination to do more recalls when problems are found has increased. - that is, the level necessary to trigger a recall has decreased - a lot!
