Just found out the hard way (blow out) that the tires on my 4 month old 2004 allroad (Goodyear Wrangler 225-55 R17) were discontinued almost a year before I purchased the vehicle. Audi says its my responsibility to pay for 4 new tires since they can't find a replacement for the blown out tire.

Strength in numbers:
Before I go head to head with Audi over who pays for the tires, is there anyone else in the same boat? If you have these tires on your Audi now, you will face the same problem.

 

Partially true. It is important to have the same tread and same size with tread depth on all four wheels. But you should be able to find a replacement for the one tire - unless the other three tires have significant loss of tread depth already.
What about your spare? What is it? If it's the same, then you should have no issue.

My advice: check your tread depth on the good tires and see if it isn't necessary to replace all four. Search aggressively for a single replacement. Don't let Audi do the replacement regardless - they will charge you a premium; a reputable tire specialist can do the replacement for less.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for your response.
Because the tire was discontinued for almost a year before I purchased the car, there are none available in the US, despite an extensive search. The dealer said they would not give me anything in writing that a similar but not duplicate tire would not affect performance, safety, or warranty. The dealer's only solution was that I should pay for 4 new tires instead of one, when the three remaining tires are like new, with thousands of miles to go before needing replacement.

The spare is a donut with a 50MPH cap and limited use warnings, so no joy there.

Anyone else with a 2004 Allroad with these tires will face the same problem, which was foreseeable by Audi since the tires had been discontinued for a year. In the meantime Audi will not provide a loaner because they have a no-loaner-for-tires policy. The fact that that I am without a vehicle because they cannot provide a replacement for a dealer installed part on a new vehicle is immaterial as far as they are concerned. It looks like I've located a tire in Germany, but it will take weeks for delivery.

I am a long-term repeat customer for the dealer (4 Porsches and 2 Audis). From a customer relations/service standpoint - they could not score any lower. The dealer is Town Motors in Englewood, NJ.

 

WAIT!!
Call Goodyear and explain the situation. They should have the best tech info to support which tire would be the best replacement. Get their recommendation and go with that. They have to have the newer version that would compliment the older discontinued version - or they would certainly know which (current) Goodyear tire has the same tread and construction characteristics for a solid substitute.

Another thought (for the best performance on a budget) would be to get TWO of the Goodyear recommended tires instead of four new tires. Replace the spare with one of your (discontinued) tires and put the two new tires up front.