Jeep Compass Tyre Burst - Lucky we are alive!

I had to write this review. It’s been about 5 months since I am driving Jeep Compass and mileage on odo just crossed 12,000 km. Bought it on 21 Feb 2019. Car was available quickly as they were clearing off 2018 stock and I got approx 90k benefits. Buying experience was awesome, smooth and spotless. I requested my chosen day delivery which Landmark Gurgaon guys were able to accommodate. First look of car and must say I fell in love with this machine. Car was delivered around 7 pm on 21st Feb which was a bit late. Didn’t know if any pre-delivery checks needed to be carried out by dealership guys at that point of time. But just got the car keys handed over in a ceremonial style with dealership guys clapping and taking pictures of key handing over. First 500 KM: Spotless except one incident. Just before 500km on odo, car suddenly stopped and would not start. “Service Engine” message was popping up on instrument panel. I had to wait for about half an hour before trying to start the engine. Engine started but it was enough for me to get worried. Called up my dealership contact and told him about the incident. Next day he sent someone from dealership and the “engine service” message was taken care of presumably by hard resetting car’s info message panel. My dealership contact told they had topped up engine oil and done pre-delivery checks which were not done at the time of delivery. I was surprised how could they miss that! But didn’t know myself about this check at the time of delivery. First 5000 km: Got my first free servicing done at 5000 km.Experience was quite nice. Service center in Sector 34 Gurgaon had AC waiting hall and offered coffee and water. It took around 5 hours in servicing. They did wheel alignment and balancing apart from topping up all oils. Interior and exterior of car got cleaned. I had two long trips by this time: first of about 1300 km to and fro Delhi-Haridwar-Mussoorie-Delhi with a bit of detour and second of about 2000 km to and fro Delhi-Lucknow-Gorakhpur-Muzzafarpur-Delhi. Overall driving experience was awesome. It was March and weather was still a bit cold. Took Yamuna Expressway and newly built Agra-Lucknow Expressway. Fuel economy was roughly around 13.5 km/litre for both trips. Must say road grip and stability of Compass is way too superior. Cruising at around 120-160 mark was effortless and never realized till the time I saw odometer. Happy happy except one incident where I got a big dent on driver’s side rear door while backing up and didn’t got idea of side wall and got rubbed against it - thinking it would have been better should Jeep have provided 360 degree view camera which we see in one segment lower Kicks and recently launched Hector. However, came back Delhi and got it claimed through 0 dep insurance. Total bill was Rs. 7500 and I had to pay Rs. 2000 as deductible. The D-Day: This is when I became really disappointed with Jeep Compass, Jeep India team and Landmark dealership. I was again on a long road trip of around 2000 KM stretch back to my hometown Gopalganj and was traveling across Yamuna Expressway. It was 1:30 pm on a hot sunny day on 25-May-2019 with temperature ranging about 45 degrees and my odo mileage around 8800 KM. I was traveling along with my pregnant wife, mom and my puppy Blaze at a speed between 90-100 km/hour. Just before Mathura toll plaza of Yamuna Expressway, my passenger side rear Tyre got burst into pieces. I could smell something burning in my cabin and was about to apply brakes when I felt a sudden jolt but still could not figure out what went wrong. I didn’t lose control of my steering wheel, didn’t apply brakes, took off my leg from accelerator and just let wheels roll over. When speed was less than 60 km/hour I applied brakes slightly and then immediately released. By this time, I knew some Tyre got burst as car was wobbling. I put on my left side indicators and started moving toward side curb. After about 0.7 KM from the location where Tyre got burst, I was able to pull over the curb. Luckily, cars traveling behind me, saw this entire episode happening right in front and slowed down. I was in complete shock, out of mind and didn’t know how to react for a brief time once I stopped. Three cars stopped to know our well-being and helped me over with Tyre change. One of the guy from those cars also brought back the burst piece of Tyre lying more than half km behind and I could see few burn marks in his hand because of the heat from burst Tyre. I averted a major personal catastrophe which could well have life long implications on my remaining family if we were not able to survive on so called Road to Hell cemented Yamuna Expressway. Bursting of Tyre was totally unexpected given I had checked air pressure just before starting the trip and it was just 3 months 4 days old car having 8800 km on odo. I was so infuriated and agitated that I immediately called up Jeep India customer care and Landmark service center to report this incident. Resolution Provided for Burst Tyre from Jeep India and Landmark dealership: Tyre is not covered directly by Jeep and coverage comes from Tyre manufacturer which in this case is Bridgestone. Firestone Tyres manufactured by Bridgestone is used in Jeep Compass up to Limited Plus editions. After inspection of the burst Tyre, Bridgestone told that burst happened due to side wall damage of Tyre because of low/flat pressure and not because of any manufacturing defect and rejected the claim. Jeep India replaced the burst Tyre free of cost as a goodwill gesture. I knew my Tyres were in good condition, almost new and also had checked the air pressure before starting the trip, so there was no way air pressure would come down. I told them that Tyre was not able to handle the heat generated by cemented Yamuna Expressway on a hot sunny noon and as a result oxygen inside the Tyre would have expanded to a limit which the Tyre was not able to handle and got burst. I googled about Jeep Compass Tyre burst and could spot few reviews where people have faced similar Tyre bursts in a hot day because of the substandard quality of Firestone Tyres used in Jeep Compass. I spent around 24 lakhs to buy this vehicle just to know that Tyres are not covered by Jeep warranty and Tyre manufacturer Bridgestone would not accept claim giving rubbish reasons of low/flat Tyre pressure. Jeep should have provided this vehicle without Tyres and would have asked customers to choose Tyres of their choicest manufacturer since warranty is covered by manufacturer. I asked Jeep India team to provide Firestone Tyre compatibility and safety check report for Jeep Compass on Indian road conditions which they must have done before launching Jeep Compass but they failed to provide. I went through online Consumer Affair portal and lodged a complaint against Jeep Compass for this incident and to ask them to replace my all four Tyres with a much reliable Tyre brand like Michelin or Goodyear but none outcome to my favor!