Tire blowout or tread separation on the 2003 Toyota Corolla
Only 2 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When tire blowout or tread separation gets reported
There are 3 reports of tire blowout or tread separation on the 2003 Toyota Corolla, 2 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 38,000 miles. It is the 32nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 31,602 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $200–$1,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
This mode is classified as critical, which means a failure can leave the car unable to stop, steer, or stay out of the way of traffic. It is weighted accordingly in the risk score.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 5 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2003, at a median of 30,000 miles, and latest on the 1997 at 200,000 miles.
By volume the 1997 carries the most reports, with 6; the 2003 has 3. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 toyota corolla. The vehicle has firestone p195 tires. While driving approximately 65-70 MPH, the rear driver's side tire blew out and the vehicle swerved uncontrollably. The driver also noticed debris coming from the tire. The driver pulled over to the shoulder of the road and noticed that the tire tread was completely removed. In addition, the shield that covers the wheel well was disintegrated. The driver replaced the tire with a spare and drove the vehicle back to the contact's residence. The vehicle was driven to two local repair shops, but no diagnostic was provided for the tire blow out. The manufacturer advised that the tire be shipped to them for inspection. After the inspection, the manufacturer stated that they would inform her of their decision. The firestone dealer was notified and refused to assist her with the replacement of the tire. The tire size was unknown. The current mileage was 36,994 and failure mileage was 33,203. Updated 03/23/09. *lj updated 03/23/09.*jb
Our complaint is with a tire on our car. The tire is a mirada brand, sport gtx, size is 195/65r15. Dot number is 4un9 with date code 6ah5111. Tire is manufactured in the philippines. The car is a 2003 toyota corolla. Tire was mounted on right rear of car with nothing in car but driver and one(1) suitcase of clothes. Tire blew out the sidewall at approx.70 MPH on interstate hwy. 26 west of columbia, s.c. On 7/7/2014. Driver had been driving about 2.5 hours, all on good dry and clean pavement, no obstacles were encountered to run over and damage tire in any way, and air pressure in tire was sufficient. Tires were purchased new and had at time of failure approx. 30k miles. Vehicle was driven rest of trip with spare installed, we have failed tire in our possession. We are concerned with any lack of oversight on tires and other safety related products manufactured outside of the u.s. As there have been reports of failures like this in the past that I am aware of. Tire sales people where I purchased the set on our car has said they are unable to purchase these tires any longer, so we had to acquire a different brand to replace the…
Also reported on the 2003 Toyota Corolla
Other engine problem
Other speed control problem
Airbag inflator rupture
Other powertrain problem
Seat belt or retractor failure
Other body or interior problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 3 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 3 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does tire blowout or tread separation happen on the 2003 Toyota Corolla?
Across 2 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 30,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is tire blowout or tread separation on the 2003 Toyota Corolla?
3 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.0 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed