I am pretty sure you take a tire problem to the tire manufacture dealer not the Scion dealer and if it is a defect they will prorate it.

The Scion dealer is only relevant IF the tires are what were on when you bought the vehicle and it was completely a part failure (and not damage from driving it).

Not only does this episode tell you something about the integrity of the tire, it also tells you something about the integrity of the dealer.

http://newscionxb.com/2nd_gen_scion_xb_talk/dealer_experience-t267.0.html

I've seen tires blow out a side wall and the damage was much worse than this looks. Often a bad sidewall develops a bulge firs from weakening. From the look of the picture it looks like your tire was knifed. Did this happen when you were driving? I have Goodyear tires with my Scion and I was given a warranty pamphlet (Goodyear) from my dealer and told I take any tire problems to them. I'm 57 and have had quite a few new cars in my life and this has been the case as far back as I can remember.  You should have asked to talk to your salesman and sales manager if you didn't like what service was telling you--and you could call the number in the owners manual too. Never take the first word as the final word--if you watched the news tonight you'd see where Toyota and their dealers were saying different things concerning the gas pedal recall. They even had a salesman say to an undercover reporter the 2010 cars in the showroom weren't part of the recall.  As the age old "legal" saying goes... let the buyer beware.

This too was my initial thought.  However, I did show the tire to a couple of people that I know, and it was their opinion it was possibly due to a defect.  Since I never have had anything like this happen before, either blow out / knife puncture / defect, I had nothing to go on but other people's experience, and the helpful suggestions and recommendations from people such as yourselves on this board.  For that, I do thank you.

   My aggravation from yesterday morning isn't so much about the tire being unusable, whether by flaw or by malice.  That was annoying in and of itself.  What bothered me was the "Warranty?  What the Hell are you talking about there are no warranties." shuck and jive routine I received at the dealership.  They were relying on my uncertainty about what I was told when I purchased the car to  make a quick sale on a distressed customer, instead of ponying up and saying that the tires on a new car DO have a warranty, just not covered directly from them, and pointing me in the right direction.  I may have had to end up buying a tire anyway, but at least I'd be dealing with the company who I should have been.  Hell, I'd have just as likely gone back to the dealer to have it done by that point, since it is within walking distance of where I work. 

Since there is a real possibility of the tire being maliciously punctured, I feel violated not only by the possible unknown bastard who may have done it, but by the dealer muddling up and being deliberately vague about what I feel certain they damn well knew when I drove in there.

And I'm not letting myself off the hook here either.  I should have read things more closely also in my information packet.  I do bear responsibility here also.  I was annoyed that my Scion was messed up.

C'est la vie

Of course if it Was done as a deliberate act, then I have to wonder who I may have pissed off where.  I haven't had any fights or ill words with anyone that I know of.

  Then again, if anyone from the dealership reads this forum, I may find more flat tires soon..... : nervous laughter :

I had a flat tire yesterday... There was a screw in it... I could hear air whistling as it was leaving the tire. Made it to Discount Tire safely though, and they fixed it for free! At lease the TMPS light works!