I know there's at least a few of us running these tires so figured a heads up was in order. General has stopped making the G-Max AS-03 in lieu of an updated G-max as-05 set for release May 1st.
http://tirereviewsandmore.com/general-g-max-as-05-reviews/Just hope you don't find yourself in my situation and need to replace one of your existing AS-03's.
After less than 2 months of having them on the car one of my tires suffered a nail puncture that was close enough to the sidewall to render it unrepairable. Luckily i had the tire protection plan on the tires so just get a new tire right? . . Wrong. The service writer at Big O informed me the tire was on national back order so they were forced to patch and plug the tire until they could source a new one. I had a suspicion that the tire was disco'd so i emailed General and they confirmed that they G-Max AS-03 was no longer being made.
So i'm stuck with 3 good tires and the 4th was no where to be found. No local stores,no vendors online, not Ebay not Amazon . .no one.(WTF! did i get the last 4 in the nation or what?) After discussing the issue with the Big O manager he eventually referred me to the district manager who tried to tell me they would warranty 1 new tire of a different brand they had in stock and i'd have to buy the other 3 to complete the set. I had some unkind words for him. He eventually offered to provide 2 new sumitomo tires and i could run 2 different brand tires on the car or buy the other 2 Sumitomo's. I still wasn't satisfied so i decided to contact Continental/General to see if they would be able to track down a single G-Max 03. . . and i'm glad i did.
The sales lady who took my call was the same person who had responded to my email about the G-max being discontinued and even recalled my name. After a short discussion she explained that if Big O provided a damage inspection report on the tire that General would supply 2 of the new G-max AS-05 tires free of charge so at least the axle would have matching tires. She also explained that even with an AWD car the differences in the 03 vs. 05 version of the tires would behave nearly identical on the car and would be a suitable tire combo.
Needless to say i was damn happy i made that phone call and very impressed with General Tires customer service and willingness to work with me. They could've just as easily told me to get lost.
I'm also looking forward to speaking to Big O's district manager again so i can let him know he owe's me a big fat thank you for doing the leg work in getting my own tires replaced instead of letting him rip me off.
