general problems of the 1997 Volkswagen Passat

At the time of purchase the consumers were concerned with the fact that the tires looked dry rot and there was evidence of cracking rubber, one month later all four tires failed during highway driving, there were no injuries, the car was totalled and there was damage to the guard rail that was hit when the car lost control as a result of the flat tires, neither passenger or driver air bags deployed when the vehiclw hit the guard rail (goodyear eagle GA 215 50r15). Nlm.