I would want a warranty replacement on that tire. That is side wall damage and if you did not do rock crawling with your car, then I don't know how it would get damaged that way. Did you scrape it on a curb?
Makes me wonder, who covers the warranty on the tires that came with the car?

 

Very common damage when off-roading — mostly cosmetic, in my opinion.

 

re: warranty

I believe the tire company owns warranty issues in cars I have had. There used to be a tire warranty booklet in the new car glovebox. These days, I'm lucky to get a glovebox.

 

Looks like an underinflated tire that ran over a road hazard. Make sure the wheel is not bent, check the inboard side.
The tires get rotated every 6k miles. Check for uneven tire wear. A wheel alignment check would be good. Look for a coupon to get it done for free. Check your Subaru dealer's Website and mysubaru.com Doesn't appear to have any tire cords showing so it is cosmetic damage.

 

These tires have 5,000 miles on them, maybe twenty of those on flat well graded gravel roads. I was rotating them this weekend and noticed this damage, how would this happen and why is it white underneath the thin layer of black?

I don't know why they build the tires like that, but it's not the first Geolandar tire I've seen where white rubber is showing up where the outer layer is worn or damaged. I recently saw someone with an Outback Wilderness who had rubbed their sidewalls on curbs and Lord know what else, and the whole side of the tire was white where the outer layer had been scraped off. It looked like a classic white wall tire.

I was under the impression that pretty much all modern tires were made with carbon black throughout all the layers/plies. But as I understand it, the main purpose of carbon black (aside from color) is to add durability against wear and abrasion as well as UV resistance. Seems like none of these really apply to inner layers that don't see the sun or direct contact with the road, so I guess it makes sense that they do an inner layer without carbon black and just use it in the tread and the sidewall overlay. I wonder if it's a cost-savings measure or if there's some other logic behind it. The bonus, I suppose, is that it acts as a super-obvious wear indicator.

 

Real natural rubber is white - that is why the Michelin Man is white. They found adding carbon black made tires more durable and resist UV radiation.
That has the appearance of scuff damage but I do not see telltale damage to surrounding areas - especially the flaking in the letter O. It could indicate a manufacturing defect. The dealer usually handles initial tire warranty claims. Even cosmetic damage should be addressed since there appears to be no surrounding scuffing indicating you caused damage. Won't hurt to try...

 

My '24 Xtek Sport has a separate tire warranty (booklet) from the rest of the owner's manuals (vehicle, MySubaru (formerly Starlink), Quick guide, and vehicle warranty (outlining by state). I presume the tire manufacturer determines the failure for warranty purposes. My guess is visiting your Subaru dealer first for them to determine how they handle factory tire warranties.

However, if these tires are not Subaru factory tires, I think you have to visit the tire dealer that installed them for warranty coverage (if any).

 

why is it white underneath the thin layer of black? Seems like a bad way to design somewhat of a offroad tire

Typical with a tire with raised white letters. Have same prob with the Goodyear Wranglers on my pickup. Scuff the sidewalls. there is a white layer underneath. Short of replacing the tire/s, here's the fix:

Black of course. Wide tip Cheap. Works just fine. I keep one in the glovebox.

 

Contact Yokohama: Warranty Information

 

I doubt it would be covered under warranty. It looks like a cosmetic scratch on the sidewall from a rock — the tire is still perfectly functional.