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NTB - Tire Quality

National Tire & Battery (NTB) • Batteries • Tires • Brakes • Damaging wheels and rims • Damaging studs and lug nuts • Damaging customers' cars • Price disputes • One-hour discount • Poor service • Unnecessary repairs • Warranty disputes • Work left undone/done poorly ---- • NJ Fraud Case Settled • Sears Unloads NTB

Tim of Hendersonville TN (8/29/03):
I purchased a set of tires from NTB on 3/14/2000. After 21,397 miles the tread separated from the tire. On 4/03/2002 the tire was replaced and prorated with a less expensive tire. I was told that NTB did not sell the tire that failed any longer. My prorated price for the tire was $30.41.

During replacement of the failed tire I asked to have the remaining three tires broken down and inspected both inside and out. The tires were reinstalled and the manager stated that the inspectd tires were O.K. My receipt shows tread depth at 10/32 when new. After 9000 miles the tread separated on another tire while traveling on the interstate. This time my truck was damaged from the separation. Before returning home, another tire started to separate. Tread wear is now 6/32. The pro-rated price of the new replacement tire will be $54.32 for a tire that list price for $44 plus tax and balancing.

Because the tires were suspected since the first tread separation I offered to pay the same price as I did for the replacement tire, $30.41 each. These tires are defective from the manufacturer. I have had 3 out of 4 tires fail with the same type of failure within 9000 miles. These tires are DANGEROUS! And I want them off of my truck.

My loses are minimal since these are "economy" tires. The damage to the truck is to the lower part of the fender and bumper. But it is an old truck used mainly to shuttle me to the airport and back. Less than 10,000 miles per year. Is there any other alternative venue for me to follow? All that I am searching for is a REASONABLE solution. Mr. Hooks has rejected my offer and will not stand behind the products he sells.

Tim should file suit in Small Claims Court seeking the full replacement price of all four tires plus damages to his truck and any other expenses he incurred.

Ronnie of Flintstone GA (7/20/03):
We purchased a set of Yokohoma tires on March 15, 2001 with 109,255 miles on our car. These tires had a 50,000 mile warranty. Since purchase, we took the car back for regular rotation and balance. When we recently brought it in for routine rotation and balance, we were told that the tires were “worn out”, that in fact, three of them showed metal. The mileage on our car was 133,750. Because these tires had a 50,000 mile warranty and we had gone less than half those miles, we wanted our warranty honored. We were told that Yokahoma would have to make a decision regarding warranty.

The man at NTB called Yokahoma and was told that all people who could make that decision were in a seminar. I waited for over an hour for the fellow at NTB to call Yokohoma back which he did and got the same story. I was offered me a set of Douglas tires with virtually no warranty as replacement for my Yokahoma, which was totally unacceptable. Because NTB could not and obviously would not honor our tire warranty, we went elsewhere to get tires.

We paid $305.22 for these bad Yokahoma tires that wore out at less than half the warranty guarantee, we expect NTB to reimburse us for half the price we paid for the tires as we have only gotten half the life of what we paid for. We have been trading with NTW/NTB for over 25 years and are very disappointed.

We wrote NTB and got absolutely no response, then wrote Yokohama who responded promptly that they would, indeed honor the warranty. Needless to say, we will not return to NTB for any reason.

Ben of Mundelein IL (7/8/03):
I replaced one tire on my vehicle and no less than 5 days later it blew out while driving on the highway and they are only offering a "mileage warranty". I was told that they couldn't fully replace the tire. It seems awfully suspect that a new tire should blow out less than a week of having it.

Jake of Ewing NJ (4/25/03):
NTB sold me a set of tires that are falling apart prematurely. They have yet to do anything about it. During simple tire rotations, they have caused damage to my rim. And too, they have sent me on my way after performing rotations without putting all of the lug nuts on the tires; I would get home and notice that I'm missing lug nuts on my tires. Of course I contact the manager "Bill" and he says that I came in missing lugs on my tires. If so, then why wouldn't they tell me that I'm missing a tre lug? You (a tire expert) would knowingly send let someone drive off without telling them that they are missing parts; you would let your customer put themselves in danger like that? It makes no sense!

NTB does all of my tire work; therefor if I'm missing something (especially lug nuts) it's because they neglected to put them back on after they removed them. Of course the manager "Bill" says that he'll order me new lug nuts and he'll call me when they're in (although he tried to pin the blame on me first - I guess it's my responsibility ot to put the lug nuts on after they changed the tire). So far its been 4 days and I've not received a call.

These tires are falling apart and causing a lot of extremely loud vibration during the ride. I don't feel safe with these tires. Since NTB is doing NOTHING to help me I'm going to get a second opinion about my tires. If it does turn out that these tires are defective or they are damaged due to NTB's negligence, I will take them to court.

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