Yokohama

I have been an Advantage dealer for 7 years. I have met my unit numbers. Every year I have earned my signage. I operate in a town of 4000 people. It took one fly by night operation to come in and put up a sign and Yokohama did nothing to protect my territory. Do not buy this product. If they do not care about the dealer, what makes you think they care about you?

I noticed that tires were showing wear on our 2005 Ford F-150. I had purchased the four tires locally in February 2011. Mileage on tires from purchase date was 26,000 miles. I'm very dissatisfied and angry that the tires cost over $750 and did not last longer than 14 months. I would never buy those tires again. They were Yokohama Geolander tires.

I purchased these tires brand new for my 99 Mercury Mountaineer. Then the back-right tire had rubber on the sidewall just peeling off and falling off. The tire was de-laminating. I called Tire Rack and even sent them pictures of the tire. Their so-called "specialist" then replied saying that it's not a defective tire, that it is severe tire rubbing. There are no rub marks anywhere on the tire. I am holding the pieces of rubber in my hand in one of the pictures. They tried telling me I didn't know what I am talking about. I do this for a living in the military and I also do this on the civilian side, and I am certified. So they had me drive to a Yokohama dealer to re-inspect the tire. He said it was not from any form of road hazard, but it also is not a defect so they won't replace the tire.

I called Tire Rack back and said I am filing a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. Then their way of fixing the problem is me buying a brand new tire, sending the old one in and having it inspected again and if they think it's a defect, then I get refunded based on how much tread is left. I said no, I will just file my complaint. They then offered to let me buy a tire at 50% off and still send the old tire in and I'll get refunded what tread I have left. Being in the situation I am financially in, I had no choice but to buy the tire at 50% but I did assure them that this is not over and I will being taking this further. I am enlisted in the Air Force and I make close to no money. I am about to move 1400 miles to another state.

Something needs to be done about this company. They are robbing people blind and not holding up to their so-called standards. I will never buy Yokohama tires ever again and I will be posting all pictures on every website possible and making sure the whole world knows not to buy their tires.

I fixed tire for my i20 for 4 wheels on. After 1 month, suddenly in my back rear tire had a small bulging and suddenly I went to my tire dealer XL tire point but after 3 days, they are telling it can't be accepted for warranty don't know why. But other shop where I asked, all are telling it's only manufacturer's default. I need immediate action for my kind request. Please because can't get any response.

Yokohama tires are bad. I have 22k miles on them and they are less than three years old. They are out of round and cracking on the sidewalls. I would never ever buy another tire from them or recommend them. After 12k, they were out of round and manufacturer gave me the runaround to replace them. What a scam. Don't buy. I will post pictures of tires all over the web to prove the defects. Yokohoma tires do not last.

I purchased a 2010 Dodge Caravan brand new. We have had nothing but issues with the Yokohama Avid tires that came with it from the factory, Size 225/65/R16. At 32000 miles the tires are completely bald. We have had the tires rotated every 6000 miles and we take very good care of our vehicle. These tires should not be bald yet. Also through the 32000 miles we have constantly put air in these tires. They are constantly setting the sensor off in the van and always are low. I have actually been on the internet seeing if I am the only one with this problem, and I am not! I have contacted the dealer and the dealer or the service department cannot do anything about this.

These tires have an excellent warranty on them but no one seems to want to honor it. Also Chrysler is aware of this problem and even stopped using these tires on their minivans. Is there anything I can do about a reimbursement for these tires? I feel as a consumer I should be entitled to something. I bought this minivan because of its safety ratings and through the year of owning it with these tires on it, not feeling all so safe. I believe Yokohama should admit this problem and reimburse the customers with this issue. A good tire would not have gone bad so soon, not to mention the safety issue of them. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

One of my Yokahama Geolandar AT/S 18" tires had a sidewall blowout while traveling down the highway at approximately 65 mph. My husband handled the situation well, and we did not end up in an accident. I did not want to post any stars above, but this form will not submit without at least 1 star selected. I wanted to put a negative number.

We were south of Quitman, MS @ +- 2:30 a.m. We had to change a huge tire ourselves, as traffic both from semi transit trucks and other vehicles returning home from the football game whizzed by. It was very dangerous, but we could not obtain roadside assistance to help. I am concerned about the safety of the other 2 Yokahama tires, especially since this is the vehicle my teenage daughter drives.

I purchased 2 pieces of Yokohama A Drive Tire at their dealer, Molino Bacoor, Cavite Branch on July 6, 2011. I changed the old tires, Yokohama S series, because I am on 1-month holiday in the Philippines and I left August 7, 2011. So meaning, my car is not in use as a day-to-day car.

But last week, my wife noticed the sidewalls of the tire has a lump (bukol) and called the attention of the dealer. But they're hesitant to change the said tire and called the attention of this stupid supplier named Don Rosario.

Upon seeing only with his naked eyes, he strongly disagreed to change the tire because he is insinuating that the car hit some potholes resulting in the lump of the tire. Considering it is only a less than 2-month-old tire. How can it be if the car is seldom used and most of the time the car is in my garage?

He arrogantly said that he is well-trained and equipped with education in Japan to handle quality issue of the tire. Hey, man I don't ** care of your training or whatsoever. I am handling customer service also but that's not the proper way to treat a customer. Remember, I will not sacrifice my family's safety and my hard-earned money as an OFW for your poor quality tires, bad product, poor customer service and bad after sales support.

I challenge you to come here in Lae, Papua New Guinea, City of Potholes. All of the tires here is still in good condition, whereas all of the roads here is in bad condition. Heaps of potholes everywhere.

I am very disappointed with this Yokohama tires. I will change my brand from now on. Do not give a 3-year warranty if you are not explaining your terms and conditions. I'd rather stab the tire to void my warranty than not doing anything at all with the tire. And yet you keep on saying the car hit a pothole. It's the quality of your tires.

I purchased a Yokohama tires October 2008 per sales pitch of this dealership. The 2007 Honda Civic had 64,000 miles on it. The car has had all required maintenance: Tires rotated every 6,000 miles, alignments, balanced, etc. After first 12,000, I began complaining to the dealership about vibration and very loud noise from tires. I was told time and time again that it was because Yok tires were 'hard' and last a long time but could be noisy. I continued to rotate and never got any positive response from this dealer.

Last rotation, I told service manager (new guy) again about tire vibration and noise and he said again that the tires are hard and noise to be expected. Today, 6,000 miles later, another rotation and my complaint. I took SM for a drive down the highway. He agreed to the noise and vibration and oh, yes; he could see this tire had cupping! Now, he says it's uneven tire wear and moved it to the rear of the car. The steering wheel vibrated and the hum was so loud you can't stay inside the car! The dealership knows about this car's regular maintenance because they do it all and couldn't come back with any other 'outs' as I had a response for everything he tried to lay down.

This car has a #6 on all 4 tires and shouldn't have to be replaced yet, but that was his only suggestion. He said the company won't give a rebate/refund because it's uneven wear. How can you get uneven wear continuously on one tire if you rotate regularly and align as required? It's the crappy tires and I hate to have to spend more money now, but I'm going back to my awesome Michelin. This dealership wanted the sale but doesn't go to Yoko to stand up for their customers. Too bad, I will need to find another dealership for my Honda too.

Good Morning Sir, (General Sales Manager),

We spoke Sunday afternoon about the problem with my tires that wore out just over the past year. The Yokohama Corp. sent me the below attached response enabling you guys to do the inspecting. So respectfully, I'm now back to you at the car dealership. My car was bought last June/August of 2010. It had at the time that I took possession of the car, already had 300 miles on the odometer and it currently has 24,400.

When I came by the dealership (around November 22nd 2010) over a week before I spoke to you, my car then had 24,180 miles on it when I spoke to the service advisor, **** who assured me that he would look into what avenue I should take. I still have his business card but I still don't have his response to my request for help as to what to do. Again to reiterate, I believe in roughly a little over a year, the tires have become unsafe and I feel for such a new car that this has been a failure of the product.

Also, the fact this is my second car that is a Scion TC one that I purchased through ****Toyota, SC, I do have a good understanding of what the tire 'should' have lasted from my last experience with the first Scion TC back in 2004/5 model year and the Bridgestone Potenzas that came with that first TC. I understand that tires do deteriorate but alas, when I was at the traffic stop 3-4 months ago, back in July, the police woman then said to me, "I better take a look at my tread-wear," then. That means that the tires then had started to, in a noticeable fashion already, show that they were "wearing out" in the first 11-12 months. I drive 11.5 miles to work and about 15-miles home. Those low miles, accounts for 27-miles per day +/-. I also have had my tires rotated upon my 5,000 mile oil changes and have the documentation to validate. Still nothing could be done to slow this process.

So now, I am no longer in denial about the quality of these Yokohamas S-Drive (S32a's)(215-45-zr 17's - tires). I have to return to the place that stands by their product, service and reputation. I hope now that this dealership has changed to the **** Automotive Group, that this could be handled in the fashion that has made **** number one in customer service in 10-states and 61 dealerships and also has a strong presence here in Charleston, SC, as well as the southeastern region.

I, who have worked in the customer service industry for the last 14 years at local 4 and 5-star hotel establishments here in Charleston, SC., fully understand how this translates to return customers. I hope I can count on this dealership to help with this matter. I am not prepared to have to replace a fairly new product and absorb such a large cost within such a short span of time of purchasing a new car from your dealership.

David ***

To: ****@hotmail.com

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for contacting our office. In order to determine if your tires have a warrantable condition, we ask that you have the tires inspected by the car dealer which you purchased from or a local Yokohama tire dealer. The dealer is authorized to determine warrantable conditions on behalf of Yokohama Tire Corporation.

To find a dealer in your area, please visit yokohamatire.com and enter your zip code in the dealer locator box. If you or the dealer should have any questions, please feel free to contact us at * *** *** **** and * *** *** ****, Monday through Friday 6am-4:45pm (pacific time). When calling, please reference your case number located in the "subject" line of this email.

Thank you for your interest in Yokohama Tire Corporation.

The OEM tires on my Lexus GS were Yokahama run flat tires, 245/40R18 93Y. The tires were completely worn out at 12,400 miles from uneven wear and cupping especially on the inside edges. No, it is not an alignment issue. No, it is not a tire rotation or tire pressure issue. To purchase a premium vehicle with such an inadequate and under performing tire is disappointing to say the very least. The tires were rotated every 4,000 miles (or less). Two four wheel alignments have been performed. Regardless of the extra care given to these tires, they wore out at 12,400 miles. In fact strips of rubber were coming off the edges of the tire. These are unsafe tires.

I purchased four P26570217 Yokohama tires from Big O tires. I was on vacation when I noticed a softball size bubble on the inside wall of my rear tire (defect in the tire wall), which was what Big O tires told me in Boulder City, Nevada. My tires have less than 28,000 miles on them. The warranty is for 60,000 miles. Big O tires said I will get a new tire pro-rated on mileage. I am glad the tire did not blow while I was in the Mojave desert! I am thinking of changing all tires that are not Yokohama. This is a fact Mr. **. Shame on your company for producing a bad product.

Today I replaced my Yokohama AVID TRZ tires because they were worn out at 37,000 miles. I bought these tires at Dunn Tire because of its ratings in Consumer Reports. I am however disappointed with Consumer Reports ratings and Yokohama 80,000 mile warranty.

I am writing in response to the following string that I found on your site today:

"We received this from Yokohama:

As the supervisor of the Yokohama Tire Consumer Affairs Department, I came across your website while doing research. It is terribly disappointing that consumeraffairs.com does not research the claims by customers before posting the information to the website. Your motto is "Knowledge is power!" but knowledge of incorrect information is misinforming your readers and in turn, makes your website look bad. Perhaps you should consider researching the claims posted by consumers so that you can correctly inform your readers.

Nathan **

It's very disappointing to find a company so disconnected from its consumers that it thinks they shouldn't be able to post comments in a public forum without someone else's approval. Mr. ** does his company a great disservice."

Mr. ** is merely stating that he feels it's unfortunate that your website posts complaints from people without any prior research. Nowhere does he states your website should obtain approval from anyone prior to posting. If, in fact, you are allowing postings without first checking into the complaints, it would seem that there is very little validity to the postings. Virtually anyone could post a complaint about a company and it may be completely made up. Perhaps that person works for a competitor or has nothing better to do than to post negative comments. I am curious about your statement that Yokohama is disconnected from its customers. Perhaps the person with the complaint did not file his complaint with the proper company or had the wrong email address or never filed a complaint at all. I have nothing to gain or lose by writing here. I was doing some research on tires to buy when I came across your website.

I bought a set of new Yokohama Avid TRZ tires from NTB in Rosenburg, TX in August 2009. The salesman said these tires have an 80k warranty. Now I have less than 40k miles on tires bought 14 months ago and they are completely worn out and I had to replace one already. I have emailed and called Yokohama. They never responded. They don't care. I think it is terrible to make a claim of 80k and I have 38k on them. How can they get away with false advertising? I would never buy these tires again for my 2004 Honda CRV.

My 2010 Toyota Prius has just over 12k miles on it. Last week, on a major highway going 65mph, the sidewall on my tire went out. I looked online and saw many other complaints similar to my experience. I just replaced all 4 tires for my own safety.

I bought a new 2010 Toyota RAV 4 Limited w/ leather 4x4 in March. I have driven 18,600 highway miles on it in 6 months, RT 50 Washington, DC. My driver side rear tire blew out on the side wall for no reason. No operator error on my part, as witnessed by Mr. Tire Dealer that acts as retail center for the manufacturer and says it was a tire manufacture's defect. Side wall blew out a 4" gash and not caused by operator error as confirmed by Mr. Tire rep. Toyota says tires are Yokohama's warranty. Yokohama says Toyota but not tires due to wear & tear.

Yokohama will only credit a portion of unused tire worn. (I have case number.) Who's to say the other tires won't burst anytime soon like the one did? My family of four is hesitant to trust the tires. In as much as the tires are Yokohama, it's Toyota corp that decides which manufacturer to load car with. Shame on Toyota for selecting junk, criminal on Yokohama's position to not just make good and replace defective tires immediately. Who out there next, driving with family, using Yokohama tires is destined to crash and to be thrown across lanes at 60mph with no warning? Yokohama's position is not to admit product defect as they would be required to have a product recall and cost much yen (money). I want Goodyear, Michelin or even Bridgestone. Please blog to all and look for other stories and boycott Yokohama! Toyota is next!

I am the owner of a set of Yokohama AVID TRZ tires. I have purchased Yokohama's in the past and these tires had received above average ratings from tirerack.com I purchased them 11/23/2008 and have put about 40000 miles on them. The tread is wearing fine. They are wearing evenly and have a good deal of tread depth to go.

The problem is in the sidewalls. These tires are developing cracks that are between 3 and 4 inches long about 2" out from the rims. The deepest are starting to show the cords. In between the cracks, the tire has an alligator skin look where it is covered with smaller dry rot cracks. The existing deep cracks are beginning to spread open, like a skin wound pulled tight. I am afraid these tires are a blowout waiting to happen. At $165 to replace each of the defective tires, it sure beats the cost of the deductible and the headache of having caused an accident due to a blowout and possibly crossing into another lane and causing an accident. A blowout is imminent from watching the deterioration of the tires in just under one month. Tires are not meant to be run with their cords exposed to the elements.

I talked with my tire installer, and he agrees that I do have a dry rot issue, but he also shakes his head knowing that Yokohama will find any excuse to blame this on improper care-- any sign of under or over inflation, examination of the tread to see if there are unusual wear patterns, and also to see if the tires were rotated every 5000 miles. In short, he said that you just won't get satisfaction from Yokohama from his past experience. I am still submitting the claim as the tires have a 5 year warranty on manufacturing defects.

Still, with the attitude of Yokohama from reading user forums, I don't expect a reply. My response is simple - move on. I will find another tire manufacturer who can make a good tire that won't exhibit these defects. I don't want to have to defend my care of the vehicle and its tires. My vehicle is a 2009 Chevy Malibu LTZ which is in fine running condition and will be on its last set of Yokohamas. My advice, take heed and choose another brand!

I will never buy another Yokohama tire again. To make short story shorter, after at 25,000 miles on my Acura TL, one front tire failed on the outside of the tire with a 2" split, right there on the side of the tire. End of the tire, goodbye $300. I called their consumer support line, they gave me a case no., I was to take the tire to one of their dealers and have them look at it. The dealer would "evaluate it." I took it to a dealer on their list. There were scratches on my rims where I hit a curb, but I did. The clerk's basic attitude was: (1) They barely knew anything about Yokohama's supposed program to return the tire; (2) there were scratches on the rim so I must have done something to cause the tire to fail. Somehow I was supposed to prove that I didn't abuse the tire or otherwise cause the tire to fail. Funny, as I've been driving for 30 years, the Yokohama tire was the first tire I've ever had that failed.

I don't have the background to fight with them over a $300 tire (which is what they count on, most claims just go away). I have Goodyear tires on my Acura now and I'm quite pleased with them.

Tire Distributor - Stock Wheels & Hub Caps owners are good people, whom I purchased two Yokohama Tires 235-70-16's through. The tires are still look like they are in Great condition with a lot of tire life as the warranty was 40K miles; we have about 34K miles on them. The problem is that the sidewalls have numerous cracks on the side all throughout the circumferences right along the rim and about 2" above the rim (on both the left & right side vehicle tires) shows the same manufacture defect.

I didn't have the time to take the car in to have the tires checked earlier as we use the car for work and also my daughter uses it for travelling to & from Summer University School. Steve, the owner of Stock Wheels & Hub Caps looked at these tires today 07/31/10 and agreed the tires had a lot of good thread and condition except for the cracks on the tires, Steve went on to mention that this defect can cause a crack to open and the tire to blowout and burst, went on to mention this happens mostly on Yokohama and also Michelin tires. Steve is going to call Yokohama Tires on Monday, and will get back with me to say what the distributor mentions.

My 79 year old mother purchased a left over 2009 Subaru Legacy last September. I chauffer her in it most of the time because I have a truck which she has a hard time getting in and out of. She was on the highway and a young man told her to pull over because she had a flat. He was nice enough to change it for her. When I saw the tire I was shocked because it split on the side. When she called the dealer, he said that's not covered. She explained how it split. He redirected her to a Yokohama distributer he deals with. I'm looking for a distributer in my area to replace the tires. Since I've read the reports online about Yokohama tires, I think I'll get another brand. My mom could have been seriously hurt, even killed. Yokohama should be held responsible for the replacement and it should be made public that their product is defective.

On 1/8/10, I purchased two new tires for the front of 2009 Chev Aveo--at that time, there were 29,145 miles on the car. The tires were Yoko Avid TRZ T Blk at $83.09 each. Warranty: 80,000 miles. The tires were mounted and balanced. While out of town over the weekend, we noticed that the edge of the tires were cracking on the sidewall. I took the car in to have the tires looked at on 7/19/10. The mileage: 47,954.

I was advised that the cracking of the tires "appears to be coming from the alignment. Feathering on edges. Both tires, but the left one is worse." They recommended alignment and tire rotation. Normally, we do rotate the tires every other oil change. However, we knew that we needed two new tires and were unable to purchase them so it was better to have these tires on the front. I have never heard of alignment causing cracking. We weren't offered any kind of compensation for the tires and they are under warranty.

Yokohama tires were on my Subaru Forester upon purchase. First, I only drive to the train station which is under 2 miles away, so after 4 years, I have only about 5000 miles on this 2006 model. But in that time, I have had to replace a bad Yokohama tire at inspection, and it cost me about $200! Now, only 2 months after, I got a nail in a tire on vacation, and was told these 5-year-old tires were cracking and should be replaced. I'm getting four new Dunlops. I am done with this rare, expensive and bad tire.

I have been completely satisfied with Yokohama tires. I work in a limestone quarry and drive my truck over and through mud, water, sand and sharp stones daily. I have had three sets of Geolandar ATS tires and one set of Geolandar HTS tires. All have lasted 40,000 to 50,000 miles and have been very durable. I recommend them to coworkers and some have tried them with complete satisfaction also.

I bought four Yokohama Avid TRZ at two different dates--08/07 and 05/08. By June 2010 the tires were worn down; one set had 27,000 miles and the other set 19,000. The warranty is for 80,000 miles. The dealer supposedly tried calling Yokohama all week without a return phone call. I called Yokohama and was on hold for 20 minutes before the recording told me to leave a message because no one was available. I left a message and sent an email, but no response.

I will post a follow-up whenever I get this resolved, either by working with Yokohama or by giving up.

I purchased 4 Yoko tires with 60000 mile warranty for my minivan. In less than 30000 miles, I was told that all the tire tracks were pretty worn and need to be replaced soon. Three weeks later, today, one the tires failed on the busy highway because the inner side of the tire split off within 2 minutes after the warning light came on. I also purchased the services for the tires. So, I have the tires rotated regularly and check the pressures and balance. I was really shocked when it happened today. I am not capable of changing tires myself and it's why I take care of my minivan very much.

I was at least three hours away from home with my daughter in the middle of driving on the highway. I'm glad that no accident happened and we were helped and finally got home, although it took five more hours than we expected to get home. I've never seen a well-cared tire with less than 30000 miles fail before. Since it is my first time using Yokohama tires, it makes me question the quality of their products. Buyers beware!

;I had the belts break on 3 of 4 Yokohama Avid P225/55R16 tires. These 4 tires were purchased for my Wife's BMW 528 in March of 2008 from Merchants Tire and Auto. Also, I had Merchants align the wheels, and purchased the Merchants "Total Care" tire service lifetime tire rotation and wheel balance policy for the tires. Since then I have had Merchants do the periodic tire services. The tires were warranted for 60,000 miles. When I recently drove her car in May 2010, felt a significant vibration, and I told her the wheels need to be balanced or aligned. Since Merchants had recently serviced the tires, it was taken to the BMW dealer for an alignment. The BMW dealer stated the belts on the tires were broken. She took the car to Merchants and they said 3 tires had broken belts. The tires had about 28,000 miles on them when the vibration occurred. She replaced the tires with a different brand.

With 28,000 miles on my Yokohama Geolander tires, I was preparing to replace them due to wear. They are warranted for 60,000 miles. Driving north on I-95 last weekend, the left rear blew out in the sidewall at 70 mph. We were very, very, lucky. Now I am going to replace all four. I see others have had the same experience. One reason I responded was due to the arrogant response of the Yokohama dealer shown at the top. Maybe I could ship him my tire and he could take a look. No more Yokohama for me.

I got my tire change at Fender Mender in August 2010. After driving 12 miles, the tire lost all the thread. I went to Fender Mender and asked about the replacement since the warranty on tire was 20,000 miles. They told me that the tire cannot be changed because I have rotated the tires after 6,000 miles and warranty is voided. I don't understand. If the tire carries 20,000 miles warranty and if I have exceeded that mileage, how can my tire not be replaced?

I bought a 2009 Subaru Legacy in August of 2009 and only drive to work 5 miles a day (includes both ways). At 5000 miles, 2 of the tires busted and I had to buy new ones. At 6000 miles the other 2 busted out the sides and I had to buy 2 more. Now, tell me at $200.00 at tire, I should get more than 5000 and 6000 miles out of all 4 tires, don't you think?

Thank goodness I was at work when our mechanic noticed a golfball size knot sticking out from the side of the tire which caught my attention to keep an eye out for the others. If I had been on the road with my grandchildren and had a blowout on one or even all 4 tires, we could have all been killed. I have not taken my action yet but I plan to in the very near future. Bye the way, I did switch to a different tire besides yokohama but I feel like I should at least get my money back for the junky tires that I spent so much for on my brand new car to start with.