Yokohama

We received this from Yokohama:

As the supervisor of a 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 Ortega

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

Rick of Ogden, UT October 24, 2009

I purchased Yokohama AVID TRZ tires based on a Consumer Report issue that claimed the tires were a good purchase if you wanted long tread life. The tires are supposed to have an 80,000 mile warrantee and lasted about 35,000 miles with very mild driving on a Toyota Camry. The Big O tire store in Ogden stated that’s all you really get from the tires and the store, not the manufacturer deals with any warrantee issues. This is less than half of what is promised, even with all recommended rotations, etc. done at Big O.

I'm wondering now about the validity of the Consumer Report tests and the honesty in general of the tire store. I'm thinking a little internet research is probably more cost effective. Buy tires online, have the barely trained shop monkeys put them on, and hope for the best because there really is no recourse for a bad product.

Janice of Atlanta, GA October 2, 2009

I currently own a 2001 Chev. Monte Carlo and purchased 4 Yoko's for it around November 2007. My brother is a true Yoko fan and has them on all 3 of his vehicles. I live in Atlanta and drive roughly 60 miles each day for work and take road trips (400 miles)home as often as time permits. I haven't had any major problems with my tires except for the fact that in the rain they felt like slicks from day one. I've rotated and balanced them like clockwork and to this day the rubber looks pretty good. I am beginning to feel a fish like movement during evening traffic...lol (signs I have gotten my money's worth) but at this point if I am able to find another tire that is geared more for wet handling I will surely purchase another Yoko product. If not, I will have to choose Bridgestone.

ROGER of NORTH SMITHFIELD, RI July 6, 2009

I purchased a new set of Yokohama tires in November of 2008. As fo July 2009 I am replacing 2 of the 4 due to bulging of the sidewalls. It seems to me that this is a more than common problem with Yokohama tires after reading all the reviews. I brought the car back to the tire dealership and was told that since I had not purchased a road hazard warranty there was nothing they could do.

Eric of Pittsburgh, PA June 10, 2009

Purchased full set of Yokohama AS430 tires from National Tire and Battery for a 2000 Nissan Maxima SE. One year later, sidewall bulge develops. As I had not purchased a roadhazard plan, I had to pay another ~150 for a new tire + installation. Two years since initial purchase, a second tire develops a sidewall bulge. NTB insists that it was the result of an impact as does Yokohama. While that may be the case, I've never had this happen with any other brand of tire.

I've not abused the car, nor the tires. If these tires cannot withstand the duress of normal driving (that is, hitting potholes or other common road disturbances), it would seem that they are a poorly constructed tire. Having been told that both of these sidewall bulges are my fault by both NTB and Yokohama, I shall not be purchasing any tires from either outfit. Poor customer service in light of what is an expensive and extremely fragile tire. Hopefully others will see these warnings as opposed to the majority of us who come here AFTER the fact. If you are one of those, please don't buy Yokohama tires--that is not unless you purchase a roadhazard guarantee.

Hal of Katy, TX June 5, 2009

Tires: Yokohama S-DRIVE These tires are "supposed" to replace the AVS ES100 (which was an excellent tire). This was a high performance tire that I have been driving on a BMW M3 since 2003. I still have a set on the front of my car. The rear tires (AVS ES100) were replaced with the S-DRIVE in January 2009. At 2000 miles the tires were completely worn out. I took the car back to the store where purchased. The "manager" (turned out he wasn't) accused me of driving the car "hard". We called Yokohama and the "customer service" representative said the tires would be replaced as their tires were good for a lot more than 2000 miles. She told us to take it to the Discount Tire of our choice. We did not return to the store where purchased because of the accusations of the "employee". We took it to Discount Tire TXH 57. The tires were replaced free of charge courtesy of Yokohama and Discount Tire.

The new tires (S-DRIVE) were replaced on 3/30/2009 and today 6/05/2009 there's not a weeks worth of tread left on the tire. The Discount Tire rep this morning told Nathan at Yokohama that the tires were driven hard. The original tires were requested by Yokohama to be returned to them, I imagine for evaluation as the formula is obviously wrong for a tire to wear out this fast. I have read on BMW blogs of other drivers getting over 48,000 miles with no problems.

Personal History: I drive this car 35 miles per day in traffic to and from work. On the weekends I sometimes use it to take my 3 year old son fishing. I am 60 years old and have had this car since 1999 and running Yokohama Tires since that time.

Bruce of Toronto, ON April 18, 2009

Bruce of Toronto ON (04/18/09)
New tires purchased in Novemeber 2008, One of the set of four tires has a sidewall bulge. Drivers side front. The tire store said must be from curb impact. The curb is on the passenger side of the car! That is the Tire World answer. Yokohama have not responded to email sent to their website. I have driven for 38 years without a bulge even when I have hit a curb. A defective tire should be replaced without question.

Sidewall tire bulge.

Jacques of Westville, OTHER March 17, 2009

Jacques of Westville, South Africa (03/17/09)
I work in a very reputable tyre dealership in South Africa, and have to say that many of the complaint above are fairly common (ie. sidewall bubbles, blowouts, tread seperation) and often have a very simple explanation on closer examination.

Many of my clients with bubbles claim never to have hit anything but on examination of their wheels you can clearly see impact markings.

Tread seperation ..... same story. Poor tyre repairs, overloading, wrong tyre pressures, wrong application for your vehicle.

It is not always the manufacturer or tyre dealership being difficult, but if everyone just complains and gets re-reimbursement tyre prices will have to get a lot higher. I've found all the manufacturers that we deal with more than accommodating when it comes to legitimate complaints.

Sha of Columbia, MD March 9, 2009

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.

Back to the top |