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.

Sha of Columbia, MD March 9, 2009

Sha of Columbia MD (03/09/09)
I slowly backed out of my driveway in my Mini Van. Stopped and let my fott off the brake to make sure I reached the circle on my cul de sac withback rear of my tire, a touch not even a tap. Drove forward and my tire defaled. Turns out my side wall cracked. (a 3 inch fisure) It is an 80,000 mile tire with 15,000 miles on it. Merchant Tire says I must have pinched the tire on the side but did not. There is no damage to the side of the tire. They offered me a 38 credit against a 125 new tire. Any comments? THanks

Stephen of Brooklyn, NY March 4, 2009

Stephen of Brooklyn NY (03/04/09)
I have read through the various issues with Yokohama tires published here. And while I do not wish to negate those issues, I do wish to have published my experience with the Yokohama tires.

Being a 'car guy', 3 years ago my sister asked me to research and purchase a set of new tires for her 1997 Nissan Altima. I read customer reviews and the ratings for the Ultra High Performance All Season category on Tirerack & DiscountTire. Two tires came out on top..Michelin's (extremely pricey) and Yokohama's. I decided it was worth a shot to give the Yoko's a try and save some decent money. They were model AVID H4S (size 205/60/15).

Fast forward 3 years and 50,000+ miles later. My sister once again came to me and said it was time for tires as they were in need of replacement in the very near future. I did the research all over again, and not surprisingly to me came up with the Yokohama's & Michelins as my top two choices. With over 12,000,000 customer reviewed miles for each tire, the choice was clear to me. I asked my sister for her input, and if she had any complaint about going for another round with the Yokohama's. She gave me the green light on them. And for the record, the tires experience a 60/40 mix of highway and NYC pothole filled city driving.

Deb of Pittsubrugh, PA February 1, 2009

Deb of Pittsubrugh PA (02/01/09)
The entry I just read has been insulted by another person who had no problems with his tires and spelling is hardly an issue regarding life and death. I get my oil changed every 3,000 miles and a tire rotation with it. I make 30k a yr and believe me I need my car for a long time.

The past two winters in Pittsburgh with these new tires I purchased brand new of course in Nov. of 2005 is a major investment disaster. My toyota is a 2003 with 45k miles on it. Now figure ? I drive like an old lady and not very much. These are top of line tires w apprx 20,000 miles on them and I spin in slush, on the level !! I see and read all the great stuff about them, but truly there is a flaw somewhere. They are all the same tires, air pressured and over all my car is maintained. Toyota Carolla..

I keep 60lb of kitty litter in the back w a full tank of gas at all times. I just realize this issue is not me just getting older and conerned. Not when I follow my family to church and I'm spun out and the 3 of them are in line, parked at the curb.. You tell me?

Leonard of Fayetteville, NC January 7, 2009

Leonard of Fayetteville NC (01/07/09)
My new 06 Suzuki Vitara came with yokohama 235/65/16 tires. After about 11000 miles and two tire rotations I noticed significant wear on two of the four tires. I opened a case number and gave the tires to a local dealer so the yokohama rep could determine what was the cause of the defect. After 10 weeks of not getting any feedback I called and was told that there was no mileage guarantee so there would not be nothing they could do.

I again stated that it was a defect in the tire since 2 of the 4 were worn unevenly and below the wear bar. Again I was told that there was no mileage guarantee, case closed. In the mean time I purchased Kumho tires since I needed to use the vehicle. Also I did some reseach on complaints about yokohama and found out that there are alot of problems with their tires to include blowouts, tread separation etc. None of the problems have been acknowledged or fixed by yokohama.

I guess I was lucky in that I had no blowout or injury like many others have experienced. If you read this and are considering yokohama tires I strongly encourage you to buy another brand since they don't stand behind their product and are very unsafe. I learned a 400 lesson but at least didn't get hurt! Yokohama tire sales should be banned!

Ken of Indian River, MI January 3, 2009

Ken of Indian River MI (01/03/09)
I had Yokohama Super Digger IV tires on my Dodge truck, and went over 100,000 miles with no problems. I find it interesting that most of the posts against these tires have many misspelled words, as well as other issues, which make it seem likely that they were probably written by the same person. Someone who really carries a grudge, perhaps? I think you would do well to take Mr. Ortega's advice and check these complaints a little more before publishing them. Anyone can make any claim, no matter how outrageous, and it gets printed as the truth with no investigation. I think that it takes away any credibility of this organization.

I am sure some out there will try to say that I am in some way affiliated with Yokohama, but that is not true. I was looking at buying new tires- Yokohamas- and I stumbled upon this website. I am looking at Yokohama tires because they came fairly highly recommended by Consumer Reports magazine, which has an excellent reputation for fairness and unbiased opinions. They actually do much research on whatever product they are reporting and do not just take anyone's opinion as the truth.

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