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.

Ed of Lawrenceville, NJ November 16, 2008

Ed of Lawrenceville NJ (11/16/08)
I read with great interest the consumer reports about their Yokohama tires. I also purchased a set of 4 Yokohama Avid H4 tires for my 2000 Toyota Solara after reading the ratings on Tirerack The tires have performed well for the past 20k miles with some road noise as reported by other consumers. But now I have the vibration issue from 55 mph on to the point I thought my wheels were coming loose. I brought my car back to the tire dealer and had all the weights removed and had the tires high speed balanced (40). No change, same problem. It even sounds like the tires are out of round by the road noise. I'm glad I read the other consumer reports before I started having more costly repairs of bearings, ball joints and tie rods.

I guess my only recourse is to replace my Yokohama tires and just be glad I found your sight and didn't spend any more money troubleshooting my car's vibration. The real shame about Yokohama tires is they handle great in rain and snow and wear very well. Only trouble is it's like driving with out-of-round tires with the vibration. I am in sales and drive all highway and after a long two hour trip I'm seasick from the vibration.

Phil of Parma, OH October 2, 2008

Phil of Parma OH (10/02/08)
I own a 2003 Honda Accord LX. I'm now on my 2nd set of Yokohama Avid H4S tires in the past 20 months. The first set were badly cupped after only 20,000 miles, and i got a partial credit from Yokohama to replace them with the same tires (this was about 2 weeks ago). The brand new set is just as bad----on the highway, starting at about 55mph, you can feel a vibration in the steering wheel and can hear the tires--the road noise is ridiculous for an all season tire. I've tried everything---i've had all 4 wheels/tires balanced, i've had all 4 wheels aligned twice in the last month. The problem is definitely the tires. I am absolutely disgusted with these tires, and I will NEVER buy Yokohama tires again.

Tina of Westfield, MA September 22, 2008

Tina of Westfield MA (09/22/08)
purchased brand new Suzuki aerio 06, in march of 06. I replaced the front tires in October of 07 with 12,657 miles on them. At this time, I also had a four wheel alignment done and was it was shown that the auto was out of alignment. (due to failed inspection).

Now, September 08 I have to replace all four because they are totally shot. the rear tires have 31,246 on them and the front two having already been replaced have 18,589 on them. This car rides as if it were on a wash board and at low speeds it can vibrate your fillings out. All four tires are completely worn to the point of serious safety risk. These tires are worn in a fashion that shows no pattern of trackable wear. I will be purchasing four new tires now (inspection time) but I will asure everyone, they will not ever again be JUNKOHAMA'S.

Kimberly of Baltimore, MD September 14, 2008

Kimberly of Baltimore MD (09/14/08)
I purchased 1 Yokohama tire from National Tire and Battery now known as Merchants on 03/23/07 due to the original tire going bad. The car had 27, 862 miles on that tire but the cause per Merchants was that the car was out of alignment. I purchased the new Yokohama AS430 series tire and purchased their 3 Year wheel alignment program at the same time.

I returned to Merchants and purchased 3 more Yokohama tires, AS430, on 09/08/07. On January 10, 2008, I returned my Pontiac G6 to the same Merchants where I purchased all 4 tires due to the Pontiac not staying aligned. They checked the tires and told me that there was something wrong with the rack and pinion unit gear and I had to return to the dealership. On January 11, 2008 I took the Pontiac G6 to the dealership in which I purchased it and they performed the lubrication and repositioning I shaft per a GM bulletin. The code that is listed for this procedure is 34067.

On February 15. 2008, I returned to Merchants because my car was not staying aligned and there were thumping noises coming from the back area tires. Tires were rotated to the front and an alignment was done by Merchants. I visited Schaefer and Strominger just to check on this issus and they reported that the Pontiac G6 can not be aligned anywhere but at a GM dealership because Merchants can not complete the necessary recalibration. Power Steering Control Module Programming and Setup. I had them print out their report and returned to Merchants with the information.

On june 28, 2008,I had the 4-wheel alignment done by GM after having it already aligned 3-4 times by Merchants and still having the same problem. I returned to Merchants so that I could fight to have my money reimbursed to me for the cost of the Alignment program back on March 11, 2008. Returned the G6 to Merchants on 07/18/08 for same continued thumping sound but now it is in the front. They reported that it was the Aluminum Alloy wheel base and said I needed a whole new wheel which I purchased and they even put on another new Yokohama AS430 tire just to be sure. Drove the car away that day and the thumping noise remained. Today, 09/14/08 I returned the Pontiac G6 to Merchants because the passenger side front tire went flat the night before, Saturday, 09/13/08.

My husband put the spare donut and immediately the thumping sound was gone. Merchants could not find a puncture or leak and reported that the Yokohama AS430 was bad and replaced it at no cost to me. I asked to have a technician come on a test drive BEFORE I take the car home to verify that the knocking sound was gone and indeed it was. My complaint is that I still have 4 AS430 Yokohama tires and I am concerned with our safety and would like all new tires from a differnt brand.

Daniel of Mckeesport, PA September 12, 2008

Daniel of Mckeesport PA (09/12/08)
I purchased 2 sets of Avid TRZ tires from my local Toyota dealer, Massey Toyota, in White Oak, PA, early December, 2006. Right away I noticed vibration, when either car approached 55 mph, which persisted and worsened as speed increased. I immediately took both cars back to the dealer for balancing; same problem; had them balanced again; same problem. I took both cars to a reputable tire dealer in the area; same result. I have since taken both cars to another Toyota dealer in the area to have the tires rebalanced. Even Road-force balancing (very expensive machine; very expensive service) rendered the same result. The tires are bad, and have been bad since new. Attempts to contact Yokohama for help have gone unheeded. I will never purchase another Yokohama product, and I encourage others, regularly, to not buy Yokohama products. As I travel extensively (I'm in sales), I talk with a lot of people.

No damage; just the aggravation of having defective tires on my cars that cannot be balanced, from a manufacturer that, apparently, doesn't care about quality or customer satisfaction.

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