Are Toyo tires just not as good as they used to be?

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Nov 22, 2020
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Seemed like 20 years ago or so, Toyo had a lot of top-ranking tires. Today it seems like pretty much none of their tires top any reviews or sales. Our local Les Schwab tire centers have dropped all Toyo tires. My dad purchased the most expensive set of studless Toyo snow tires about 4 years ago and they were garbage on his 2004 4Runner. Slid all over the place in the rain and had worse snow and ice traction than his all-season tires!!! Probably the worst running tires I have ever seen after driving his rig around for several harsh winters.

My own truck has seen nothing but Toyo tires (except the snow tires I used) since we got it in 1993 new. Mostly because they were very durable and flat resistant, but not much else. Had to settle for Tiger PAW AWP II tires for the next set because of limited options in a 195-75-14 size.

Are Toyo pretty much completely off the radar for people buying tires these days? Is Toyo relegated to being a no-frills OEM tire supplier?
 
Happy with the Toyo's on my truck but the new Schwab is selling tires I've never heard of. At least they still do free rotations on my rigs.
 
I’m a one time user and know others … took them off at 20k and gifted them …
just a rough riding A/T tire compared to BFG etc … Wear good though …
 
Yeah, I'm skeptical of what Les Schwab is doing. Seems they have tanked in quality since the old man died or gave up control. I went into there looking for new tires and all they had in my size were some Venezia Classic tires that are made in China. Yeah, no thanks. I wonder if new management is just cutting costs and corners to make them think they are improving profits?

At least Discount Tire is still selling tires I want with great service. My only Les Schwab purchase lately was for them to install some front wheel bearings. Cheap at $400 but the wrench gorilla left his 2+ foot long torque breaker bar at 250 lb/ft (steering knuckle to strut bolts) when he put my wheels back on and left me with lugs that wouldn't budge even with my full 200 lb body weight jumping on the breaker bar. LOL
 
The Toyo T1-R that came on a set of used wheels I bought were very poor in the wet and nothing special in the dry. Some customers have Toyo tyres, but haven't tested them thoroughly. Toyo R37 and open country W/T specifically. Wear doesn't seem great on the R37
 
The Toyo T1-R that came on a set of used wheels I bought were very poor in the wet and nothing special in the dry. Some customers have Toyo tyres, but haven't tested them thoroughly. Toyo R37 and open country W/T specifically. Wear doesn't seem great on the R37
It's strange. Almost like they were bought out by someone looking to cash in on the reputation while cutting corners and axing R&D. Just by the law of averages, one would think Toyo could put out a great tire these days, at least by accident.
 
Yeah, I'm skeptical of what Les Schwab is doing. Seems they have tanked in quality since the old man died or gave up control. I went into there looking for new tires and all they had in my size were some Venezia Classic tires that are made in China. Yeah, no thanks. I wonder if new management is just cutting costs and corners to make them think they are improving profits?

At least Discount Tire is still selling tires I want with great service. My only Les Schwab purchase lately was for them to install some front wheel bearings. Cheap at $400 but the wrench gorilla left his 2+ foot long torque breaker bar at 250 lb/ft (steering knuckle to strut bolts) when he put my wheels back on and left me with lugs that wouldn't budge even with my full 200 lb body weight jumping on the breaker bar. LOL


They are up for sale but I haven’t heard if anyone bought them.

I always liked their service.
 
It's strange. Almost like they were bought out by someone looking to cash in on the reputation while cutting corners and axing R&D. Just by the law of averages, one would think Toyo could put out a great tire these days, at least by accident.

Mayeb the problem is that they didn't get bought out? Simply can't keep up with R&D budgets?
 
They are up for sale but I haven’t heard if anyone bought them.

I always liked their service.
Already sold! Nothing screams quality like, "Out of state investment firm." LOL Seeing as how Les Schwab around here is still packed all day long with business, mostly because of past reputation, that it looks like a prime opportunity for some money-hungry sociopaths who don't care at all about cars, to come in a drain the place dry while cutting corners. I will assume this is the case until proven otherwise.

 
I've had a bunch of Toyo tires. Good experiences with them. I still have Toyo's on two vehicles.

As for Les Schwab, they've been on a steady decline, IMO, since Les died in 2007. Les Schwab had one standout brand in Toyo. But Toyo wanted Les Schwab to honor the Toyo warranty. Schwab didn't want to do that. So no more Toyo at Les Schwab.

When I was looking at A/T tires recently for one SUV, I discovered while researching that Les Schwab had dropped Toyo, and were marketing their 'Open Range A/T' tires. They are made by Sumitomo. A likely decent tire, but not for well over $100.00 more per tire, than an actual Sumitomo Encounter A/T in the same size and load range.

Les Schwab has priced themselves out of the market as far as I'm concerned, with second or third tier tires, at more than first tier prices.

Les Schwab was recently sold to a California investment firm, the Meritage Group.
 
Already sold! Nothing screams quality like, "Out of state investment firm." LOL Seeing as how Les Schwab around here is still packed all day long with business, mostly because of past reputation, that it looks like a prime opportunity for some money-hungry sociopaths who don't care at all about cars, to come in a drain the place dry while cutting corners. I will assume this is the case until proven otherwise.

Already sold! Nothing screams quality like, "Out of state investment firm." LOL Seeing as how Les Schwab around here is still packed all day long with business, mostly because of past reputation, that it looks like a prime opportunity for some money-hungry sociopaths who don't care at all about cars, to come in a drain the place dry while cutting corners. I will assume this is the case until proven otherwise.



Likely to happen. Les Schwab ran a tight ship along with Phil Wick. Both died within a few years of each other and the kids in the family have no interest in the business. It the same story we’ve heard time and again.

Many years ago we drove into Prineville Oregon and saw the headquarters as they were. A huge warehouse filled with tires. After the two mentioned above passed away the headquarters was moved to Bend in a new classy building. Bend has more going on than Prineville though since the big tech names have moved into Prineville that’s not the same place it used to be either.
 
So many of the tire brands have different product lines so just going by Toyo or whoever on the tire doesn’t mean as much anymore. Buying in a discount outlet means cheaper tires from China despite which brand is molded in the sidewall.
 
Never had a bad set of Toyos.

More likely Toyo dropped Les.
Premier lines of product carry heavy quotas and support burdens.
You either commit to the line or lose it.
 
Never had a bad set of Toyos.

More likely Toyo dropped Les.
Premier lines of product carry heavy quotas and support burdens.
You either commit to the line or lose it.
They also make store brands for the big boys like Discount Tire
 
The Toyo T1-R that came on a set of used wheels I bought were very poor in the wet and nothing special in the dry...

I found the opposite, but I suppose everything is relative. I had an '08 Mitsubishi Lancer that understeered horribly in the wet on the factory Dunlops. I put a set of T1Rs on and experienced a huge improvement. Maybe the Dunlops were just so poor that I was going from horrific to not bad. Also, that was in 2008/2009. Perhaps things have changed for the worse since then.
 
I think my toyos were back then aswell, maybe a year or 2 before that.

The Goodyear F1 GSD3 I had on the next car were a lot better in the wet and dry, and all the tyres on the current car have been better aswell. I did get some budgets on a set of wheels after the GSD3 that were terrible.
 
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