2nd vote for a wholesaler. ATD is a good one and I'll bet they have a delivery system to take care of any situation.
Looking for experienced reviews of various tire brands share your experience with me
- Thread starter wheelman
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2nd vote for a wholesaler. ATD is a good one and I'll bet they have a delivery system to take care of any situation.
I've had a good experience with Michelin. They're my "go to" tire brand.
I had Nokia winter tires decades ago and they were good too.
I had Nokia winter tires decades ago and they were good too.
Delta is a great economy brand that won't tarnish your image. I've had great luck with those.
I will add one other brand that I think no one has mentioned......Mastercraft. I have these on my Dart currently. They are made by Cooper. Most any dealer that carries Cooper tires can also get these.....and depending on size may have an equivalent to offer you.
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I’ve had good luck with many brands. Especially Michelin, Uniroyal and Pirelli. At my dealership we sell tons of the Uniroyal Tiger Paw tires. Especially on Subaru.
Here’s my opinion
Top: Michelin, Yokohama, BFGoodrich
Mid: Uniroyal, Hankook, Bridgestone, Cooper
Economy: Falken, MasterCraft, Dunlop
Our number one returned tire is the Michelin CrossClimate 2 for noise complaints but we have them on our Camry they are pretty good and we sell a ton for Toyota’s at work. Occasionally we will sell them for a Subaru but not as often. Don’t let this one tire though make you not carry them cause people will buy them. In the past month we have had 4 sets of the CrossClimate 2 return for noise complaints. Most people swapped them for Uniroyal or Bridgestone. I’d say every 1 out of 3 customers return them for noise. Just we can’t ever verify the complaint cause we drive it and just hear regular road noise. But if they are returning and buying new ones we can’t tell them no. We just ship them back to our supplier and I’d guess they return them to the company. They also told us that was the number one returned tire from all their places that they deliver too. The reason I listed Falken is a value brand is because that’s our second most returned for early dry rot complaints and we have had a lot of customers who buy cars with them on there have us swap them for something else before it rolls off the lot so we have to eat the cost on them. That and the Goodyear Wrangler people usually have us swap but I can’t recommend Goodyear to anyone.
I have Cooper Evolution on my Escape they do really well in the rain. I won’t buy them again for two reasons one they are discontinued now but two found out they were made by Goodyear. My next set will be something else. We have the Pirelli P4 on our other Camry they done really well the last 4 years. We are replacing them soon as soon as the car gets back on the road just because they are worn out with thousands of miles and 4 years old which they are great tires. I have Hankook on my truck which I didn’t really trust before I bought them I just wanted white walls but they have proved to be good. They do well in the rain and don’t spin or anything. The front two came out of balance a few times but that’s not the tire’s fault because my rims are painted from the factory and the paint is worn in some places and the weights moved a little bit. That was my only complaint but again that’s not the tire.
Here’s my opinion
Top: Michelin, Yokohama, BFGoodrich
Mid: Uniroyal, Hankook, Bridgestone, Cooper
Economy: Falken, MasterCraft, Dunlop
Our number one returned tire is the Michelin CrossClimate 2 for noise complaints but we have them on our Camry they are pretty good and we sell a ton for Toyota’s at work. Occasionally we will sell them for a Subaru but not as often. Don’t let this one tire though make you not carry them cause people will buy them. In the past month we have had 4 sets of the CrossClimate 2 return for noise complaints. Most people swapped them for Uniroyal or Bridgestone. I’d say every 1 out of 3 customers return them for noise. Just we can’t ever verify the complaint cause we drive it and just hear regular road noise. But if they are returning and buying new ones we can’t tell them no. We just ship them back to our supplier and I’d guess they return them to the company. They also told us that was the number one returned tire from all their places that they deliver too. The reason I listed Falken is a value brand is because that’s our second most returned for early dry rot complaints and we have had a lot of customers who buy cars with them on there have us swap them for something else before it rolls off the lot so we have to eat the cost on them. That and the Goodyear Wrangler people usually have us swap but I can’t recommend Goodyear to anyone.
I have Cooper Evolution on my Escape they do really well in the rain. I won’t buy them again for two reasons one they are discontinued now but two found out they were made by Goodyear. My next set will be something else. We have the Pirelli P4 on our other Camry they done really well the last 4 years. We are replacing them soon as soon as the car gets back on the road just because they are worn out with thousands of miles and 4 years old which they are great tires. I have Hankook on my truck which I didn’t really trust before I bought them I just wanted white walls but they have proved to be good. They do well in the rain and don’t spin or anything. The front two came out of balance a few times but that’s not the tire’s fault because my rims are painted from the factory and the paint is worn in some places and the weights moved a little bit. That was my only complaint but again that’s not the tire.
I never used continental before. They had good reviews on tire rack so I tried them on the old Altima daily driver. It’s been two years. I live on challenging New Hampshire roads with a lot of snow and ice. Not bad for an all season radial. Similar traction to the more expensive Michelin was using. Another neat feature is the lettering that tells you about the wear. After two years and 25K looking good.
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The only brand that I had repeated problems with was Cooper.
I have been pretty impressed by General Grabber tires, when I got them I wasn't expecting much but they were the only ones of a particular size I needed quickly that were in stock. They were great in the snow and quiet in the summer.
The only brand I found I didn't like because they didn't last and terrible for all seasons was Cooper. Maybe they're better now, this was about 10 years ago, but I've had two sets and both did not meet my expectations.
The only brand I found I didn't like because they didn't last and terrible for all seasons was Cooper. Maybe they're better now, this was about 10 years ago, but I've had two sets and both did not meet my expectations.
Goodyear: Only OEM tires... and that scared me away from them.
Dunlop: had D60A2, and they were garbage. So I steer clear from them. The Pep Boys Futura brand that I got afterwards were better than them.
Michelin: my family loves Michelin, but I think the CC2 are over-rated by the internet. The Defender 2 looks like a downgrade from the original Defender.
Bridgestone: average tire for a premium price
Kumho: had various tires... it's a budget tire with budget performance
Nokian: they may not wear like a Michelin Defender, but I tend to be happy with them, they promise to be low rolling resistance and seems to deliver for their respective categories. The Entyre C/S (SUV) has plenty of lateral grip, quiet, and rain confidence. Dunno about snow on their all-season tires, as I use winter or all-weather tires in the winter.
Falken: only had the Ziex ze912 UHP tire... budget UHPAS tire that gets loud quickly.
Continental: Only had the OEM ContiProContact, they are a good tire, which I would consider that brand again.
General: only had their Altimax Arctic. I would consider the Altimax RT 45, but they don't advertise to be Low Rolling resistance.
wheelman, what are your customer (well-off or not, knowledgeable or innocently clueless, repeat or one-off) and vehicle (make/type/condition) profiles? are you faced with a nearby discount tire competitor? i have no idea if tires offer enough profit margin for an all-around garage to stock a wide variety.
i guess that most folks who need tires asap either aren’t planning ahead and get caught by a failed inspection or do plan but have an unplanned & unrepairable flat. the nonplanners likely look for cheaper and/or oem-like replacements. if you have a good distributor a loyal customer looking for a higher-end tire is likely willing to wait 1-2 days if no discount tire nearby.
in the end, a cheaper “not bad” tire is likely “good enough” for most drivers.
i guess that most folks who need tires asap either aren’t planning ahead and get caught by a failed inspection or do plan but have an unplanned & unrepairable flat. the nonplanners likely look for cheaper and/or oem-like replacements. if you have a good distributor a loyal customer looking for a higher-end tire is likely willing to wait 1-2 days if no discount tire nearby.
in the end, a cheaper “not bad” tire is likely “good enough” for most drivers.
Dunlop burned you 30 years ago so you've been holding a grudge?
Goodyear is 20 years, and I still won't buy their productDunlop burned you 30 years ago so you've been holding a grudge?
There's so many quality tire brands and reviews that you can hold multiple grudges without really effecting your choice of tires... Uniroyal, Kelly, Multi-mile, canadian tire house brands, and maybe Michelin all seasons(at their premium prices), are never buy again for me. But there's so many good and good value tires around it hardly matters.Dunlop burned you 30 years ago so you've been holding a grudge?
Dunlop hasn't made a "must have" tire in any category, ever, that I know of, and neither have most of the brands I boycott so your not missing out on anything.
I only recall one set of Dunlops that I had over all the years. Dunlop Radial Rover on a Ford Explorer. I had constant balance issues and actualy bought the "lifetime balancing" from Firestone. I was back almost monthly.
Finally gave up and bough the Michelin LTX M/S and never had to have rebalanced until it was sold a couple years later.
The Dunlops were the #1 pick on Consumer Reports at that time. LTX was # 2 but mostly due to price premium.
I do a lot of searching and test watching before I recommend and buy. TR, DTD, BITOG, CR and other tire sites.
I commend you for looking and asking thoughts, I have no clue what profit margin even is. Location of your business would impact choices. Many local places I have gone didn't carry much inventory but were normally able to get what was needed same day or next day.
I tend to wind up at the Costco often due to the sales and I'm there shopping. Sam's and BJ's offered more more choices even if they had to be ordered. Costco all I saw was Michelin, Bridgestone for the most part. BJ's listed the other day when I looked Nokian, Continental and they always had BF Goodrich, Michelin, Bridgestone. I got my Pirelli's from Sam's which was good as they include road hazard etc also.
Look to be on the list as a "recommended Installer" on TR, DTD etc. Maybe invest in a Road Force Balancer if possible and train on proper use. Customer service is key. I started using a local place for my installs on tires bought from TR and DTD. They were on the TR recommended and have the GSP9700. Small place, always busy, they do have a decent garage/storage area and carry General, Nokian and some others but can get what you want on order. They also have an area with some used take-offs with decent tread. They seem to get used/rotated pretty quickly. Many can't afford even an extreme budget low tier and are struggling with 1 used. It is what it is and again they are always busy.
I had my 3 bent rims fixed by going there. Whatever service places they are connected with. I dropped them off 1 morning, next afternoon they called and said all done for $105 per rim.
I haven't had good success with private label tires. Nor Good/Year tires. With G/Y, since the 1970 when I started buying them, they've over promised and under delivered. The last G/Y tire I had was ~ 2008 and I said, this is the last time.
Hankook and Kumho started out OK but turned sour too quickly to buy again. This is just an example of one(ME).
Lately, and this may sound odd however, I have had good success with General, Cooper and my favorite, PIRELLI.
Hankook and Kumho started out OK but turned sour too quickly to buy again. This is just an example of one(ME).
Lately, and this may sound odd however, I have had good success with General, Cooper and my favorite, PIRELLI.
Started using COntinental tires many years ago and continue to do so. I really like the Continental DWS06's.
Consider checking out the Sumitomo and Falken lines for good value brands with less recognition. Been using tires from both, along with Pirelli on Euro vehicles. Falken 449 winter tires have proven effective during Michigan winters, November through March, if a bit noisy.
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