My battle with Nitto
09-21-11, 08:53 AM
#1
My battle with Nitto
So back in February, I put some new wheels and tires on my car. The tires were Nitto Invos. Sizes 245/30/20 in the front, rear 285/25/20. The rear tires I have had no problems with but the front, I have.
In late May, I had a tire blow out, the sidewall became separated from the inner tubing which had a blow out in it.
I tried reaching Nitto's customer service, which is manned by 4 people in a trailer (i'm pretty convinced of this). They directed me to take it to NTB, NTB after a week of it sitting at their shop told me that NTB couldn't do anything about it since I didn't buy it from them. I said F it and just bought a new one for $220 off of discount tire direct.
In late august, that new tire I bought blew out again.
After 2 months of use... I contact Nitto again, they said because it didn't happen within the first 30 days they can't do anything about a full refund and new tire. The customer service guy that I talked to this time was nice but informed that he can't do anything about it unless it is inspected by someone. He told me that I would have to take it to an independent tire dealer and he would replace it as long as the IDT guy said that it appeared to be a flaw in the manufacturing.
Maybe I'm too used to the BMW and Lexus dealerships that I go to but this place was a dump, manned by unprofessional idiots. My car is sitting on a jack in my garage and I take the tire to the IDT. The guy at the IDT, Rudy, tells me he'll check it out and get in touch with Nitto CS. I get a call from Rudy the next day saying he couldn't say for sure and that he didn't want to be held responsible if it wasn't a flaw. I'm like WTF? I told him all he had to say, showed him my receipt that I bought it two months ago. He then tells me, if I buy a new tire through him, I can have one immediately and he'll send the other one off and they will probably credit me for the tire in full. I wait a whole week before he gets the tire (Discount tire had the tire to me in two days when I ordered it from them).
I told them I'd be by after work to pick up the wheel and tire. Too bad when I got there after work, they made me wait an additional hour and half because they hadn't even mounted it on the wheel yet. When I get the wheel and tire back, I noticed that the paint had been scraped off of a section of the wheel. Not to mention i had to pay $350 for this tire and mounting. Where before I paid $220 and my friend at another tire place mounted it for me for free.
So now I've overpaid for the tire, have a damaged wheel and don't even know when the tire will be covered by Nitto's poor customer service department. I have received no call backs from the tire shop in regards to having my wheel fixed and the tires warranty claim number that he was supposed to receive from the local Nitto rep.
To make matters worse, yesterday, I took off that wheel and tire from the car to do some work on the ISF. The NEW NEW tire (3rd one now) has 3 bubbles in the inner sidewall and is already defective and good bump away from another blow out. Let's see if I get my money back for this tire.
I'm ordering a set of goodyear eagle F1s in the same sizes, my friend that manages a local tire shop is a goodyear authorized dealer but not a nitto dealer so if I have any issues with the Goodyear tires, he feels confident he can get that situation taken care of for me.
Does anyone know other tire sizes that would work with my wheel size?
In late May, I had a tire blow out, the sidewall became separated from the inner tubing which had a blow out in it.
I tried reaching Nitto's customer service, which is manned by 4 people in a trailer (i'm pretty convinced of this). They directed me to take it to NTB, NTB after a week of it sitting at their shop told me that NTB couldn't do anything about it since I didn't buy it from them. I said F it and just bought a new one for $220 off of discount tire direct.
In late august, that new tire I bought blew out again.
After 2 months of use... I contact Nitto again, they said because it didn't happen within the first 30 days they can't do anything about a full refund and new tire. The customer service guy that I talked to this time was nice but informed that he can't do anything about it unless it is inspected by someone. He told me that I would have to take it to an independent tire dealer and he would replace it as long as the IDT guy said that it appeared to be a flaw in the manufacturing.
Maybe I'm too used to the BMW and Lexus dealerships that I go to but this place was a dump, manned by unprofessional idiots. My car is sitting on a jack in my garage and I take the tire to the IDT. The guy at the IDT, Rudy, tells me he'll check it out and get in touch with Nitto CS. I get a call from Rudy the next day saying he couldn't say for sure and that he didn't want to be held responsible if it wasn't a flaw. I'm like WTF? I told him all he had to say, showed him my receipt that I bought it two months ago. He then tells me, if I buy a new tire through him, I can have one immediately and he'll send the other one off and they will probably credit me for the tire in full. I wait a whole week before he gets the tire (Discount tire had the tire to me in two days when I ordered it from them).
I told them I'd be by after work to pick up the wheel and tire. Too bad when I got there after work, they made me wait an additional hour and half because they hadn't even mounted it on the wheel yet. When I get the wheel and tire back, I noticed that the paint had been scraped off of a section of the wheel. Not to mention i had to pay $350 for this tire and mounting. Where before I paid $220 and my friend at another tire place mounted it for me for free.
So now I've overpaid for the tire, have a damaged wheel and don't even know when the tire will be covered by Nitto's poor customer service department. I have received no call backs from the tire shop in regards to having my wheel fixed and the tires warranty claim number that he was supposed to receive from the local Nitto rep.
To make matters worse, yesterday, I took off that wheel and tire from the car to do some work on the ISF. The NEW NEW tire (3rd one now) has 3 bubbles in the inner sidewall and is already defective and good bump away from another blow out. Let's see if I get my money back for this tire.
I'm ordering a set of goodyear eagle F1s in the same sizes, my friend that manages a local tire shop is a goodyear authorized dealer but not a nitto dealer so if I have any issues with the Goodyear tires, he feels confident he can get that situation taken care of for me.
Does anyone know other tire sizes that would work with my wheel size?
09-21-11, 09:05 AM
#2
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Holy crap hat was scary!! NT01 is the only Nitto tires I will consider.
Might consider 19" wheels or use oversize tires for 20"...Thin sidewall is not friendly in your area?
Might consider 19" wheels or use oversize tires for 20"...Thin sidewall is not friendly in your area?
09-21-11, 11:57 AM
#5
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Pretty crazy. I've never had any issues with Nittos in the past. The only thing I've experienced in the past is that if theyre low on air and you inflate the tire again it's almost a given that you'll have bubbles on the sidewall. Nitto tires are very unforgiving.
09-21-11, 12:31 PM
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The first pic I'd say looks like a manufacturing problem, I've never seen a tire separate like that.
The 2nd picture however looks like its due to too much camber wear from being too low, look how far the tire is worn you're practically driving on half the sidewall! No tire is designed to put up with that.
The 2nd picture however looks like its due to too much camber wear from being too low, look how far the tire is worn you're practically driving on half the sidewall! No tire is designed to put up with that.
09-21-11, 12:53 PM
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I can contribute to this as well! I was in the middle of Bullrun this past summer in AZ. Complete inner wall blow out on Nittos that maybe had 5k miles on them. Needless to say this definitely placed us last for that leg 
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09-21-11, 01:34 PM
#10
The first pic I'd say looks like a manufacturing problem, I've never seen a tire separate like that.
The 2nd picture however looks like its due to too much camber wear from being too low, look how far the tire is worn you're practically driving on half the sidewall! No tire is designed to put up with that.
The 2nd picture however looks like its due to too much camber wear from being too low, look how far the tire is worn you're practically driving on half the sidewall! No tire is designed to put up with that.
09-21-11, 01:40 PM
#11
The first pic I'd say looks like a manufacturing problem, I've never seen a tire separate like that.
The 2nd picture however looks like its due to too much camber wear from being too low, look how far the tire is worn you're practically driving on half the sidewall! No tire is designed to put up with that.
The 2nd picture however looks like its due to too much camber wear from being too low, look how far the tire is worn you're practically driving on half the sidewall! No tire is designed to put up with that.
09-21-11, 04:33 PM
#14
Fap I own a auto repair shop so I will give you my professional opinion, I still dabble in and was once a forensic investigator, meaning if you died, I figured our why and how. ( Our shop sells anywhere from 75 to 100 sets of tires a week) The first tire almost certainly failed due to improper tire mounting, this can range from they did not use enough lube on the tire to the bead of the tire slipped under the mounting head of the tire mounting machine, there are many things that can cause this type of tire failure. the second tire appears to have been damage by being pinched by the wheel, this causes a slice in the tire sidewall (thereby severing the nylon cords in the sidewall) which continues to weaken over time and eventually failed in the manor seen. Hope this helps. And PLEASE make sure the next company mounting your tires has the proper equipment to mount them.
