HORRIBLE experence with Tire Rack

[7angofragger]

Just figured i would pass this along... I bought a set of Sumitomo HTR Z II from tirerack.com ... the failed in three days, under 180 miles... Went to discount tire and had them pull it off and check it (for free) and the tire had gashes inside of it... I called tirerack... they have horrible customer service... Or at least the two separate people i talked to did... I asked the lady "so, if i buy a tire from you all, and it fails in under 200 miles, your not going to do anything for me?" and she rudely said "No"... Even though they claim to have this following warranty: Uniformity Warranty First 2/32" of wear
Workmanship & Materials Warranty 6 Years / Free replacement first 50% of tread then prorated to final 2/32".

So i learned my lesson... Dont buy a cheap tire, and don't expect to get any form of help from tire rack when they sell you a busted ass tire...

[EvilRT]

I purchased the Sumitomo HTR Z in April for my 2004 SRT-4, and haven't had a single issue with them after 3,500 miles so far. A lot quieter than the stock BFG's that came with the car.

Hopefully they do something for you, that seems weird since Tire Rack is such a reputable company.

[mark2249]

were the gashes there when they arrived???? If not I would suspect the tire installer.

[7angofragger]

i diddnt check for the gashes inside the tires when i got them, but i watched them put them on and it diddnt look like the messed them up at all... but then again the were shipped out of a box with just two piece of shrink wrap holding them together.

[stowaway]

That is the normal way to ship tires. No one wastes the space and money to use boxes for some pieces of rubber. Heck, the normal way to ship wheel/tire combos is two layers of cardboard on each side of the wheel going out to the middle of the sidewall, then using tape or reinforced strapping to hold it all together. Wheels by themselves do ship in boxes most of the time.

Do you have pictures of the tire damage? It definitely doesn't sound like defects in workmanship (what the warranty would cover) and you may need to contact the manufacturer if you are 100% sure the tire couldn't have been damaged by the installer.


And yes, cheap tires are crappy. Spend a bit more and you'll have a tire that was designed in the past 5 years, has better quality control, has better NVH characteristics, has better wet grip, and won't have huge changes in grip and handling characteristics as you wear through the tires.

[manny z]

for one, you should of asked to have spoken to someone in charge, not some rude as women that by he sound of it, was having issues she should of not brought to work.

I have bought A LOT of sets of tires from them. Everything from slick for a comp coupe viper, to tires that I needed to just hold air.

With a reputation like theirs, call back and ask to speak to someone that knows what you are asking.