Hankook Tires Hankook produces & allows the sale of faulty Ventus S1 Noble 2 tires Nashville Tennessee
Hankook produces & allows the sale of faulty Ventus S1 Noble 2 tires to be sold online AND as OEM on new vehicles. They fail within 16,000 miles. I bought a brand new 2018 Ford Explorer Limited with 20" Hankook Ventus S1 Noble tires as OEM equipment on 2/16/18. Saturday 1/19/19, I did my due diligence and headed to Discount Tire in Terrell, TX to have our OEM Hankook tires rotated, they had 16,300 miles.
I was beside myself when he returned and told me the tires were down to a dangerously low 4/32 tread depth and needed to be replaced. I had to pay the difference of over $400 to replace the tires on a vehicle with only 16,300 miles! How was I, the owner of the vehicle, supposed to know these would wear so quickly? They basically endangered my family by allowing this to go without notifying us!
As an owner of a new vehicle it doesn't cross your mind to check tread depth of new tires on a new vehicle with 16,300 miles! Hankook knows about them, but how are owners supposed to know, in their words, "Special Service Message SSM 47195 to address 2015-2018 Explorer - Hankook Brand 20 Inch Tire - Tread Wear Tire Replacement." And the Ford Rep shared this with me "
...2015-2018 Explorer vehicles equipped with Hankook brand tires may exhibit tread wear that is NOT the result of vehicle alignment concerns. For customer satisfaction, Hankook is offering pro-rated tire replacement for vehicles with less than 36,000 Miles. This program is managed by Hankook Tire America Corp. and not claimed under Ford new vehicle limited warranty.
If the tire side wall is marked as: 255/50R20 105H Ventus S1 Noble 2, contact Hankook Technical Service for possible pro-rated tire replacement."Even after filing a BBB complaint, they send a cookie-cutter response, claiming they bascially took care of my problem by offering to buy the used tires. Problem is, I shouldn't of had to do anything with tires other than rotate them and keep them properly inflated.
They took my time, my patience, and my $417 to replace their faulty tires. One look on Tirerack.com shows the multitudes of other customers who have complained of worn out Hankook Ventus S1 Noble tires, so I am not the only one. This is an additional complaint for them to address. Care to answer my first BBB complaint with a resolution now guys, or shall I continue to spread the word about your lack of quality, lack of customer service and downright lame cookie-cutter response to a serious issue.
Ball is in your court once again. I will continue. It's only $417 guys.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Robert
Irvine,California,
United States
Apparently
#4Consumer Comment
Thu, January 31, 2019
Apparently you decide to pick and choose what you read. You will notice I didn't state anything about you not having a valid complaint or that you may not be entitled to SOME compensation. I also didn't say that you shouldn't replace them at 4/32nd's. I specifically stated about your "dangerously low" comment.
Face it, you too would face the facts and adhere to the tire professionals who are telling you they are worn out
- Again those "tire professionals" are the sames ones who are trying to sell you tires. Let's just say I am a bit skeptical of sales people and do not just take them at their word. If they used the terms "dangerously low" I would be suspect of their true motives, and I would take back the "drama king" comment. If the term "dangerously low" came out of your thoughs then I would go back to you being very dramatic. As to your question as to if I would still drive on them...well the answer is Yes. But only as long as it takes to find out what sort of coverage there is for this issue as you are right tires should NOT wear out that quickly if you are following proper maintenence.
It is very interesting how you didn't answer any of the other questions. Where did the credit come from? If it wasn't the manufacturer would they have given you a higher credit? If they would have, I again go back to how much "urgency" the tire shop put on you to replace them that day.
Then as to the inferred question which you side stepped a bit. Do you think you should be entitlred to a FREE replacement after just about a years worth of use? If not then how much would you be willing to pay?
Kevin
Terrell,Texas,
United States
Response.
#4Author of original report
Wed, January 30, 2019
Name calling? Nice!
You put YOUR wife and daughter in a new vehicle with these tires and see if you don't think the same thing. Brand new SUV tires that that CAME ON a BRAND NEW vehicle that get less than 20,000 miles? I remember this happening back in my 86 IROC, but those were high-performance sports car tires and it WAS 1986!
Your 4/32 comment, what would you do, turn around and drive another 1/32 before returning? Ha! A $5 tire depth gauge which reads in the red would prove your points invalid as well.
Face it, you too would face the facts and adhere to the tire professionals who are telling you they are worn out. Don't tell me you would allow your family to drive on them following that. But thanks for the response, made me laugh.
Robert
Irvine,California,
United States
Not Reasonable
#4Consumer Comment
Wed, January 30, 2019
First off I am not saying you don't have a valid complaint, nor are you not entilted to some sort of compensation. The problem is that what you appear to be asking for is unreasonable. It also doesn't help that you are being a bit of a drama king...
I was beside myself when he returned and told me the tires were down to a dangerously low 4/32 tread depth and needed to be replaced
- By just about every industry standards 4/32's is the very top of the recommended depth to replace your tires, many manufacturers put 2/32's as the replacement point. So while they MAY have needed replacement "dangerously low" sounds more like a high pressure "the world is coming to an end" sales pitch the tire shop would give you to get you to replace the tires with them instead of taking time to shop around for possible better prices. It is also probably conceivable you could have gotten another few months and few thousand miles out of them.
You just gave us the amount you needed to pay. These tires were probably well over $200, and probably closer to $300 each once you include taxes, mounting..etc. So for four tires you would be looking at over $1000, but only paid about $400, for just under 50% of use(based on mileage) and most likely before any warranty would have normally covered them. So asking to give you what appears to be basically "free" tires with a year of use seems a bit unreasonable.
One item you were unclear on was how was this prorated amount determined? Was this from the tire shop or was this the "buy back" offer from the manufacturer. If it was the tire shop, then again what would the manufacturer have offered? If they offered more I would again put this on the tire shop and what appears to be perhaps some high pressure sales.