Mike,
I work for a tire manufacturer. Every day I communicate with my collegues in Detroit. I used to call on Ford many years ago. I think I am qualified to comment on this subject.
EVERY - let me say that again - EVERY tire supplied to a vehicle manufacturer is unique (with, of course, a couple of exceptions just to make life interesting.)
So if you go down to the … oh … say the Chevy dealer and look at the tires on the 2009 Chevy … oh… say the EcoBlaster, the tire on that vehicle would be … oh … say P225/55R18 Goodstone FireEagle GT - and Goodstone supplies a couple hundred thousand of those a year to the GM plant in … oh … say Fort Wayne, IN - and the tire will have a TPC number branded on the sidewall.
If you go down to the local tire shop and order a set of P225/55R18 Goodstone FireEagle GT’s, if it has a the same TPC number, then it is the same tire.
But if it doesn’t have that same TPC number on it - or it has a different TPC number - or the name on the sidewall says …oh… say just FireEagle, or FireEagle ST or FireEagle GT+, then the tire is different.
And that tire is NOT supplied to Ford, Chrysler, etc. - and not just because it has a TPC number - which is a known GM thing - but also because Ford, Chrysler, etc. have their own idea of what a tire is supposed to do. And their ideas are different than what a tire manufacturer thinks a tire is supposed to do, if left to decide on his own.
Interesting, the OEM Dunlop SP4000 A/S tires on my wife’s 2006 Sienna show quite a bit of wear at 23k. I expect I’ll be replacing the tires around the 30k mark. I’m not losing any sleep over it.
Tire Rack classifies these tires as “Ultra High Performance All-Season”, seems like overkill for a minivan. Other than the wear issue, I’ve got no complaints about them.
Your MISSING WHAT I SAID. Please Re-Read.
What hmcltd said was that OEM tires are NOT the same as aftermarket tires. That OEM tires can only be bought from the dealer and you can NOT buy them anywhere else. And that is HOGWASH. Yes if you don’t match the TPC number (or what ever your designation is) then it may not be the same tire…but that does NOT mean you can’t buy the OEM tires. Please show me the tires that Goodyear or what whomever make that is ONLY SOLD AT THE DEALER OR MANUFACTURER? If all tires were like that the manufactures would be going out of business FAST.
Mike,
Perhaps this is the problem:
" … Sorry but what you’re saying is NOT true. Sorry, but tires are NOT custom made for a particular vehicle. …"
And indeed they are custom made for a particular vehicle.
I also think you misread this:
"…but the OEM tires are just not the same as Aftermarket ones (even if they look identical) … "
That, of course, isn’t quite true, but it isn’t as wrong as you are making it out to be. Yes, aftermarket tires are different than OE tires. No, aftermarket tires that are IDENTICAL to the OE can be purchased through aftermarket channels. However, many aftermarket tires may LOOK very similar to the OE tire - and unless they ARE identical, they will be quite different.
Mike,
Perhaps this is the problem:
" … Sorry but what you’re saying is NOT true. Sorry, but tires are NOT custom made for a particular vehicle. …"
This was the SECOND part of that paragraph.
The tire manufacturers are given specs from the manufacturer and then they either have a tire already with that spec or they will make a new one. They are NOT going to just sell that tire to Toyota/GM/Ford.
Two key pieces of information are missing from the original post:
- What did the wear look like? Was it uniform or uneven? I once had a car aligned at a Toyota dealer, and they messed it up so badly that it destroyed the front tires in only 4k miles. They claimed that I must have hit a curb after they aligned it so it wasn’t their fault.
- What brand were the tires that wore out quickly? Dealers sometimes pull pretty good original tires off used cars and put on new cheap tires because the car looks better with brand new tires. A dealer put cheap Chinese tires on my wife’s car. One of them failed within the first tank of gas. All they would give us was another cheap Chinese tire.
Some “high performance” tires have very soft rubber compounds that normally wear out in 25k miles, even with proper alignment and rotation. However, I really doubt that a Lancer would have had high performance tires on it.
“…They are NOT going to just sell that tire to Toyota/GM/Ford. …”
Perhaps this will clarify it: I know of no cases where an OEM tire wasn’t designed from scratch (with a few notable exceptions due to time constraints). Put another way, almost without exception, the tire manufacturer has to design the tire specifically for that vehicle.
If Ford wanted the same tire as supplied to Toyota - well, not only would that be an historic event, but Ford has specific requirements that Toyota could not tolerate - so the tire supplied to Ford WOULD NOT be the same as the tire supplied to Toyota.
Are these OE tires available to the average tire dealer? Yes.
Are very similar looking tires also available to the average tire dealer? Not 100%, but yes.
Is it possible for the 2 to be confused? Yes, happens all the time.
Would tires supplied to an assembly plant be different than tires supplied to the tire dealer? If the tire dealer actually got the OE tire, then the tire would be the same, but usually tire delaers want no part of selling the OE tires and will sell a tire that may look and sound very much like the same tire - and that of course would be a different tire.
OEM tires.
Wifes 87 Accord…OEM tires were EXCELLENT.
96 Accord…Bridgestone - JUNK at 30k miles. And they were NOT good in any adverse weather…Replaced with Michelin Radial-X Plus…EXCELLENT tires…Better handling…better ride…MUCH BETTER in adverse weather…wear mileage about 80k miles.
90 and 98 Pathfinder…Bridgestone - JUNK at 35k miles. Any adverse weather and they handled like crap. In fact back in 98 Tom and Ray did a review of the 98 Pathfinder and found that the truck didn’t handle that well at all…their conclusion was the OEM tires…Replaced them with Cooper and Michelin tires…either were DRASTIC IMPROVEMENTS over the OEM tires. Better handling…better ride…HUGE improvements in rain and snow…And even seeing a increase in gas mileage…wear mileage about 60k miles.
Wifes 07 Lexus…Bridgestone…Just replaced them at 30k miles…Decent on dry pavement…not too bad on wet and snow…Replaced with Cooper ASX…EXCELLENT tire…better control especially in wet and snow…Too early to tell how many miles we’ll get out of them…but so far doing very well.
05 4runner…Dunlap…Crap at 30k miles…And had to shift in 4wd with the slightest bit of snow even though these were M&S rated tires…And not good on wet weather at all…Again replaced with Cooper…The difference is night and day…My first set of Coopers lasted about 60k miles…On second set now. I LOVE the Cooper Discovery tires…My third set and have nothing but praise for them.
Sister-in-laws 06 Mustang…GoodYear…She replaced the OEM tires at 10k miles due to the car was undrivable in any adverse weather…She checked around and other Mustang owners were using the Pirelli tires. She went with them and is no longer afraid to drive the Mustang when it rains.
If all those OEM tires were designed for that specific vehicle…I sure as h*ll wouldn’t be advertising it. I’d be ashamed to admit it.
“… If all those OEM tires were designed for that specific vehicle…I sure as h*ll wouldn’t be advertising it. I’d be ashamed to admit it. …”
Nevertheless that is the way it is. The problem here is that the vehicle manufacturer specifies what properties are desired - and commonly they refer all complaints about the tires to the tire manufacturer. Usually the vehicle manufacturer’s idea of what a customer wants in a tire is compromised by what may be good for the corporation. Being able to sell a car trumps having one perform well.
Dealers don’t just perform this type of hocus-pocus with the tires on used cars. The Honda dealership in Jersey City, NJ was convicted in the NJ Superior Court for “de-contenting” new cars. Their practice was to remove the tires, batteries, and spark plugs on brand new Hondas when they arrived, and replace those factory parts with cheap-o parts from the Pep Boys store down the road. The original factory parts were then sold at the dealership’s parts counter.
This scam went on for an unknown number of years until a customer whose battery failed prematurely noticed that his 1 year old car had an “offbrand” battery in it. The ensuing investigation revealed what I described above.
Following his conviction, Mr. Ciasulli changed the name of his franchise to make it appear that it was under new ownership. I wouldn’t trust that dealer as far as I could throw him, and I am sure that there are other dealers who perpetrate similar scams on naive, unsuspecting customers.