Thanks for the feedback about the final resolution to this pesky problem OP. Glad you got a stable, responsive ride again. As others above have posted, car manufactures don’t have much incentive to install high quality tires on new cars. Usually the problem is they just wear out quickly and need replacing, but you got an unlucky set it seems. I don’t recall hearing a lot of complaints about yoko’s here, other than perhaps how rugged they are or many miles they last. Be sure to rotate your new Michelin’s regularly so you keep the good ride going. Best of luck.
Thanks for the update. I have a 2018 Versa that has the same problem which I have attributed to the electric power steering instead of the OEM Contental tires. Will switch to Michelins when the OEM tires are worn out.
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Here’s what bothers me. The OP said that the problem was there immediately after getting the car new and an alignment fixed the problem - THEN, after 4 years, it was gradually coming back.
Now the problem has reportedly been fixed by switching to new tires. Could the problem be masked by the new tires and it will gradually come back? And how was it that things were OK for almost 4 years?
I would think that if the problem was tires, then the problem would have been there for all 4 years - OR - the problem would not have been there initially , then gradually gotten worse over the course of 4 years.
I suspect the problem is NOT fixed and it will gradually come back as the new tires wear.
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While it is possible that there is some masking going on, I doubt it for a few reasons. First, when I took the car in shortly after buying it, the dealer confirmed that the toe-in and alignment were off and that had been causing the problem. They realigned it and it ran fine.
Four years later, I took it back in for an alignment and the dealer said it was already aligned perfectly. They didn’t change a thing. (The did, of course, charge me.) So, alignment wasn’t the problem.
The second reason is probably linked to my lack of good vocabulary when describing steering. Four years ago, when driving at highway speeds I had to adjust steering constantly to keep the car in a straight line. It took less than one second for the car to begin to veer off slightly in one way or the other. The direction of the veer was random at first but once it started the involuntary turn quickly got more acute if I didn’t correct instantly. Thus the constant steering to maintain a straight line. What I reported last fall was different. It was primarily a problem with turns. Driving in a straight line was not “feel” right, but the car did not veer off one direction or the other the way it did when the car was new. The only time driving in a straight line was very problematic was in the rain. Turns were pretty much always “vague,” meaning I could not keep the car moving along a smooth arc and had the feeling the car was on the verge of skidding. (I’ve done a fair amount of training on a skid pad, and what I was feeling certainly reminded me a car just before it spins out.) While I just used the term “vague” for both the initial and later issues, they were quite different sensations while driving. I should have used better descriptions.
Also: Another poster defended Yokohama tires. From checking out reviews, it certainly appears that they do make some very good tires. When I carried my laptop down to the garage and entered the exact make/model/codes for the tires on my car, however, the reviews were awful. Tire Rack listed them as 2nd worst among 30 or so tires of that type. I found it curious that other Yokohama tires with a very similar name but different letters/numbers following the name were rated highly on the exact same table, but the particular tires that came on my car did not receive a single rating above “5” on the 10-point scale among the hundreds of people who ranked them. Most rankings were in the 2 range, with quite a few 1’s and 3’ as well.
It’s what I call the Original Equipment Tire syndrome.
When car manufacturers choose tires for their new cars, their priorities are:
Low Cost
Good Fuel Economy
Good ride quality
Good handling is rarely a priority unless the car in question is a high-performance model, and long tread wear is NEVER a priority. Thus, most new car buyers wind up replacing their worn-out tires after only 25k miles or so. If they are attuned to handling quality, they might replace them sooner.
Every manufacturer makes low-end tires that are used on new cars, and those same manufacturers make high-quality tires that cost considerably more. I had an awful experience with both Bridgestone and Continental tires that were “original equipment”, and that soured me on those brands, but even I have to admit that both of those companies also make good quality tires.
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@VDCdriver you’ll find that @CapriRacer 's article on OEM tires largely agrees with what you’ve said:
http://www.barrystiretech.com/oetires.html
My previous Toyota Matrix came with an awful set of Continental tires.
I replaced those with a set of Yokohamas (highly rated at TireRack) that were very good.
When those wore out (after twice the mileage I got out of the OEM Continentals) I held my breath and put on a set of Continentals that were highly rated at TireRack, and they also did very well.
The car was totaled by a hit-and-run before I could wear them out.
Buying new tires is your opportunity to dial in the car’s performance to meet your criteria. Most OEM tires involve too many compromises, including price. Tirerack has a tire decision questionnaire. Every November Consumer Reports rates tires on many criteria. Knowledge is power!
Back in the 1950s and into the early 1970s, the tires that came on U.S. cars as original equipment were called first line tires. The grade above first line was the premium grade. Some new car buyers would immediately replace the OEM tires with premium tires at a local tire store. There were five companies that supplied tires to the U.S car makers: Goodyear; Goodrich; General; Firestone; U.S. Royal.
There were non-OEM brands like Armstrong, Cooper, Sieberling, Lee, Dayton, and of course Allstate from Sears, Atlas from Standard Oil stations, and so on. Below the first line tire grade was the second line tire and even below that was a third line tire.
As I mentioned, some new car buyers would immediately replace the OEM first line tires with premium tires.
My first new car, a 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass came with the infamous Firestone 721 radial tires. I had real problems with these tires and a dealer that sold Firestone wouldn’t make an adjustment on the tires that was reasonable. Tires adjustments were made off some phony retail price and one could buy the same tire straight out without an adjustment for less money. I was so disgusted with the Firestone 721 radials that after an argument with the Firestone dealer over not getting a fair adjustment, but an offer to sell me new tires, that I went down the street to Quality Farm and Fleet and replaced all the Firestone 721 tires with Duralon radial tires. The car not only handled better with the Duralon tires, but I got more miles out of them.
What I have done recently is run the OEM tires until I need new rubber and then put Michelin tires on my vehicles.
Duralon was a brand for Mills Fleet Farm in WI decades ago. I heard only positive things about them. Who made them? Were they equivalent to a better known brand?
That is the exact same strategy that I use, although I have to admit that I replace the OEM tires a bit earlier than I really would have to, based on tread wear. My most recent set of Continental OEM tires was so bad that I replaced them when there was still 5/32 of tread remaining. Costco was running a good sale on Michelins, and because I didn’t want to have to live with those OEM tires any longer, I ditched them and bought Michelins at a sale price.
I did the same thing with my previous car because I just didn’t want to have to live with the crappy OEM Bridgestone RE-92 tires any longer.
My father’s ‘66 Ford Galaxie 500 came from the factory with B.F. Goodrich Silvertown tires that were completely worn-out at 16k miles. No, there wasn’t an alignment issue, as they were evenly worn across the tread width, so those OEM tires were simply junk–at least in terms of tread wear. We replaced them with Pep Boys’ top of the line tires (which, I think, were made by Cooper), and they were superior in every way to the OEM tires.
@shanonia. Duralon tires were made by Dayton Tires. I know that these tires were sold by the farm store chain Quality Farm and Fleet which no longer exists and Big Blue Store chain.
In the '70s, my aunt bought a new Malibu sedan that came from the factory with the notoriously dangerous Firestone 500 tires. When the recall of those junk tires took place, they were replaced with the almost-as-bad Firestone 721 tires.
It seems that, back in the '70s, Firestone was unable to design and manufacture safe tires.
So much to comment on:
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In the 1970’s steel belted radial tires were a new thing. EVERYONE had trouble with failures - including Michelin. - BUT - Firestone was the last to realize that it was a chemical that was causing the problem (HMT -hexamethylenetetramine) - AND - they also did a poor PR job in handling the situation. Please note: They apparently didn’t learn as they repeated the poor PR job some 25 years later with the ATX/Explorer situation.
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It isn’t that OE tires are cheap, it’s that the design goals of OE tires are different than replacement market tires. The OEM’s (vehicle manufacturers) have spec’s that must be met and at the top of that list is fuel economy (rolling resistance!) They get that by sacrificing tread wear and traction - and it is not uncommon for the OEM’s to be too aggressive in their specs. Plus the OEM’s don’t warrant tires ( with 2 exceptions) , so there is no incentive to specify good wearing tires.
Further, the average consumer wants good treadwear and doesn’t perceive tires as having a major impact on fuel economy - so replacement market tires are always geared towards good treadwear (with the exception of high performance tires where grip is important and low cost tires where the price is the selling point)
And as far as the price the OEM’s pay for tires - it is linked to the fact that not only is the volume HUGE!!!, but it’s an ideal shipping system as the flow is steady and it’s a single point to point operation.