YOKOHAMA GEOLANDAR TIRES Complaints

Yokohama 245/60r20 Geolander G96 that came with my brand new 2021 Toyota 4Runner Limited I purchased in December 2020. Over the last several weeks every 7 to 10 days I have needed to put air in all 4 tires. Then I was driving on a smooth paved street arriving at work my low pressure warning light came on. I got out and had a flat tire. I found the inner sidewall failed at only 28,000 miles. I didn’t hit anything on the road, or hit a curb etc. just normal driving on paved roads. Putting on the spare I took my 4Runner to the Toyota dealership a few miles away. The service technician at our local Toyota dealer today stated they, “are seeing this issue as a common problem with this particular tire on Toyota 4Runners in our Colorado Cold climate, is causing the rubber to become excessively brittle. Even with normal use, the smallest stones/sand used in our highway plows/sanding trucks cause catastrophic premature tire failure. They may be fine for use in California warm clients but not here in Colorado.” This explains why recently every 7 to 10 days I have needed to put additional air in all 4 tires. The rubber is prematurely becoming brittle/rot in cold weather thus not properly sealing the air. The technician recommended going with 4 new tires from a different manufacturer, stating the problem will continue with the other 3 Yokohama tires and likely a new Yokohama tire as well. He agreed the tire should be recalled as this is unacceptable especially for a tire with a M+S (mud and snow rating), only 28,000 miles on and properly taken care of. At $400+ per tire this is a huge expense and clearly a HUGE safety issue in cold climates. In cold weather having to refill tires with air every 7 to 10 days is a real hassle as well. Good thing I have my own air compressor at home. I only drive with the correct air pressure per my owners manual as stated on my drivers door. The Toyota dealer drew a white chalk square around the tire failure area.

On 09/29/22 while crossing the Richmond Bridge, the drivers rear tire experienced a sudden and complete blowout of the tire. All rubber separated from the rim and landed in the adjacent left traffic lane. I slowly came to a complete stop on the bridge with hazard lights on. A bridge service vehicle arrived within 1-2 minutes and helped change to the spare. My tires had just been serviced at Costco Tire Center in Novato on 09/25/22 and they maintain that the failure is due to manufacturing defect as they tire passed their inspection.

Tire developed a bubble in the sidewall about 1.5" in diameter and 3/4" high. Tire removed from service and replaced as a safety issue. I have the tire in my storage. Car is a Subaru Forester used light duty and on paved roads. Approximately 75% to 80% of tread remaining. TPMS operational, so tire was not run low on air. When tire pressure removed (to replace tire), bubble disappeared. Vehicle has 70,000 miles. Vendor declined to reimburse.

We were driving down road going about 55 mph. Our 2019 Nissan Rogue gave us a warning that our tire pressure was low. We immediately pulled over an inspected our tires. The tires appeared fine but the air pressure in the right rear tire was about 5 lbs pressure low. We immediately put the tire manufacturers recommended air pressure. Our vehicle warning light went off and we completed our road trip. On the morning of 6-25 we noticed completed flat rear passenger tire. After further inspection of the tire, we noticed the tire tread had a slight tear from the inside of the tire to the outside of the tire. It was obvious the damage was not caused by road debris or any road hazards or miles on these tires. We have not put more than 12,000 miles on this tire. These tires were about a year old and the tread was within the safety depth. This could have cause an accident in which substantial injury or death could have occurred. Yokohama tires should be ashamed of this lack of quality. It is believed this tire was manufactured in the Yokohama Mississippi tire plant in January- Feburary of 2019. Pictures can be given upon request.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2004 GMC SIERRA 800 (NA) EQUIPPED WITH YOKOHAMA GEOLANDAR A/T-S TIRES, SIZE: LT 285/75/R16 (NA). WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH, THE FRONT END OF THE VEHICLE SHOOK AND THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TIRE BLEW OUT. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE TIRE WAS REPLACED WITH THE SPARE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND STATED THAT THE WARRANTY WAS EXPIRED. THE APPROXIMATE VEHICLE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 101,793 AND THE TIRE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 14,000.

PURCHASED A NEW 2017 LEXUS NX ON MAY 28, 2017. ON JUNE 23, 2017 WHILE WASHING CAR FOR FIRST TIME, I SAW A CRACK/SPLIT IN TIRE SIDEWALL ABOUT 3-4" LONG. ADVISED DEALER IT WAS DEFECT. DEALER ARGUES IT COULD HAVE BEEN DUE TO HITTING A CURB. THERE HAS NOT BEEN ANY ACCIDENTS, RUNNING OVER NAILS OR SCREWS OR HITTING ANYTHING WITH THE TIRE/CAR. THIS TIRE IS DRIVER REAR SIDE AND I FEAR A BLOWOUT COULD OCCUR. THE CRACK HAS MOST LIKELY BEEN PRESENT SINCE CAR WAS PURCHASED. THERE ARE NO SCUFFS, MARKS, ETC. ON TIRE. I HAVE PHOTOS BUT NO PLACE TO ATTACH THEM HERE.

YOKOHAMA TIRE BLOW OUT WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH 5 FEB 2017. YOKOHAMA P275/65R18 GEOLANDER HTS. READ TIRE, SIDEWALL RUPTURE. NO ROAD HAZARD CONTACT. TIRES PURCHASED FROM TREAD QUARTERS IN HAMPTON VA AUG 2016. APPROX. 7000 MILES ON THE TIRES.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 FORD F-250 EQUIPPED WITH YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER TIRES, SIZE: LT285/7516 (NA). THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TREAD WAS DISINTEGRATING COMPLETELY. THE VEHICLE COULD NOT BE DRIVEN. THE TIRES WERE NOT REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE DOT NUMBER WAS NOT AVAILABLE. THE VEHICLE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 148,000 AND THE TIRE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 15,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 NISSAN PATHFINDER EQUIPPED WITH YOKOHAMA GEOLANDAR H/T-S TIRES, SIZE: 265/70/R16 (NA). WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH, THE TPMS WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT ALL THE TIRES WERE DRY ROTTED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE TIRES WERE NOT REPLACED. THE TIRE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE DOT NUMBER AND TIRE FAILURE MILEAGE WERE UNKNOWN. THE VEHICLE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 99,180.

ON OCTOBER 6, 2015, I WAS TRAVELING ON I-70 IN SOUTHERN UTAH WHEN THE REAR DRIVER SIDE TIRE BLEW OUT. THE TIRE WAS A YOKOHAMA GEOLANDER G91, DOT FDF5 PC50814, SIZE P225/65R17/60H. THIS TIRE WAS ON MY 2015 MAZDA CX5 WHEN I PURCHASED IT IN LATE AUGUST 2014. IT HAD 10559 MILES ON IT. ROAD CONDITIONS AT THE TIME OF THE BLOW OUT WERE EXCELLENT AND THE ROAD WAS VERY SMOOTH AS IT HAD BEEN RECENTLY PAVED. THE TIRE WAS IN 3 PIECES, THE TWO SIDE WALLS AND THE BOTTOM TREAD. THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF PUNCTURE. THE GENTLEMAN WHO ASSISTED IN CHANGING THE TIRE SAID HE WAS FREQUENTLY CALLED TO THAT AREA FOR FLAT TIRE ASSISTANCE, BUT HE HAD NEVER SEEN ANYTHING QUITE LIKE THIS SEPARATION OF THE SIDEWALLS FROM THE TREAD. IT SEEMS THIS IS A FAIRLY COMMON PROBLEM WITH YOKOHAMA TIRES FROM MY READING OF OTHER COMPLAINTS.