written by Nokianjunk on 14/12/2007
Good Points
Good in ice
Bad Points
Nokian fails to warranty its product
General Comments
I purchased these tires for winter driving in southern co. Haak 2 eco stud 195/65 /R15. I used these tires for approx 500miles, they were dismounted and correctly stored for summer. Upon re-mounting for winter, one of the tires showed 2 grapefruit size protrusions on the sidewall. Remember these tires had been in storage and not in use. The rubber was so thin I could almost push my finger through the protrusions.'
The tire was sent back to Denver CO, Nokian rep, which told me the damage was due to impact.
I explained that these tires were fine when the came off last spring, hadn't been mounted on the vehicle yet, so I couldn't understand how they could stand by "impact damage". Maybe he thinks that falling from my garage storage shelf constitutes impact damage.
I also spoke with Nokian direct, explained the situation etc...They than called the Denver rep, called me back and refused to warranty the tire due to defect,told me i should have purchased "roadside hazard" (a non issue as the tire is clearly defect) apologized and hung up.
Bottom line...if you have a warranty/defect problem do not count on Nokian cover their product. I will never purchase any of their products or recommend their products to anyone.
As rated by our community of reviewers
Ericstewart's Response to Nokianjunk's Review
Written on: 28/12/2007
First of all, they are not all season tires. The Hakkapeliitta line is a winter tire. Second, the call as to whether the representative from Nokian will honour your warranty or not is a judgement one. They judged that you had abused the tires.
<br/>I've been using Nokian winter tires for over 20 years and have always been well satisfied with them. It's too bad you had a negative experience with them but I can assure you that this is not representative of the brand as a whole.
<br/>
<br/>/Eric
Chiarored's Response to Nokianjunk's Review
Written on: 21/11/2010
I found this review not helpful because...I always look to see what kind of reviews a product gets and I always find, no matter how good the product is that there is some guy or two who causes their own problem and then wants the company to cover their mistake. If he had been running on a gravel road, and lightly hit a rock and felt that they were just too easily damaged that is one thing but to suggest that when they came off the car they were fine and the minute they were remounted they had balloons on the sidewall , c'mon who does this guy think he's fooling. I have had The Vatiiva A/T for a fairly short time but they are a fabulous tyre and I feel I can say this confidently because I ran the much older Haakapalita WMR (I think that was the designation) anyway it was considered an All-Weather and carried the snow and ice symbol (ice crystal in a mountain outline). I had them on a Subaru and was told they had great traction but didn't deal well with gravel roads. I bought them anyway and ran them on 16 miles of gravel 3 or 4 times a week. I had amazing ice and snow traction, and even running them back and forth to CA. in the summer (all season predecessor of WR) I got 47,000 miles. They were awesome tires. Then I put the WR on the same Subaru LAgacy and they are still running well with over 35,000 miles on them. Then put the WRG2 I think on My girlfriends Honda and they are wearing well too. All this in tough Montana Service where we have a lot of tough conditions... cold and snowy/icy winters and summers that are up to 100 degrees hot and wear out softer compounds. The Nokian compounds hold up well to heat and summer driving but the unique syping they use makes them excellent on ice. The Vatiiva A/T I now have on my Toyota 4runner is far better than the toyo open road A/T I had on Ice and snow and seems to be wearing very well too.