Tire warning!! Hankook tires

attyjeff

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Location
Tallahassee,Florida
TDI
2009 Jetta wagon TDI
I have a 2009 jetta TDI sport wagon with hankook tires on it, I bought the car new from the dealer, one tire is splitting on the side wall, you may want to look at your tires, this is very dangerous. I have been in contact with the dealer, and they passed me on to hankook tires, they are giving me the runaround saying they can credit me for the defective tire BUT the "credit" turns out to be no real credit at all, I am working on this as we speak and I have pictures of the tire if you want to see it, I also notified nthsa I about the issue.
 

MPBsr

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2009
Location
NJ
TDI
2009 TDI....Traded in
I've been using Hancook for years with no problem, but in this case go back to the dealer and tell them it's their responsibility.

Run this by the dealer. Tell me, should I go back to (as an example) Bosch if the starter dies, what about Dupont Paint if the paint peels?
 

TwoTone

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2005
Location
DMV
TDI
05.5 Jetta (sold)
I've been using Hancook for years with no problem, but in this case go back to the dealer and tell them it's their responsibility.

Run this by the dealer. Tell me, should I go back to (as an example) Bosch if the starter dies, what about Dupont Paint if the paint peels?

Tires are different and always have been. That's why you get that tire warranty card/booklet with your cars info.
 

20IndigoBlue02

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
Location
Was North NJ, now SoCal
TDI
2002 Golf TDI-- deceased
I've been using Hancook for years with no problem, but in this case go back to the dealer and tell them it's their responsibility.

Run this by the dealer. Tell me, should I go back to (as an example) Bosch if the starter dies, what about Dupont Paint if the paint peels?
Tires are not covered under the VW Bumper to Bumper (New vehicle) warranty. It says so right in the warranty manual.

If the starter dies, that is covered in your warranty (see warranty booklet)

if the paint peels, that may not be covered due to environmental damage (see warranty booklet)

At the sale of the vehicle, VW does offer the option of the wheel/tire protection package, which does cover this.

Tire Companies usually warranty tires based on a Pro-rated basis, so, they will reimburse you for the useable tread that is left on the tires.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I've been using Hancook for years with no problem, but in this case go back to the dealer and tell them it's their responsibility.

Run this by the dealer. Tell me, should I go back to (as an example) Bosch if the starter dies, what about Dupont Paint if the paint peels?
No manufacturer warrants tires, they have their own seperate warranty... that is why they come with their own warranty booklet. Your owner's manual will state this as well.

I remove these crappy tires from new cars a lot, they are pretty bad. Shame on Volkswagen for cheapening such a critical component. :mad:
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
I haven't had any issues on my hankooks about 20,000 on them and seem to be wearing well. I can't complain about them like so many other members out there, but I probably won't be replacing them with hankooks when the time comes.

You have a pitcure of this splitting? How do you know it's a manufacuring defect? can you see cords? Is it deep? Maybe you clipped something on the highway?
 

Biffster

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 10, 2010
Location
Gadsden, AL
TDI
2010 JSW TDI
Just something about the name -- Hankook -- that would prevent me from ever buying them.

Call me kooky :D
 

lou95gts

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2010
Location
Caledon
TDI
2010 Jetta
The "Made in China" stamped on the sidewall should be all the info you need to know about these tires.
My first post here. Just picked up a '10 6spd. Red with the retro white/beige interior. Not my first choice of colour combo but car was cheap...I love Ebay!
 

JM Popaleetus

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2010
Location
Connecticut
TDI
Signature.
The Hankooks that came on the 2010 TDI really are some of the worst tires I have ever seen. One has already been replaced due to premature failure.

Come next spring, they're getting replaced with Bridgestone Turanza Serenities.
 

MayorDJQ

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Location
Williamstown, Mass
TDI
'10 Golf 2dr 6m, sold.
I have a 2009 jetta TDI sport wagon with hankook tires on it, I bought the car new from the dealer, one tire is splitting on the side wall, you may want to look at your tires, this is very dangerous. I have been in contact with the dealer, and they passed me on to hankook tires, they are giving me the runaround saying they can credit me for the defective tire BUT the "credit" turns out to be no real credit at all, I am working on this as we speak and I have pictures of the tire if you want to see it, I also notified nthsa I about the issue.
How many miles on those tires on your '09? Are you meticulous about maintaining the proper air pressure?
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
The "Made in China" stamped on the sidewall should be all the info you need to know about these tires.
My first post here. Just picked up a '10 6spd. Red with the retro white/beige interior. Not my first choice of colour combo but car was cheap...I love Ebay!

How cheap is cheap?
 

ChippedNotBroken

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2004
Location
Pocono\'s, NYC
TDI
Jetta A4 1999.5 Green
The "Made in China" stamped on the sidewall should be all the info you need to know about these tires.
My first post here. Just picked up a '10 6spd. Red with the retro white/beige interior. Not my first choice of colour combo but car was cheap...I love Ebay!
When I was a kid they used to say the same thing about made in Japan. Don't count on Chinese quality issues to last much longer.
 

1998993C2S

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Location
Georgia & Colorado
TDI
2006.5 Jetta Pkg2 DSG Navi
OP, what needs to be said in this post has been said, take the issue up Hankook USA. And then buy a set of known high quaility tires; er Michelins.
 
Last edited:

thomashpsn

Active member
Joined
Jul 7, 2010
Location
Richmond, VA
TDI
TDI Cup
I have Hankook Ventus V12 tires on my Porsche. Not only do they get great reviews, they have taken serious abuse during random HPDE events at 1/3 the cost of replacement PS2s. Mine are made in Korea FWIW.
 

GTIDan

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2009
Location
So. California
TDI
2010 Candy White Jetta, DSG
I have Hankook on my 2010 Jetta and I like them. They ride smooth and quiet and with 15,000 miles on the clock they show no wear at all.

For those who say 'made in China' is all you need to know your ignorance is showing. :(

A recent tire test by CR ranked the Hankook tire second only to the Michelin. Out here in LaLa land I see Hankook tires on almost every make of car from Ferrari to Corolla.
 
Last edited:

MayorDJQ

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Location
Williamstown, Mass
TDI
'10 Golf 2dr 6m, sold.

MayorDJQ

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Location
Williamstown, Mass
TDI
'10 Golf 2dr 6m, sold.
$16k for a car with a salvage title? I'm not sure that qualifies as "cheap".
As for the original topic, I like that the oem tires ride smooth and are quiet, but they don't handle well at all IMHO and i find them very slippery in the wet.
And when did a 2010 Jetta TDI become a BlueTech?
 

aja8888

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Location
Texas..RETIRED 12/31/17
TDI
Out of TDI's
The "Made in China" stamped on the sidewall should be all the info you need to know about these tires.
My first post here. Just picked up a '10 6spd. Red with the retro white/beige interior. Not my first choice of colour combo but car was cheap...I love Ebay!
Welcome aboard! Glad you got it cheap. do some reading on the HPFP failures on the 09-10 TDIs, then maybe it won't look so cheap.
 

lou95gts

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2010
Location
Caledon
TDI
2010 Jetta
$16k for a car with a salvage title? I'm not sure that qualifies as "cheap".
.
$7000 Off the price of a same equiped & mileagage non branded. Only needed the fender hood and grille replaced.
And yeah, who cares about the the title brand in 6 years with 200000 miles on the clock. The $7K I saved will pay for a new HPFP ;-)
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
For those who say 'made in China' is all you need to know your ignorance is showing. :(

...
So, all the news reports over the last few years about China sending substandard drywall, toys, tires, brake components, etc. is just made up? You actually think it is OK for your children to play with toys full of lead paint, eh? And it is OK for your house to slowly poison your family because of substandard drywall? Seriously?

Yes, I guess I am ignorant then. :rolleyes:
 

gpshumway

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2005
Location
Minneapolis, MN
TDI
2000 Jetta
So, all the news reports over the last few years about China sending substandard drywall, toys, tires, brake components, etc. is just made up? You actually think it is OK for your children to play with toys full of lead paint, eh? And it is OK for your house to slowly poison your family because of substandard drywall? Seriously?

Yes, I guess I am ignorant then. :rolleyes:
Yes, you are. Just because China has a higher incidence of substandard manufacturing doesn't mean every product made in China is substandard. That was GTIDan's point. "Made in China" is not 'all you need to know'.

Plenty of excellent products are made in China. I'd wager much of the car is made in China when you examine it at the component level.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Yes, the Chinese make excellent food, and MORE Chinese people. They are good at that, I'll agree. Everything else, never once can I say they make anything "good", it is more a case of "good enough" for people with a throwaway mentality.

This is why I have a German Braun shaver, Stihl chainsaw, etc. :D And as far as component level, yes, we are seeing more Chinese components in cars all the time, and every day they are associated with the failure. But keep in mind OE parts from China are usually made to a higher standard than no-name Chinese replacement parts. I can tell you with good authority on my daily experience the Chinese car parts are BAD. And when some of us TDI clubbers actually got to experience an entire Chinese car at NAIAS we were amazed and frightened by just how horrific a Geely or Cheng-Feng (or whatever it was) and BYD could actually be. Worse than the worst Yugo you have ever seen. The build quality and parts were SO BAD they had to lock of the Geely HiFun and put a cover over it, because it was literally shedding parts right on the show floor. Words cannot describe how bad those cars are, and unless you were there to see it, I cannot possibly make anyone understand.

At least we all got a kick out of trying to read their Changlish sales brochure....that was the highlight of the weekend.... "Move you in an instant", "Standard Bocsh Germany feul ejections" (no, that last part is NOT a typo, that is actually how it appeared in the brochure).
 

quadrun1

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Location
Fairfield County, CT
TDI
past: 2013 Passat TDI SE 6M, 2010 Jetta TDI DSG
Take it easy guys. Lots of well-manufactured items are made in China (Apple products, for example) and lots of substandard items are made there too...
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Since VW has 9 plants in China, working on adding another one.... if a Chinese-made TDI were to be sold in the US, would you accept the car?
Having seen the quality of many genuine Volkswagen parts from China, I'd be skeptical of any sold here. But again, a genuine part vs. an aftermarket part may not be a valid comparison. Volkswagen can build and sell cars in Southeast Asia that are not up to a "global" standard because of all the cars they get compared to there. You can look at pictures of the Chinese Santana (even brand new ones) and see poor body panel fit, and it is not secret how poorly the Chinese A2 Jetta does in crash tests simply because they metallurgy is so bad, despite being stamped from the exact same tooling they used in Wolfsburg in the '80s.

We had a local guy buy a bunch of Chinese A2 bits for an old GTI, and most of the stuff fit poorly, despite coming packaged in a genuine VW box/bag. They may still be 10+ years off before they can match what Mexico, Brazil, etc. have done for Volkswagens. Early Mexican-built VWs were pretty bad too, but we never saw any sold new here. The only ones we saw here for a long time were the '73 and '74 Type 181 (sold here as the Thing). And that was a car that was more or less a warmed over military vehicle, so fit and finish were hardly something you'd fret over.

I think Volkswagen, regardless of where the car is assembled, being a German company has a higher standard of build quality than someone like Geely or BYD.
 
Last edited:
Top