6 Worst Tire Brands to Avoid Buying 2022 (Don’t Buy These!)

Tires are just like your cat’s feet. They must support the entire vehicle’s structure and help the car grip the road. The only thing connecting your vehicle and the road are the tires – Therefore, it’s very wise to invest in a good pair of tires for everyone’s safety.

If you have low-quality tires, the risk of losing control of your vehicle is much greater, which can lead to an accident or even death. You will probably also experience a lot of road noise, which can be quite annoying. To top it off, you need to buy new tires a few thousand miles apart because cheaper tires wear out faster.

There are hundreds of tire-manufacturing brands out there but not every brand makes good tires, unfortunately. Some tires are very cheap, but their low price often means they are not reliable.

Therefore, it is important not to be fooled by flashy tire offers and attractive prices. Only buy tires from well-known manufacturers. Let’s check out some of the worst tire brands on the market!

All of these tire brands are just our own opinion from many years of experience. These tire brands may have improved since then and we would love to be proven wrong, for the safety of us all.

What are the Worst Tire Brands?

There are thousands of different tire brands to choose from out there. Some of these brands have already been recalled and are no longer on the US market, but they could still be sold in other countries or imported so be aware.

The worst tire brands you should avoid buying include:

• Goodride
• Westlake
• Chaoyang
• Compass Tires
• Telluride
• YKS
• AKS Tires

A lot of Chinese manufacturers are developing a lot of brand names for almost the same tires. One big manufacturer from China is Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Company. They are selling many cheaper tires without good safety checks or tests before they leave the factory.

Cheap Chinese Tires

China exports 65 million tires out to the world each year. Therefore, most of the cheap tires you will find on markets will be Chinese-made, often the worst tire brands to avoid at all costs.

Without good safety checks and bad materials before leaving the factory, it’s already set up for a disaster. 

If you take a look at them, you probably won’t be able to differentiate them from more expensive branded tires made by Michelin or Dunlop. But that’s the thing. These tires look good to an untrained eye but are often not good in quality, safety, or durability.

However, there are also some reliable Chinese tire manufacturers out there. But unfortunately from our experience, we found out that the majority do not perform well.

Why you should not buy cheap tires

If you think you should save some money by buying cheap tires or continuing driving with old tires, you should consider some things.

1. Safety

The biggest concern with cheap tires is safety. What happens if your tire explodes just by a small nail in your tire while driving at 75 mph? It can cause a serious accident and nothing you want to happen, even though this is much more likely with cheap tires than more quality tires.

2. Longer Brake Distance

The braking distance and the grip between good and bad tires are very different, which can be the difference between life and death. This is something you should really think about before buying cheap tires.

3. Durability

Another aspect to look for is quality with durability. Cheaper tires will most likely have a much shorter life so if you buy cheap tires, you need to replace them more often than quality tires. Therefore, you may actually not save as much money as you think buying a cheaper set.

Cheap tires often also have weaker sidewalls, and if you get sidewall tire damage it’s not repairable and you will have to replace the whole tire.

4. Environment

Cheaper tires are often bad for the environment. This does both apply to the manufacturer environment and the road wear environment. Tires that wear out more quickly release more particles into the air, eventually destroying the environment.

What tires should you buy instead?

When you know which are the worst tire brands to avoid on the market, you probably also want to know which brands are a better choice. We do usually recommend buying tires from known brands, often made in the US or Japan.

Here is a list of the best performance tire brands we do recommend buying instead:

• Michelin
• Goodyear
• Continental
• BF Goodrich
• Bridgestone
• Cooper
• Hankook
• Nokian
• Pirelli
• Toyo
• Yokohama

You can also check out our other posts if you want to find good and high-quality tire brands and want to learn a little bit more about what to look for before buying tires: 5 Best All-Season Tires or 8 Best Performance Tires.

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