Buying a new car typically involves many activities: browsing a variety of makes and models, researching quality and safety ratings online, taking a test drive, getting vehicle price and insurance quotes, arranging financing, and so on. However, one item that many new car shoppers tend to overlook is tires. Sure, it’s easy to take those four round, black objects sitting beneath your car for granted, but the tires on your new vehicle can have a dramatic effect on not only the driving experience, but the overall ownership experience as well.
According to a recent study by J.D. Power and Associates, the occurrence of even a single problem with original equipment tires during the first two years of ownership has a strong negative impact on overall customer satisfaction, as well as having a significant impact on a customer’s willingness to recommend their tire brand. According to the 2009 Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study, which measures tire owner satisfaction across four factors—tire wearability, appearance, traction/handling, and ride—overall satisfaction among owners who did not report any problems averages 718 points on a 1,000-point scale, compared to 586 points for customers who say they experienced at least one problem. The study reports owner satisfaction across four tire segments:
- Luxury vehicles;
- passenger cars;
- performance sport;
- truck/utility vehicles.
According to the study, 89 percent of customers who did not experience any problems indicate they “definitely will” or “probably will” recommend their tire brand, while only 55 percent of customers who report experiencing a problem say the same. Further, a customer’s willingness to recommend their tire brand varies depending on the problem experienced. For example, the percentage of customers who say they “definitely will not” recommend their tire brand is particularly high among those who report problems with poor traction/grip on dry roads (48%) and fast tread wear (40%). Conversely, only 12 percent of customers who report experiencing problems from road hazards/punctures, and 15 percent of those with slow leaks report they “definitely will not” recommend their tire brand.
Other highlights from the study:
- Michelin ranks highest in three of the four tire segments—luxury, passenger car and truck/utility—while Goodyear ranks highest in the performance sport segment.
- In the passenger car and luxury segments, Michelin performs particularly well in the tire wearability and appearance factors.
- Goodyear performs particularly well in the tire wearability factor in the performance sports segment and also performs well in the traction/handling, appearance and ride factors.
About the Study
The 2009 Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from nearly 30,000 new-vehicle owners who purchased a 2007 or 2008 model-year vehicle. The study was fielded between October and December 2008.
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