My Dunlop Enasaves 7 years later.....

[7milesout]

I worked 7 years for Hyundai-Kia and very closely with MANY Korean vendors. I will not buy Korean tires, ever, if I can help it. But more power to ya, if you guys choose to do so. I'm sure that they're not ALL bad. (Meaning: I'm sure not all Hyundai-Kia vendors produce all bad products).

But I was left with a very bad taste in my mouth in regards to Korean automotive products (after having worked for Toyota).... It's the vehicles I have an issue with ... because I was exactly in the middle of what they were doing.

Sorry Mark - I'm not the best at being clear. I'm not condemning Korean tire companies. Or Korean vendors in general. To clarify, I never have bought a Hyundai-Kia vehicle after seeing a) the absolute joke of an engineering job they do as compared to Toyota (worked in design for both), and b) the absolute ridiculous antics they pulled at the Hyundai plant. They were laughable after having joined them immediately subsequent to working for Toyota. Toyota is legit.

And to be clear, I'm not condemning Korean tire companies, I was just left with with a very bad impression of Hyundai-Kia, and every vendor I worked with. Which was interior and exterior trim companies. In one instance, having a meeting with a console company I asked them to make a mod to the part, and let's reconvene in 2 hours (something like that). They looked at me like I was crazy and replied with, "it would require a tooling change, we can't do that in 2 hours." I said, "no, I'm talking about making a hand modification to the part, use pliers, razors, super glue whatever and drill a new hole, blah blah blah." They said, oh, that would take at least a week, we can't do that. I said, "Here, give me your console and meet me back here in 2 hours, I'll do it myself." And I did. I told them it didn't have to be pretty, it was a functional check to see if what I was proposing would fix the problem. They came back, there was a whole pack of them, and they acted like I was some kind of super-human. It was ridiculous. And it did fix the problem, and an engineering change was made to duplicate my hand change. But that's what Japanese and American engineers do on a daily basis. As well as the Japanese vendors. It ain't no thang.

But they acted like it was death defying and were all smiley-faced and amazed. I was mortified about the level of engineering I was working with. And that's just once instance. Let me just say that lying about the cause of a problem, and lying about what's going on in the plant seems to be acceptable. Lying to U.S. Customs and Regulatory Affairs type staff is a fun and exciting game, as long as you have an American that's going to be the one to fire if the Koreans get caught.

Outside of doing "engineering" work, they are an amazing people, and I would be honored to live among them. And I mean that. They are great great respectable loving people (Japanese too).

[Mark]

Sorry Mark - I'm not the best at being clear. I'm not condemning Korean tire companies. Or Korean vendors in general. To clarify, I never have bought a Hyundai-Kia vehicle after seeing a) the absolute joke of an engineering job they do as compared to Toyota (worked in design for both), and b) the absolute ridiculous antics they pulled at the Hyundai plant. They were laughable after having joined them immediately subsequent to working for Toyota. Toyota is legit.

And to be clear, I'm not condemning Korean tire companies, I was just left with with a very bad impression of Hyundai-Kia, and every vendor I worked with. Which was interior and exterior trim companies. In one instance, having a meeting with a console company I asked them to make a mod to the part, and let's reconvene in 2 hours (something like that). They looked at me like I was crazy and replied with, "it would require a tooling change, we can't do that in 2 hours." I said, "no, I'm talking about making a hand modification to the part, use pliers, razors, super glue whatever and drill a new hole, blah blah blah." They said, oh, that would take at least a week, we can't do that. I said, "Here, give me your console and meet me back here in 2 hours, I'll do it myself." And I did. I told them it didn't have to be pretty, it was a functional check to see if what I was proposing would fix the problem. They came back, there was a whole pack of them, and they acted like I was some kind of super-human. It was ridiculous. And it did fix the problem, and an engineering change was made to duplicate my hand change. But that's what Japanese and American engineers do on a daily basis. As well as the Japanese vendors. It ain't no thang.

But they acted like it was death defying and were all smiley-faced and amazed. I was mortified about the level of engineering I was working with. And that's just once instance. Let me just say that lying about the cause of a problem, and lying about what's going on in the plant seems to be acceptable. Lying to U.S. Customs and Regulatory Affairs type staff is a fun and exciting game, as long as you have an American that's going to be the one to fire if the Koreans get caught.

Outside of doing "engineering" work, they are an amazing people, and I would be honored to live among them. And I mean that. They are great great respectable loving people (Japanese too).

"I will not buy Korean tires, ever, if I can help it." That comment sounds likes someone condemning companies like Hankook, Nexen, & Kumho, but I appreciate the clarification.

I condemn tires companies like Michelin, Goodyear, Cooper, Firestone, etc... for not manufacturing 165/65r14 tires for the USA market. I appreciate the new 165/65r14 tire offerings by Kumho & Nexen in the recent years. It gives a person an option. You don't have to settle for $165 Dunlop Enasave tires or cheap unknown Chinese tires.

If someone truly dislikes Korean tires, my response is - What's a better value these days when it comes factory size Mirage tires?

I wouldn't stick my neck endorsing KIA/Hyundai products these days. I totally get that.

[7milesout]

Who knows, I might like Korean tires. I just avoid anything Korean automotive. I had a set that came on my 1993 RX-7, and they were el crapola too. Could've been lots of reasons for that. But of course, I fairly dislike Goodyear tires too. I gave them a try, and they were good in the beginning but seemed to go to pot real quick at something like 30k miles. And had real expensive Bridgestones take a dump on me too. I don't rule Goodyears and Bridgestones out ... I just keep my eyes peeled on them close if I find some interesting.

[Fummins]

Speaking of Michelin's and Toyota...I have a relatively newish Lexus in the shop with a hole in the inside sidewall of a stock Michelin. It's got under 30,000kms on it. It looks like someone stabbed it with a knife. It's a nice vehicle but if you let it sit more than 2 days the batteries die. Toyota says that's normal and you gotta drive it more often.

[dspace9]

Who knows, I might like Korean tires. I just avoid anything Korean automotive. I had a set that came on my 1993 RX-7, and they were el crapola too. Could've been lots of reasons for that. But of course, I fairly dislike Goodyear tires too. I gave them a try, and they were good in the beginning but seemed to go to pot real quick at something like 30k miles. And had real expensive Bridgestones take a dump on me too. I don't rule Goodyears and Bridgestones out ... I just keep my eyes peeled on them close if I find some interesting.

Honestly so far so good with my particular sets of tires made in South Korea. I got my all-weathers on sale, like 4 tires for the price of 3, and even then they were much much cheaper than the prices I'm hearing for Dunlops on here.

I think what you were describing earlier could be a case of head-in-the clouds Engineers, more lofty academic than say an electrician who became an electrical engineer.

Anyway you can get that at any company. I think a big company has many advantage, but disadvantages is a lot of people touting/bobbleheading the company line to get ahead. Nobody saying when the emperor has no clothes on. But every industry has that problem. We have a big Toyota plant locally and all the stories I hear out of it is that the pay is amazing and it's super regimented. So I'm not sure if there's more than one box to think out of in those places.

When it crashes it crashes big with that attitude, no matter the product.

[Mark]

Who knows, I might like Korean tires. I just avoid anything Korean automotive. I had a set that came on my 1993 RX-7, and they were el crapola too. Could've been lots of reasons for that. But of course, I fairly dislike Goodyear tires too. I gave them a try, and they were good in the beginning but seemed to go to pot real quick at something like 30k miles. And had real expensive Bridgestones take a dump on me too. I don't rule Goodyears and Bridgestones out ... I just keep my eyes peeled on them close if I find some interesting.

I've never been a big fan of Goodyear tires. I got a free set of Goodyear tires when the Firestone tires on my 1999 Ford Explorer were condemned by a class action lawsuit. We can thank that time period for mandatory TPMS in the States. I don't think the relationship between Ford & Firestone has been the same, but I don't buy Fords any more.

Today's tire market is quite complex. Most people think of Dunlop tires as being made by Goodyear, but Dunlop tires are the SRI (Sumitomo Rubber Industries). If anyone has a Dunlop Enasave, read the fine print on the sidewall. It's a SRI tire.

I have liked Cooper tires for decades, but Goodyear bought Cooper last summer. I hope Cooper doesn't change much. Cooper truck tires have a loyal following, & I think their snow tires rock.

Mirage owners have the option of going with 175/65r14 or 185/55r15 size tires. Obviously other sizes may work, too. I find it interesting that Priority Tires recommends 175/65r14 size tires for a Mirage now.

[7milesout]

Toyota says that's normal and you gotta drive it more often.

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) doesn't say that. Because saying such a thing is utter horseshiat. That had to come from a dealer (they are NOT TMC). And no, it is not normal at all (which I realize you are aware as you are VERY car savvy and intelligent).

I have a 2010 LS 460L. It has very close to every piece of equipment that can be loaded on it (for maximum electrical system drain). It will sit in my garage for a month and fire right back up.

[Fummins]

I didn't think Toyota owners were as sensitive as Tesla ones

Regardless, it's been to the dealer multiple times and never resolved. It's a toyota that has a problem. They're out there lol.
I don't think it's normal but it's too fancy for me. It makes space ship noises when you put it into park. I assume it has an electric shift motor in the transmission or something. This thing does have an aftermarket remote start as well so maybe that's the problem? I've never been asked to look at it so I don't care.

[7milesout]

I think what you were describing earlier could be a case of head-in-the clouds Engineers, more lofty academic than say an electrician who became an electrical engineer.

There's some of that. But no, the issue is a total company mindset. I'm not joshing. I was very reaffirmed, assured (whatever the word) and elated with joy when I began to work for Toyota and found that they are everything I ever heard of them. They ARE absolutely dedicated to following the direction of making a customer happy. The things I did ... some long stories. I was worked hard, I got tired, but never dissatisfied. They evaluate what other carmakers do, for trends and to understand the how and the whys. But mostly walk away with a feeling of what they evaluated wasn't executed well. When it comes time to make decisions, they always steer the ship back to the direction of making a customer satisfied. Hyundai-Kia does not think that way. As a company, as a whole, their mindset is always pointed toward, "how did Toyota do it." And they just *try* to do it the same way, not focusing on their customer. However that does tend to put them down the right path. If you can't figure it out on your own, do it the way the successful guys do it.

We have a big Toyota plant locally and all the stories I hear out of it is that the pay is amazing and it's super regimented. So I'm not sure if there's more than one box to think out of in those places.

TMMC. Been there many times. It was those plant engineers that introduced me to poutine. For the life of me, I don't know why that hasn't caught on like wildfire here in the states. It's friggin awesome. It is regimented at TMMC. It was, and may still be, the only plant in N.A. to build Lexus vehicles. Because it was the plant with the highest quality. I helped launch the very first Lexus built there. The 483N (RX 330).

[7milesout]

I didn't think Toyota owners were as sensitive as Tesla ones

Regardless, it's been to the dealer multiple times and never resolved. It's a toyota that has a problem. They're out there lol.
I don't think it's normal but it's too fancy for me. It makes space ship noises when you put it into park. I assume it has an electric shift motor in the transmission or something. This thing does have an aftermarket remote start as well so maybe that's the problem? I've never been asked to look at it so I don't care.

I wonder if the space ship noises are an automatic parking brake. My Lexus has that too. It activates / deactivates the parking brake in and out of Park. But I disabled it. I don't like too much automatic anything. Ok, a little story here. One of our Korean leadership guys had a (whatever the SUV is called). Brand new. We called it CM, I forget it's the popular SUV. Santa Fe? Or is that the smaller one. See? I don't give a poo about H-K. Anywho, it would kill the battery in 2 or 3 days. Brand friggin new. Of course he was a higher level Korean staff.

A guy in my group was the Electrical Engineer. We'll call him Danny. One of the Korean guy's minions asked Danny to take a look at his vehicle. Danny is a very slow and methodical person. Danny in his past life was an ASME Certified Mechanic. He didn't enjoy it because they just wanted him to slam crap out, but he preferred to do it right. Danny took the guy's car and did some evaluation there in the plant. Danny wasn't getting what he wanted so he asked the minion to check with the big guy if he could keep the car overnight. Danny wound up keeping the car for 2 or 3 nights. The higher level Korean guy was not happy with Danny, but the Koreans were in a way, too polite to argue with Americans. However, Danny did find the exact root cause of the problem. That vehicle had a DVD entertainment system in it. And somehow the DVD system was wired wrong. It was something that the plant fouled up to my memory because this Korean guy would never mess with his own car. And they never took their car to a dealer when they had access to the plant. Danny fixed the problem, gave the guy his car back after about 3 days and the problem was absolutely resolved.

With that said, the Lexus vehicle has something wrong with it. And yes, Toyota owners are sensitive. Don't get me all butt-hurt!