Cooper Tires ..... why all the agro?

~5yrs ago, CrocTyres (or similar) in WA were making Tweel design tires for 4wds'.. They had them on their Cruiser Utes on their site, but are no longer there.. Wondering if Michelin bought the design off them...

... they still make them for bobcats

"In defence of all tyre manufactures, we as a group can be hard on tires.
Overweight, rough roads, lower pressures (side wall flex) and high speed. Some times all at the same time.
Given that this hole experience (4wd travel) is a learning experience for a lot of us, they (the tyre manufactures) must see some horrendous things done to their tires."

Wim thats the point, these are exactly the things we do and the tyres are advertised as fit for purpose 4wd tyres, but they can't do whats advertised "Go 4wding"

John (Vic)

Agreed. I think your words "whats advertised" is where the problem lies.
It would seem a lot of the products and services we seek these days do not live up to the advertising.

Question though. Do we expect too much some times?
Just being the devils advocate.
Still, the problems are still worth it when you get to see some of the sights we do.

Regards

Wim

If what's avertised are not up to expectations then it's false advertising!! You're not expecting too much if it doesn't meet what's avertised!

Leroy

ok rephrase.... It's not what's advertised but what is stated in advertising material. Oh and that deodorant you recomended Paul works a treat!!! lol

Leroy

What was the name of that deodorant, Leigh?

"I think its true, they only want to warrant the city boys who never venture off the blacktop, and are unlikely to have a claim, which = b/s warranty to me!"
Mate as a "city boy" I take offence at your above remark. Plenty of us "city boys" do go off-road - the real off-road not just down some dirt track. And at least one of us (ie me) have even made a claim and have received total satisfaction with the dealer's response.
So perhaps it comes down to who one deals with.
As far as I'm concerned their warranty is just fine.

Two words....CLASS ACTION

Get as many dissatisfied customers as you can together and put it to Coopers (through a solicitors letter) that they do not:

A: Have products fit for service in a maner alluded to in their advertising

B: Honour their stated warranty

C: Have acceptable complaint handling and resolution policies

Forward a copy of the document to the relevant state consumer affairs departments.

also www.notgoodenough.org .

Two words....OVERWEIGHT VEHICLES

Any defence lawyer worth his salt would instantly ask whether the said vehicles were operating within the parameters of the manufacturers' gross vehicle mass and upon hearing the answer the class action would be dismissed with prejudice.

Wombat,

Not all the probs are related to overweight vehicles. I reckon its the more narrow tyres like the 236/85 etc. that are more affected. A guy I know didn't have an overloaded cruiser and it ripped lugs off every tire (aussie translation - tyre)

Leroy

It would be great to see a posting of actual emails from Coopers if that were possible. Hard to just from the sidelines.
I have Coopers St's but only 10k on them so too early to tell.

SKinny

Baz
The bloke who used to run the shop at Kunawarritji used to hammer between there and the coast. There are a few washouts and crossing that would be interesting if hit at 68 kph.
I would agree with your opening statement if you had said speed and LOAD destroy tyres. With minimal loading the tyre will retain its uninflated shape at all pressures from flat to 60 PSI. It is only when you place a load on it the the side walls start to bag and flex and generate heat. Low pressures are great for bush travel, but if you get excessive flex due to excessive loading, and then add excess speed, the tyre will likely fail before too long.

Baz2, for clarity's sake,

"to" not "2"
"for" not "4"
"are" not "r"
"you" not "u"

This is a forum, not a text message service...........

Funny how the mind works Gary. I'm a 50 yo (old fart) who has used SMS about 4 times. I read baz2's post and after reading yours had to go back and read his again to see what you were talking about. Now I see it!
Sorry to 'hijack the thread, but read this to see what the mind is capable of:

Believe it or not you can read it.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at CmabrigdeUinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the only iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod
as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt!

Too funny Norm, but hey you're right I could actually read what you said easily and understand it the first time.

Couldn't disagree more.

I lived in the states for a couple of years - for starters, they still have a local manufacturing base, so if you buy a product it's more likely to be US made than Chinese/Taiwanese etc. The quality of US made goods in general bleep s all over the cheap imports.

Of course US made goods are more expensive here - the US dollar is stronger than the Australian dollar, they're made in a first world country with first world costs like higher paid employees, and the shortest distance between a US and Australian port is over 12,000km.

What a crock of s**t!

Why advertise them on a vehicle covered in red dust with one of the Leyland brothers kneeling beside the tyre, or this just further misrepresentation of the warranty!

The saying that "we went further than the Leyland brothers" is now part of the Australian language.

I agree with Shaker, total crock of....!!

never heard such a put up on a clearly crap warranty. Yes I know before you all start with ...... 'I had my Coopers replaced and I'm happy', there are a shi# load of blokes out there NOT AT ALL HAPPY! and thats what this post and follow ups is about, if youre a Coopers fan and happy fine, the real point is even with the blokes who are happy with their warranty claim, is that they shouldnt have failed in first place!!

These tyres are way overpriced for what they are, but we wouldnt mind if they lived up, they dont, and yes ok perhaps a few would be pushing their luck on claims, but come on....a very few, and judging by posts they wont pay out anyway, we dont all run the Canning with 3T + etc., How stupid would that be.. duh! these tryes are failing in even remotely hard use, and everyone is wiseing up to this that when we pay bundles of our hard earned we expect them to live up to the advertised usage which is NOT highway.

Coopers best bet would be to bin the warranty, then if your daft enough to buy em you live with it, and buy better next time gaining from your experience, and if your happy buy Coopers again.

Trouble is that way I reckon Coopers would decline rapidly, as most people stomach the overpricing with the warranty.

Anyway each to his own choice, the issue here is not the tyre, or its capabilities, but the warranty which is being used as a marketing tool not really holding water.

Rgds

It’s called advertising for a resin. It is not that hard to get a car covered in red dust. I bet the Leyland brother’s got a shi* load of flat’s.

Where in the warranty or on the ads does it say cooper is invincible in the bush.

If my cooper’s got trashed when out 4Wding I would not try for warranty or blame the tyre, they are AT Light truck tyres, which makes them stronger and more durable than regular tyres that IS IT.

If they failed due to a manufacturing fault or you get high wear then that is clearly a problem and you should be reimbursed or get them replaced free of charge.

Do you really buy a land cruiser thinking that if you get bitten buy a snake you will be able to flat strap it along ruff bush track’s and make it to safety without 1. Rooting the car up or 2. Killing yourself (I think we all remember the add).

Ron- every tyre company has a warranty like cooper, Cooper are the only ones who choose to advertise it-and clearly it is fooling people into a false sense of security.

How do you expect cooper to warrant tyre failure when off road, They have know idea of the conditions that caused the failure and wether the tyre was being used beyond it’s limit’s. That is why it applies only to black top use, because they know what a bitumen road is and what the condition’s are on it.

They do not know nor can they juge the condition of every bush track in the world, what are they going to do come up with a mean bush track and say right if the tyre fails on a track like this when driven at this rate in these conditions in this car we will cover you. (Think about it)

Way over priced. BFG, DUNLOP, and MICHERLEN yeah those companies’s prices are totally reasonable.

If you don’t like it don’t buy it! Tell people why Bad performance shi* handling blew the second it hit a dirt track whatever it may have been. but don’t whinge when the warranty is not payed when the tyres were used outside of the warranty conditions.

See what I mean ... agro!

By the way your answers are getting even more ridiculous!

Oh! and this straight of Cooper's Australian website:

Cooper Tyres have reinforced their legendary status for performance and durability in the harshest of outback conditions, after being used by 14 four wheel drive vehicles on the latest L.O.P.E.

So what is L.O.P.E? It's the Legendary Outback Products Expedition, where leaders in the 4WD industry test their products for two weeks in some very tough country indeed - and the Cooper Tyres have come up winners.

Hi,

read the 'Cooper St's similair experiences' thread on 1 August, just some more happy Coopers customers - NOT.

It would appear there is about a 60/40% case against here, possibly 50/50%, even if it were a 10% complaint rate, thats too much to convince me to buy, clearly on this forum, which is a good mix of Aussie drivers from all walks of life/use/ whatever, Coopers are just not cutting the mustard.

Exploder quotes
"If they failed due to a manufacturing fault or you get high wear then that is clearly a problem and you should be reimbursed or get them replaced free of charge. "

Thats exactly it mate, and it isnt happening!! read the users posts and complaints, they ARE failing for that very reason, and they are not standing by their warranty which is why everyones getting the s#*ts here about it

Before I'm stoned at dawn for daring to ridicule them by the Coopers fans, just have a read guys! there are more bleep off blokes than happy, thats not good for an average $1.5k+ so called investment in trouble free rubber.

I rest my case, the facts and numbers have spoken, the Coopers warranty is a fairytale........ lets all hope it has a happy ending!

As for pricing, I think $250 is pretty competitive. I don't think Coopers can be classified as overpriced by Australian or Japanese standards.

punchers?

Quote:
"A lot of the time it comes down to how helpful the tyre store is willing to be and how thay look after there customers"

My point .. precisely!

thay? there customers?

I bought a set a few years ago and found the same prob. I did find one dealer that would wheel and deal (pun intended) so I went with him. But it took atleast 6 phone calls before I found one.

Leroy

Well you must know somebody that I don't, I am in sales myself & fully understand the attitude required to acheive the best results in regard to complaints.
I spoke initially to supplying the tyre service who basically brushed me off.
At a later date I was at the Melbourne 4x4 show & happened upon the Australian Sales Manager, to whom I explained my problems.
His attaitude was fantastic, he told me to contact the Victorian Sales Manager, which I subsequebtly did, & arrange an inspection of the tyers at my convenience. Are you with me so far? All sounds promising?
At the meeting with the Vic Mgr, he agreed my complaint was well founded & agreed to 50% subsidy for replacement tyres, I said I will go inside, as we were at the tyre service, & order 4 new tyres. He then said, "aren't you doing anothe routback trip next year? As your tyres of no value to me, why not wear them out & get the new ones just before your trip?" I said, "if that's ok I will certainly take advantage of your generous offer" He then went in & in my presence advised the tyre service of the outcome of our meeting.
At his point we parted company in good stead.
On the way home I realised that everything had purely spoken, so I rang him the next morning & asked if I should have something in writing or a voucher, he replied it was entered in his diary & "would be no problem" & that I had his word on the matter.
A couple of months later I was leaving our campsite at Crooked River, & crossing an innocuous stretch of broken up track, level beside the river, to the amazement of those following me I destroyed both rear tyres.

This is where it gets tricky ..... When I got home I went to the tyre service to order the new tyres & they said that no way would Exclusive Tyre Service honour the warranty now, I reminded them of the earlier decision of the State Manager, & left to wait for the tyres to arrive.
To a long story well & truly short, the outcome was that the State Manager placed no value whatsoever on "his word" & steadfastly refused to honour the prior arrangement, although he had clearly stated that the old tyres were of no value to him & to "wear them out"!

As I said earlier, I am in sales myself, for the last 12 years as a yacht broker, & prior to that in the motor industry, I will also say that my word is my bond & I expect others to have the same principles.

The outcome was that I purchased Firestone Firehawk RMTs & after very similar usage, including the aforementioned outback trip, I couldn't be happier. No chipping, normal wear rate, no edge lug cracking & best of all $175.00 each!

I will never again pay the amounts demanded for cunningly advertised & overrated tyres.

PS: Please excuse typos above ^^^^ I was in a hurry.