Wife came home the other day complaining her left front tire was "soft". Checked and it was down to 15psi! Put air into it and checked again next morning and found it had again lost 5psi. She took it to Tire Kingdom, only because this was the only tire place near her work. Asked me to call them, they said that there was a nail through the side wall, and that the right was right on the limit. I agreed to have the two replaced, and they suggested either Kumho or Uniroyal. As I have heard reasonable reports about Kumho I agreed to have these fitted. Imagine my surprise when me wife came home with tires marked FateO AR35!! After close inspection found these to be made in Argentina!
Tried finding these on the net and eventually found them on Google, but,surprise, only information was in Spanish. I know I'm in Florida, but please! The only other place they were listed was on, of course, Tire Kingdom.
Went back there this morning and were told that these were made by Kumho!!! This I find hard to believe, and sounds like a scam. Anybody else ever heard of this brand? I think I am going to get them changed to something a little more well known, they have Fulda for about the same price.
Any thoughts, etc., would be welcome,
The Bear

FATE tires are made in Argentina. Check out this site: http://www.rubbernews.com/subscriber/manuf.phtml?param=FATE+S.A.I.C.I.%0A&letter=F

FATE S.A.I.C.I.
Ave. Almirante
Blanco Encalada 3003
1644 San Fernando
Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel: 5411-4725-8100
Fax: 5411-4725-8193
E-mail: rcuyumgian@fate.com.ar
Key personnel: Eng. Javier Madanes Quintanilla, President.
North American representative:
Tire Kingdom International, 2001 N. Congress Ave., Riviera Beach, Fla. 33404. Tel: 800-926-8473. Fax: 651-845-8725.

Here is the FATE website: http://www.fate.com.ar/esp/frame.asp

We have Fulda Assuro Carat unidirectionals on the Virgo rims on my son's 81. They were priced at about $70 at Big O tire chain in northern CA. The tire store told me that Fulda is a German subsidiary of Goodyear and quickly added "...BUT, they're a very good tire." Guess he's not a Goodyear fan. They are quiet, run smoothly and have very good grip. Also quite nice looking, and in the 195/60-15 size, put a lot more tread (about one full cm) on the pavement than the same size Conti's and Kumho Ecsta's I've had on my 940. Sidewall has all the good DOT markings and also: "Made in Poland".

The Fuldas are great in the dry, not bad in the wet, and lousy in snow...too much rubber area right there on the pavement and not enough tread blocks/sipes for slippery conditions. Wish I'd got them for the 940, but went for the $$value and got the Ecsta 716's. Not a bad tire, good noise level, ride is OK, didn't need a lot of weights to balance, and tread wear looking good so far. But deadly even in light snow...not sure why - tread pattern looks pretty capable, but they just slip and slide. Son has Dunlop Graspic's on all 4 corners this winter and I have Vredesteins on the back of the 940...and am careful in corners with the Kumhos on the front...ABS gets a workout!
--
Bob (son's 81-244GL B21F, dtr's 83-244DL B23F, 'my' 94-944 B230FD; plus grocery-getter Dodge minivan, hobbycar 77 MGB, and numerous old motorcycles)

The tires must have a "DOT" on the side wall followed by a number. This will indicated that the tires have been approved for road use in the US by the departament of transportation. They also need to have a grading for temperature, speed, tradwear and traction. If any of this information is missing the tire is illegal for use in the US. If these tires are not made for the US, you can report the "tire kingdom" to the local police, highway patrol as well as the BBB and the department of transpotation.

How to read tires

Fulda? I've personally never heard of them, but I'm also not a big tire guy. Most of my knowledge comes from Tirerack's customer surveys.

As for buying a certain brand, that is a mistake. You buy based on a certain brand AND model. The brand by itself means nothing. Kumhos might be good, depending on which model they sold. Check the Tirerack website.
--
Ken
1990 Volvo 740 base sedan (B230F)
My Volvo 'Project'

Today, many value or price point tires are made in Asia or in South America - where labor costs are really low. I would assume that these tires you purchased were not a premium priced line of tires. All major tire manufacturers produce private brand tires for different retailers, like Tire Kingdom. One way to find out for sure what company produced the tires is to look at the first two letters of the DOT serial code found on the lower sidewall of the tire. (This serial may only be on one side of the tire)
Those first two letters indicate the manufacturing plant that produced the tires. That should tell you for sure, what company produced the tires. Here is a link to a site that allows you to find the plant associated with a specific two digits code...

http://www.harriger.com/exptire.htm

If you do not trust your Tire Kingdom dealer, then you should specify a brand name tire that you know, but you are probably going to pay a bit more money for them.

I have never heard of this particular tire name, but the Tire Kingdom dealer should stand behind the tires that they sell. However, if he told you he was putting Kuhmo tires on the car and then put on these private brand tires, you should be able to go back to them and complain and they should agree to switch these with a brand name that you trust. You should only have to pay the difference in price of the tires. Talk to the store manager.

Dear The Bear,

Good a.m. and may this find you well. I have visited Argentina and Brazil many times, for business purposes. If the tires were marked "Made in Brazil" or "Industria Brasileira", I'd use them, without hesitation.

Brazil - like the US - is an engineering culture. It makes a wide range of manufactured goods, including cars and aircraft (e.g., Embraer's commuter jets), which are of world-class quality. Brazilian firms have broad and deep experience as to what works, and what does not. Brazilian products sell world-wide, because that commitment to quality is known and appreciated.

Argentina's is not an engineering culture, and I'd not bet my life on tires made there. This judgment does not depend on the company. There are excellent firms there, which make quality products. This judgment rests on attitudes. Brazilians are intolerant of sub-par items. The Argentines are more tolerant.

Yours faithfully,

spook