NHTSA Complaint #739660 — 1997 SATURN SL

TIRES WERE SOLD AS REPLACEMENTS FOR FIRESTONE AFNTY TRGT1 TUBLPS 18565R15 TIRES. THE TIRES WERE SOLD BY RUST TIRES, LLC D/B/A AUSTIN BLUFFS BIG O, 4496 AUSTIN BLUFFS PARKWAY, COLORADO SPRINGS, CO 80918, TELEPHONE #: 719-599-4555. I REQUESTED SIMILAR QUALITY IN AN ALL-WEATHER RADIAL TIRE TO THE TIRES BEING REPLACED. THE PRODUCTS SOLD DO NOT PERFORM SAFELY IN ANY AMOUNT OF SNOW AT ANY SPEED. AT APPROPRIATELY SLOW RATES OF SPEED, THE TIRES TEND TO LOSE TRACTION WHENEVER THE CLUTCH IS PUT IN AND WHEN BRAKING. THE CAR BEGINS TO SLIDE AT THOSE TIMES AND WHEN STARTING FROM A COMPLETE STOP. TIRES DO NOT SEEM TO GAIN ANY TRACTION UNTIL CAR IS IN THIRD GEAR. I HAVE NEVER HAD THIS TYPE OF PROBLEM WITH ANY OTHER ALL-WEATHER TIRES I'VE HAD OVER THE YEARS. THESE TIRES HAD APPROXIMATELY 5,500 MILES ON THEM WHEN THE PROBLEM FIRST OCCURRED WITH SNOW ON THE GROUND. WHILE IT WAS VERY ICY ON12/11/00, I HAD NEVER EXPERIENCED THAT DEGREE OF SLIDING IN OVER 30 YEARS OF DRIVING IN WINTER CONDITIONS. WITH A CHILD IN THE CAR, I HAD NUMEROUS "MINOR" SLIDES AND THREE VERY CLOSE CALLS WHERE THERE WAS NEARLY PROPERTY DAMAGE AND/OR INJURY. DURING A SUBSEQUENT SNOW AT CHRISTMAS TIME, I AGAIN EXPERIENCED UNUSUAL SLIDING. THE MOST RECENT OCCURRENCES HAVE BEEN DURING AND FOLLOWING A SNOW STORM ON 1/16/01. YOUR DATABASE ONLY LISTS 2 TYPES OF NANKANG TIRES AND I CANNOT DETERMINE WHETHER THE ONES ON MY CAR ARE EITHER ONE. I SUSPECT NOT.*AK (TIRESIZE: 1956015)( DOT NUMBER: TIRE SIZE: 1956015 )