I was a bit skeptical when creating this Douglas tires review. There was a shortage of information regarding the brand, and people had mixed reviews about the performance and durability of Douglas tires.
In order to provide a comprehensive and honest review, I did a lot of research regarding the brand. As fate would have it, I didn’t find much. There were still a lot of unanswered questions that needed further clarification. My advice to you is to take this review with an open mind and an open wallet because if there’s one thing good about Douglas tires, it’s the rock-bottom price.
Douglas tires are a budget alternative to other expensive brands. You can spend anywhere from $300 to $500 on a decent set of tires. With Douglas tires, this is not the case. You can replace all four tires in your vehicle for around $200 or less and still have enough change for a tall Mocha Frappuccino.
Douglas Tires – The Brand
Douglas tires are exclusively distributed by Walmart. This means that Douglas tires are only sold at Walmart stores. According to Senior Manager of PR and Brand Reputation at Walmart, Douglas tires are a proprietary brand to Walmart produced by a leading manufacturer of tires.
Upon further research, I was able to find out that a US Federal Trademark Registration was filed for the Douglas brand by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company on the Friday of August 14, 1992.
Ah, the plot thickens. Does this mean that Douglas tires are the result of an agreement or collaboration between Walmart and Goodyear? The funny thing is that despite these facts, Walmart itself refused to confirm if Goodyear manufactures the Douglas brand of tires.
So much for this corporate talk. The important thing to know right now is to determine if Douglas tires are worth the risk since this is a budget tire aiming for the heartstrings (and wallets) of car owners all over the USA.
Why Choose Douglas Tires?
- They are sold at Walmart stores everywhere
As an added bonus, you can also shop online at the Walmart store. I think that this type of convenience is a plus since there are approximately 4,000 Walmart Supercenters and discount stores nationwide. It is safe to assume that Douglas tires are within easy reach.
- Pocket-friendly price
Douglas tires are one of the more affordable alternatives in the market today. They are priced similarly to other budget-friendly brands such as Laufenn tires and Ironman tires.
- Good warranty
Douglas tires are not only affordable because they come with a 45k-mile treadwear limited warranty. But there’s a catch to this. The tires will have to be mounted at Walmart stores in order to file a warranty claim. If you bought the tires from Walmart and had those mounted elsewhere, you might find it difficult to obtain a warranty claim. We’ve heard this complaint from other consumers so I think it’s better to talk to your local Walmart Supercenter to get complete details about the warranty.
Douglas Tires Review
Douglas All Season Tires
First, the facts. Douglas All-Season tires are engineered for comfort and all-weather performance. If you like to drive aggressively fast, this is not the tire for you.
I got the chance to drive a seasoned 2005 Honda Accord fitted with the Douglas all-season tires and I got mixed reviews in my head.
The tires were really comfortable and hushed when driven on smooth roads. However, when the roads got bad, the tires were emitting a loud thumping sound inside the cabin.
Traction was particularly good on dry roads. I had no chance to test the wet-weather performance of the tires, but I heard from the owner of the Accord that it was good in the wet as well, as long as you’re driving within the speed limits.
The Douglas All-Season tire is engineered with circumferential grooves and blades along with specially-designed center notches to improve traction and grip. It comes with a 45,000-mile treadwear warranty and a speed rating of H. This tire is good for sedans, sports coupes, minivans, and small crossovers since it comes in a wide array of sizes.
Other car owners had issues with tire leaks and sidewall damage, but most of them were caused by incorrect mounting techniques. Other complaints include tire blowouts, tread separation, and increased road noise as the tires age. In order to avoid such faults, my advice is to have the tires mounted by certified Walmart personnel in order to certify the warranty. But herein lies the problem. Those ‘tire technicians’ are not exactly experts when it comes to mounting tires. In order to avoid any problems, the rim will have to be thoroughly scraped, cleaned, and lubed up in order to avoid sidewall leaks.
If you have a small compact and you do most of your driving around town, I don’t see any problem why you shouldn’t buy the Douglas All-Season tires as long as you have them mounted properly.
Douglas Performance Tires
The Douglas Performance tires are a bit higher up in the food chain compared to the Douglas All-Season tires. The performance version is also a bit more expensive, but not by much.
This tire has an asymmetric tread design that provides excellent all-weather traction. The circumferential grooves and blades are designed to further enhance grip on wet roads. This tire is also designed with a large and stable shoulder to improve the handling and steering response of your vehicle.
I drove a 2002 Acura RSX fitted with 17-inch wheels and Douglas Performance tires. My initial impression was the tires gave a positive road feel when driven a bit aggressively on dry roads. My test car was fairly well maintained, so the driving experience was pleasurable, to say the least.
I was also impressed with the silence and comfort of the tires as long as you don’t reach 80 mph or upwards. As the speed climbs, the noise was getting a bit louder. This was a bit odd since the Douglas Performance tires have a speed rating of H, but I think this is a common complaint on other cheap tires as well.
This tire also comes with a 45,000-mile treadwear warranty and is available in a wide array of sizes to fit any type of small car, sedan, sports coupe, or small crossover.
Conclusion
I would have to say that after reading this Douglas tires review, you might develop a certain apprehension regarding the brand. Considering the fact that Douglas tires have been around for more than 25 years, it doesn’t help that Walmart won’t admit who really made the tires in the first place and why there are a lot of conflicting reviews floating around regarding the performance and durability of these tires.
If you do a lot of city driving within relatively short distances, then Douglas tires are worth a second look. But if you do a lot of high-speed highway driving or cross-border jaunts, then I would put my money on something with a more sterling reputation.
Alvin Reyes has expertise in automotive evaluation. He collaborated with famous newspapers and is still making efforts in tire review for DrivingPress.com
Purchased two douglas tires in April of 2018. It\’s June and two months later, one already went bad. They \”prorated\” the new tires for me. Got two new Douglas tires with balancing for $53. Which is good, but to me, when Walmart starts giving you discounts you don\’t even ask for, its like they are trying to keep a problem quiet by keeping the customer happy. Without the \”proration\” they would have been $91 without balancing.
Tires are always prorated when under warranty. This is not a discount, but the difference between what you’ve used on the tire to what’s left on the warranty.
Just bought 4 new tires for my Jeep and they suck bad. Especially on ice and slush. I live in a northern Midwest state so having a good seasonal tire is good but I will never recommend or buy these again!
I drive interstates alot at speeds 75,-80.
I want comfort, handling no road noise..I
I’m a salesman and demand performance wear & safety.
What tire do you recommend.for a
Drove 15 miles one blew out didnt get the walmart road hazard so ate over 100 bucks. Walmart said too bad the tires have a 45k warranty but not if you dont pay for it.
I just purchased the Douglas tire from Walmart had to go cheaper just a little I plan on a trip long distance so I hope no problem. But mostly we stay around home and work
I have never owned a Douglas tire to my knowledge and don\’t know that I ever will? While checking reviews for tires, I found yours on the Douglas brand of tires.
I found it interesting that your review was written Sept. 2017 and you picked one auto that was 12 years old and another that was 15 years old, even if they were \”fairly well maintained\”, to accomplish this review. I doubt cars this old would ride or handle as well as one 3 to 4 years old, regardless of the brand of tire. Maybe the implied noise and discomfort, at 80 mph came from the old cars you tested them and not the tires?
Actually if you would have dug a little deeper you would have found that the tire is actually manufactured by Kelly-Springfield Tire Company. Kelly was founded in 1894 and acquired by Goodyear in 1935. Kelly is the oldest American Tire Brand. Douglas does appear to be a private brand manufactured exclusively for Walmart. Just my 2 cents!
I just bought 4 Douglas Performance tires at Walmart for my 2006 Subaru WRX. Can’t beat the price and I bought them as a “quick fix” until the winter arrives and I can swap them for my winter wheels.
Point is my Subaru is 12 years old. The previous owner did every maintenance required on it and so have I since I bought it last year. I’ve also gone beyond the suggested maintenance to modify and enhance the car for performance and track racing.
The car handles much better than any newer non-performance car. That’s my point. Just because a car is 12 years old doesn’t mean it’s not “good”.
The Acura RSX is similar to the WRX and the Mitsubishi Evo.
The acura rsx is nothing like the wrx or evo. Its more like a civic. Thats what it is just with acura ratings little faster than a civic but not by much. My step mother owns a 2005 and noy as quick or sporty compared to a wrx or evo haha not even close
” Maybe the implied noise and discomfort, at 80 mph came from the old cars you tested them and not the tires?” And maybe not!
But one thing for sure is you could try to be a little less condescending!
if Kelly was acquired by Goodyear in 1935 then that means that this article was entirely correct. Douglas is manufactured by a Goodyear subsidiary.
I usually drive on better tires, but I was in a situation where I needed tires (Bad). I live in NW Iowa, and I was trapped between N.Platte, NE and Lincoln, NE. I had to get two new tires, and could only afford the Douglas tires.
I asked them to rotate the old tires to the front, and the Douglas tires to the rear. They didnt do it, it took well over 2 hours, and I had to pay another 40 to a better shop to rotate the tires.
All of that being said, they are about done in at the moment; but I have driven cross country 3 or 4 times, on the interstate at between 70 and 80 (I love S.Dakota). And since live in NW Iowa,I am a little impressed they cant take the gravel and still last this long.
All told, i have put 100,000 miles on my car since I bought it in 2015. The Douglas brand has handled at least 20-25,000 of that distance; but I dont lnow how they last. My tires have less than a Lincolns head worth of tread. I have 4 days to drive from Okoboji, Iowa to Denver to Sioux Falls to Minneapolis, back to Iowa. And I pay for soda side service. Lol. We are about to find out their true value.
I purchased 4 All Season Douglas tires. Two of the made it to 30,411 and month later I had a blow out (estimate under 1000 additional miles). Walmart hasn\’t \”refused\” warranty but no one seems to know how I can make a claim. I spent an entire day at one Walmart and then about 4 hours at another Walmart who referred me back to the Walmart who couldn\’t help me. They did not have a Douglas tire in stock so I had to go somewhere to replace the two front tires. I kept the old tires to try to make a claim. I should have had another 15,000 miles or another year. I did purchase road hazard on them so one tire should have been covered, In the heat of the moment I did not ask them about the coverage and they didn\’t offer. It has become too time consuming to try to make a warranty claim.
Bought 4 new tires last saturday its friday now not quite a week less one is seperating on the inside said i damaged it putting it on because i mount and balance my own. I will never buy another tire nor will i ever shop at walmart again. Lesson learned get what you pay for
Bought 4 douglas tires from Wal-Mart, had them,mounted there 11 months in and 21,000 miles. The tires are bald. Wal-Mart offered half price for new ones. Because the warranty says they should last 40,000 miles.I should have waited another 10,000 miles and then took them back, then I would have only had to pay a quarter of the price. Lesson learned.
That\’s funny… when I asked WalMart to tell me about Douglas Tires, the very first words out of the guy\’s mouth were: \”They\’re manufactured for us by BF Goodrich\”. I\’ve been driving on a set of 4 on a \’99 Cadillac DeVille for almost 20,000 miles… both around town and over the road… and I haven\’t had a single issue. They\’re quiet and handle well on dry, wet, and snowy roads.
Bought the tire in May. Hit a curb in October at 5mph. Tire sidewall popped. Just the facts.
Bought a Crown Vic for my oldest daughter April 2018 with Douglas 225/60/16 all seasons. First thing I checked was sidewall information. I have 3 other vehicles and each of those have 5 plies in the tread and 2 ply sidewalls – These Douglas tires have 3 ply treads and 1 ply sidewalls, so I would consider them weaker and more susceptible to failure. I will get what I can out of them, but when she heads off to college and is a distance away, I\’ll be replacing them with something tougher that will give me more peace of mind.
The Douglas PERFORMANCE tire has 4-plies on the tread, a 1-ply sidewall and is made in the USA.
lol when you hit a curb with a tire sidewalls pop. Those are facts.
I purchased 4 tires for my mustang. One ruptured on the side within a month and they made me pay full price for another one. They said it was probably my fault. One month later, another one went flat. No nails or road hazards to be found. Just flat tires. In my opinion, they are not safe. The last one was a front tire that went out on interstate. These tires are like Russian Roulette. I mean… two didn’t pop yet.
I bought 4 tires for my 2013 kia rio 4 years ago and put well over 45k miles i rotated them at every 5,000 miles and they lasted me all 4 years no problems! Now getting 5 more for my 97 CRV. Hope this set is as good as they were on my rio!
Will never buy douglas tires again bought 4 last year now one has a flat spot (still has great tread on them) and one developed a bubble makes my car bounce up and down a slow speeds…the other 2 are fine. .just a cheaply made tire. ..
I picked up a new set of four in 2016 for my 4wd Jimmy.
The wear is minimal.
I get them rotated and balan ed quite regularly.
Dry handling is fine.
Adhesion on wet roads is not good.
Performance on snow and ice is utterly
unacceptable.
Several techs later quietly told me these tires are n/g in the winter.
Grades
Wear 90%
Dry roads 75-80%
Rainy roads 65%
Snow/ice 30%
Did they also tell you that performance of ANY tire is affected greatly by the type of vehicle the tires are attached to?
I\’ve been using the Douglas performance tires on my PT Cruiser for at least 10 years, or about 4 sets with no problems. The car is mostly an around towner with occasional medium mileage trips. The point is if you\’re driving a new Porsche Carrera or Corvette at high speeds and braking hard into the corners, these are not the tires for you. But for a car used around town you can\’t beat the price, dependability, and warrantee. One thing, it states that the tire is rated for 45,000 miles.. The wear bars start showing up more like 35,000, that\’s about 3 years for me. Good enough. For my comfort zone carrying the the family around I\’d change them nearer to the 35K. Rotate them every 10-12K miles and you\’ll be fine.
Bought 2 in November it\’s now January 1 went Sunday Jan 13th and it\’s just a matter of time before the other one goes and it\’s under 4,000 miles on them both. Then when we went to Wal-Mart to complain they refused to replace them even at a discounted rate. And from wht I see from prior reviews it seems to be the case. Here I have 5 kids it\’s just after Christmas so no money to buy new one\’s honestly I believe they need to start being held accountable.
I\’ve had a set of the performance ones on my \’15 Mazda now for 53,000 trouble-free miles. They\’re roughly at double the \”replace bars\” in tread left, which is where I change them.
I\’ll buy 4 more; the performance was good, traction excellent, they didn\’t degrade materially as they wore down and for anything comparable from someone else you\’d pay 50% more — at least.
My daughter is now on the second set of the \”regular\” Douglas tires on her car as well; she, like me, simply wore them out and not all that quickly either.
bought a new set of the douglas all season on 205/65r15 on january.
got a nail in one so i took it to get it patched. guy said the sidewalls were damaged and he could see thru it.
what the heck i am careful not to drive against the curb and so he cheked my other 3 tires and all of them were bad
they lasted me 4 months.
never again will i buy these tires.
i bought a set of bf goodrich advantage sport and these run good quiet and no vibration.
11k on one and the sidewall split vertically. Looks like garbage to me but we\’ll see what they do for warranty
I just bought four Douglas all season Tires had them mounted at Walmart and the system air monitor came on for low tire air pressure. I looked at the Walmart work order they typed in they inflated the tires to 33psi..car specs. But, two tire at 30 psi one tire at 31 psi and one at 33 psi. I used my new Walmart purchased tire pressure gauge bought from Walmart and inflated all tires to 33 psi. Sensor light went out, all good. I added life time balancing and road hazard warranty. I\’ll get back to you on the tire performance down the road. So far so good on my 2017 Hyundai Accent.
Have used Douglas as replacements on all my cars for years. No problems and the price is right.
I recently purchased a car Douglas 195/65 15 tires. Living in Florida, snow isn\’t a problem. But it has rained six days during the past week. Handling on wet roads is fine. But they do seem to create more noise than I am used to.
I have been buying the Douglas all season tire since 2011. Have had them on my 2005 G6 and my 2009 focus. Never had any issues with them. Live in northern Colorado, make a lot of trips to Denver, New Mexico, Texas. I have gotten around 55,000 miles out of these tires.
These tires are $42.00 a piece.
Keep them rotated and proper air pressure.
Never buy Douglas tires I got 4 new all season tires . I changed more flat tires on new Douglas tires 10 tire plugs this is very true no lie if you have stoney drive way or oil and Chip roads due your wallet and you self a favor don\’t buy Douglas tires
Bought 2 to try. Mounted on the rear of a Buick Rendezvous. Replaced Tiger Paws that last about 35k.
Tires are smooth, quiet and wearing well after 10k. Have not rotated but plan on buying 2 more for front and rotating then.
Bought 4 for a 1994 Prelude Vtec last year before winter that replaced the Coopers that were on them. Got them rotated once already and a flat repair recently that resulted in a replacement. I could say if you do buy tires anywhere to purchase the road hazard because it pays for itself. With all the roof repairs from the hail storms that happen in Colorado there are more nails on the streets than usual. I drive the car like it’s meant to be driven sometimes faster. They work well in dry and ok in wet. Drove on them in Colorado winter snow and they performed fine if you follow the speed limit. I could say this they were better than the Cooper A/S that were on there. I don’t really notice the noises people claim they make and if they did the sound is not louder than the engine. I also don’t hit curves like some of aforementioned here on the comments. I can’t speak for all the Walmarts that people go to but it’s really a mixed bag when you get your car worked on there just like any place. Some techs care, some don’t. I would get familiar with the people who work on your car wherever you take it and request for the ones who work on your car right.
I purchased 4 douglas performance tires for my 2015 Dodge dart and they were great, a little noisy but they were low profile so thats normal. I put 30k trouble free miles on the car and sold it with those tires still in decent shape.
I also have a 1999 ford taurus that has 4 Douglas All-Season tires, the tires are very quiet, the car is smooth and I have confidence when cornering hard that I will not break traction. Overall I am very happy with my tires. I paid just under $300 for 4 all new tires with good warranty.
Can\’t beat it.
Ive personally mounted and balananced countless douglas tires,very good quality for the money,and all were made in usa which is funny becuase most of products at walmart are made in china,my customers had no major issues.
Bought 4 for my Lincoln Town car over a year ago. Smoother and quieter than Michelins, which I had on it in the past. Tread seems to be wearing well.
I bought them because I was thinking about getting a new car soon, but have changed my mind since.
So far these have been great. Would buy again in a heartbeat.
I had a set of Douglas Performance tires installed on my car and they are stamped “Made in Canada” on the sidewall.
The problem I\’m having is Steel Separation on Douglas All Season. Tires are only 2 months old and less than a thousand miles on them. Would like to request an upgrade.
Ok,…just tried these. I was riding on near bald tired and decided to buy these since these were the he only ones in stock and a snow storm was coming. They are cheap and good value. They are not perfect and there are better options (and you do pay for that) but are a good value. If you get a couple of years out of them, you win in my book.😁
I’ve been in the tire business since 1984 and have NEVER seen a tire so cheaply made as the Douglas. Same goes for the Kelly and GY Viva 3. In order to be the low cost leader for Walmart and other tire retailers, Goodyear has decreased the sidewall thickness by about 20% compared to any other brand on the market.
Please google “John Boel failed tires” for more info
I googled it and it\’s just one much ado about nothing article. Anecdotal at best.
Have been using Douglas tires as replacements on my vehicles for years … have always performed well, even in snowy Michigan winters, and have great tread life.
But two Douglas all season tires 225/60/16. They were unable to put the tires on my vehicle at the time. So I took them to a tire shop near me to have them mounted and balanced. The next day I noticed there was like an indent on the side walls. I guess you could say it would be a bubble but it was more of an indent on both tires. I went back to WalmartTo tell them about the situation and they said I might’ve put them on wrong.
Bought 4 tires for 2015 camry in 2018 must say never had no issues yet I drive 60 miles daily commute had them rotate Avery 10.000 miles to this consumer well worth it the savings. Yes walmart must rotate and fix flats to maintain 45.000 warranty. Back I researched douglas tires are manufactured by Goodyeartire company.9
I bought 4 Douglas tires Sept 2019 and took off to Cal. They performed great. I even went down a cliff in New Mexico and those tires saved my.life
I just bought some today so I can\’t say too much, but we just got a foot of snow yesterday and some of the side roads aren\’t too cleaned off and normally in my pontiac g6 I have so many issues with getting traction. These tires got me through the snow beautifully and up in our apartments back parking lot which I normally have a hard time getting up with any snow.
I would definitely say these are the best low priced tires you could get for all seasons.
Im an uber driver and for me the tires work good, I drive around 200miles a day and never have any issue! I live in Miami so I never drove in the snow but for raining and sunny days the tires are awesome!
I put a set of Douglas Performance tires on a TDI VW Beetle that I used to own. Couldn\’t afford anything better at the time so I figured these would have to do, at least for a while. I was pleasantly surprised with them. They were very quiet even though they were a \”performance\” tire. Traction was actually very good as well as handling and ride comfort. They were even quite good in the snow and ice. This is a 45,000 mile tire as far as the warranty is concerned. I sold that car with 65,000 miles on those tires and the tread was only down to about 6/32. Was very pleased with those tires and def would buy again. Even though they were 20,000 miles over the expected life of the tire, they were still completely quiet and not worn out.
All of the reviews stating \”I hit a curb and the sidewall blew\”. The sidewall will blow on any tire when driving into curbs. Those that said the tires got loud, probably because you didn\’t align your car with the new tires so that isn\’t the fault of the tire.
If you maintain your vehicle properly and align twice a year as you should, the tires will last a long time and not be noisy. If you just slap tires on and go, they will wear out exactly the way the previous ones did. I rotated and balanced mine every 7,500 at Walmart since it was included in the tire mounting package. I also went straight from Walmart to get my car aligned properly. I also made sure to check tire pressures regularly. Aside from seasonal temperature changes, they never needed the tire pressure to be adjusted. Most people just don\’t know how to take care of a car and love to complain. I feel they don\’t have the right to complain if they aren\’t doing things right. It is their fault, not the fault of the product.
From my experience these were great tires at a VERY low price. Have purchased more since then and will purchase again soon on a car that has 60k Michelins on it that are bald at 23k. They cost over 3 times as much ($650+) as the Douglas equivalent ($200). Putting Douglas tires on that car is a no brainer and that is what it will get. Pretty sure I will get way more than 23k miles out of them as well.