This Passenger Tire Brand Gets JD Power's Lowest Customer Satisfaction Score In 2026

The annual JD Power U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study measures how new-car owners feel about the tires that came on their new cars as original equipment, and how loyal those owners are to these tire brands. JD Power checks in with these new car owners at two intervals, after one year of ownership and after two years. This study was first done in 1989 and is just one of many studies that JD Power has performed for the auto industry. It has also recently named the least dependable car brand in 2026. 

The Tire Customer Satisfaction Study looks at tires in four discrete vehicle categories — luxury, passenger car, performance sport, and truck/utility. The lowest-scoring brand, measured across all four categories, goes to Dunlop, one of 12 tire brands owned by Goodyear. Dunlop got a low score of 723 points out of a possible 1,000 in the passenger car category, the only category it showed up in. As a comparison, the lowest-scoring luxury tire brand, Hankook, got 756 points, the lowest-scoring performance sport brand, Bridgestone, received 768 points, and the lowest-scoring truck and utility brand, again Hankook, got 750 points. 

As to the winners, Michelin swept three categories out of four, scoring 833 in the luxury category, 816 in the passenger car category, and 818 in the performance sport category. Pirelli took top honors in the truck/utility category with 801 points. 

The JD Power U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study places its focus on how satisfied new car buyers were with the tires installed on their vehicles. The study drills down into four different areas of customer satisfaction — what respondents thought of the traction and handling qualities of the tires, how they perceived the tires' wear, how they regarded the tires' looks, and how they rated their tires' ride quality. 

This JD Power study also provides information on any tire-related problems experienced by the respondents, any tire replacements that became necessary, and how the respondents value the many different aspects that a tire provides. The JD Power U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study used information from 38,244 different owners of various types of vehicles from model years 2023 to 2025, collected during the period from January 2025 to December 2025, and broken down into the four specified vehicle categories.

The JD Power study is helpful to tire-shopping consumers, who should steer clear of the worst tire retailer by customer satisfaction, but it is also aimed at tiremakers. Brands that score the highest in each category can subscribe to JD Power's award program.