A recent Black Friday deal on Goodyear Viva 3 tires at Walmart caught my attention, but it’s a good thing I did NOT pull the trigger on these tires because apparently, they are awful.

If there are two things you don’t want to cheap out on its tires and shoes, at least that’s what my old Chinese college mate used to say, something about these two things being the connection between you and the earth. It sort of makes sense though, good tires and shoes can affect your life in a profound way. But, being me, I also love a good deal. So when I saw that I can get (4) brand new tires out the door for just $120 thanks to a $20 off/tire Black Friday deal, no strings attached, I immediately got hyped until better sense got the best of me, there HAS to be a catch, and there is. As per literally hundreds of people who’ve owned these tires before, they are cheap for a reason.

Walmart Viva 3
Walmart Viva 3 tires are cheap and also garbage

Here’s Goodyear’s official listing for the Viva 3’s if you’d like to look at it, it’s a very good looking tire and has all the right advertised marks for the consumer; quiet, long-lasting, and durable but it is none of these three.

First, the good, if anything. They are cheap tires, that’s for sure. Regularly priced at $59 a piece, there are few tires at this price point in so many sizes made by an American manufacturer. Goodyear is a multi-national corporation and although they have manufacturing facilities in other countries like Brazil, Chile, and Columbia, Goodyear Viva 3 tires are made in the United States of America. I found a photo online of one and it says “Made in USA.”

But, other than that good piece of news, it’s all downhill from there.

Thankfully, Wal-Mart does not filter bad reviews from its website so even the bad reviews are left on these tires. Googling around, there are other people who’ve complained about Viva 2 tires, the progenitor to Viva 3 tires, so I thought the most recent Viva 3 tires would be much better, but even the newest reviews from purchasers on Walmart.com and elsewhere online all say that these tires are not the best for numerous reasons.

Goodyear warranties the Viva 3 for up to 60,000 miles but according to people who’ve purchased these tires they DO NOT last long, at all. One writer over at Oppositetalk found out that his Viva 3 tires, meticulously cared for with rotations and good tire pressures, that his Viva 3’s only last 20,000 miles, for less than the warranty says they should last.

The same story is on Walmart.com with reviews like,

“The tires ride nice but only lasted 28,000 miles despite the 60,000 rating. We checked the alignment to make sure it was not the fault of the car. In the end, the tires only last 1/2 as long as they are rated.” – Nov 2,2018

“Doesn’t last. got 16,225 miles and in bad need of repair. the car was lined up. tires pull to the right still.” Nov 9,2018

” I don’t see getting 60,000 as advertised being a softer tire. But I always say Goodyears are good for a year. Be sure to keep up on tire rotations to make them last. ” Oct 30, 2018

So, while these tires may be cheap, they will have probably have to be changed in less than two years assuming you drive like the normal American. Not good.

Then there’s the fact that a lot of these tires are supposedly out of balance even when mounted correctly. Reviews like the ones below really make you question potentially purchasing these tires.

“I bought a set of 4 of these October 2016 and when I left the store I checked the air pressure with a professional gauge and all four had different pressures from 32 to 46 PSI. One tire never would hold air, have to check it every week. I was an automotive service manager for 21 years and I always put 35 PSI in my tires. It is now September 2018 and the tires are at the wear bars with 20,000 miles on them, and they are rotated every 5 thousand miles. These tires make noise also. I don’t want another set of Goodyear again.” Sept 11,2018 

“The tire is making a whap-whap-whap-whap (Thumping) sound as I drive. I’ve brought the car at Walmart and after so call inspection and rebalance the technician swear there’s nothing wrong with it, but admit it’s making the noise. At first, It’s impossible to ignore and it frustrates me. The car was really great before, but now it makes that noise and is slowly driving me nuts. If I could do it over again I would buy anything else.” Sept 6, 2018

Notice the dates, again, I haven’t cherry-picked these reviews as they are literally on the first two pages of reviews sorted by Most Recent.

Other reviews point out that these tires are super loud, much louder than their old setup. In addition, these tires are prone to blowouts thanks to what some people refer to as “thinner materials” compared to other tires.

This reviewer drove a littler over a dozen miles before he regretted buying them.

I only drive them about 15 miles and hate them. I feel every bump; they are ridiculously loud. I am all sorts of upset. never buying Goodyear again.

Don’t get me wrong, out of the 595 reviews, 325 gave Viva 3 five out of five stars but 104 gave one star, so, you have to question just how good these tires really are and if those 325 people KNOW about tires.

The truth is that these are Walmart exclusive tires meaning only Walmart sells them, they have an agreement with Goodyear, and no self-respecting tire shop probably wanted to carry these tires. Goodyear and Walmart probably came up with a tire formula that’s “Good enough” for the average Walmart shopper where it’s not “terrible-terrible,” should be profitable in volume, and will do for day-to-day driving. Sure, Viva 3’s will hold air and are mostly round but the discerning tire shopper who actually cares about tires should, after reading hundreds of poor reviews, stay far, far away from these Walmart specials.

In short, Viva 3’s are cheap for a reason and you should probably NOT buy these tires. Hankook, Kumho, Falken, Nitto, and even Nankang have slightly more expensive choices for the budget consumer but without the bad reviews. The Falken Ziex, Nankang CX668, and the Kumho Solus come to mind.

$120 might sound like a deal but you’re paying $120 to give yourself a future headache.

34 COMMENTS

  1. Goodyear viva 3 radial tires *****ING suck!!! Worst tires I ever had , you can not keep the d**n things balanced, they are out of round therefore you can never keep the viva 3 balanced they will shake the h*ll out of your car from 40 mph to 70 mph plus. Walmart tire tech in montecallo Arkansas lied to me saying I had a knot on one of my yires which he could not physically show me. Then he stated that the Goodyear viva 3 radial was all they had the size I needed to fit my car. Like a fool I fell pray and bought the damn things. I was 4 hours from home and did not want to take a chance blowing out a tire. Goodyesr viva 3 radial tires is garbage and will tear your car up if you run thr damn things very long. I have a 44,000 dollar car , dont let them walmart flunkies lie to you and sell you thoes pieces of shit. Walmart will not hold up to the warranty. I bought the full road hazzard warranty. The Walmart flunkie tech basically told me to f**k off. Stay far far away from Goodyear Viva 3 radial tires. Walmart is the only one who even sells them made exclusive for walmart only , a money maker for goodyear and walmart off rhe backs of hard working people. The only good thing I can say about Goodyear Viva 3 radials is they are made in America. I removed them and replaced them with Cooper cs5 grad touring radials and my shake stopped.

    • Shame on you for buying cheap ass tires. Spend the money and buy some Yokohamas or Pirellis. You skimp on price you get what you pay for douchebag

  2. I totally agree with Mark Cullum! Worst tires I ever had! I got them from the West Mason Wal-Mart in Greenbay, Wi. At about 17k mi. they were already close to bald. The tire dept mngr tried telling me I had over inflated my tires so they wouldn’t have to honor the warranty!! Do NOT get these tires no matter what type of deal there is on them. By the way, I NEVER over inflate!

    • Same here…”you overinflated them” so only a pittance for the warranty. 20,000 and they need replacing! Pure junk.

      • sure glad I avoided the temptaion to get some due to my limited budget, extremely, btw. I had a set of tires from discount tires and before I was able to get my own compressor set up I had them set pressures for 7-8 months. but I then noticed the pressures were ALWAYS WRONG!. over and underinflated mixed on same axle. this caused premature wear and the one store would not honor the warranty. 86ed them so fast the manager just stared blankly when I told him the reasons after he asked why I would not return to this (his) store. I now get my tires elsewhere i’ll never trust that shop again!

  3. Worst tires I ever had!! And Wal-Mart DoD NOT honor their warranty! Only got about 17,000no out of them, and they are supposed to be 60k tires!!

  4. I’ll have to be one to disagree with the negative comments so far. I didn’t buy these tires, but they are on a 2005 Toyota Avalon I bought a few months ago. The front tires are fairly new and the rear tires had been on the car for three years. I’ll replace the rear tires before this coming winter. My best guess is that the rear tires have about 45 kmiles on them. I haven’t been through any snow, but we’ve had quite a bit of heavy rainfall lately and the car has handled it just fine. The car rides smoothly, not a hint of wobble and it tracks straight. I haven’t had one problem with them and when the time comes to replace my rear tires, I won’t have a problem buying these tires again.

  5. The Goodyear Viva 3 tires have worked well on my Ford Escape and the Mercury Grand Marquis that I had prior. That whap-whap-whap sound that hear complaints about is the same sound I hear in other vehicles not running Viva 3’s (Volkswagen, Nissan Ultima, Ford Escape) so I have attributed that sound to road service; forgive my ignorance as I am not a professional mechanic.
    I have had Viva 3’s on my Freestyle for over two years and they are holding up fine, and I would recommend them for anyone on a budget.

    • Well you definitely are NOT mechanical inclined that’s for sure! Because the whap whap sound is because the tire IS NOT A TRUE TIRE. Meaning that it has flat stops in them. When you can free hand turn your back tire and see it jump while it’s on a jack COMMON SENSE tells you that the tire isn’t right. Second when WALMART puts weights on your tire that are twice as heavy than you need that’s a RED FLAG that there is something wrong with the tire. Walmart got there $ and I WILL GET SATISFACTION! As soon as I left WALMART with 4 new viva 3’s I noticed the slapping noise against the road. I told my husband after he paid for them and I got home with my Ford Taurus Station-wagon. And their ROAD HAZARD that they added to our bill that we didn’t ask for and the tires are already a ROAD HAZARD!

  6. I bought a used car with two Viva 3 on the front and noticed the road noise right away. They sound like old snow tires at any sort of highway speeds. (My girlfriend said she thought there was a small airplane buzzing us first time she drove the car!) LoL! Drives me nuts if I dont turn up the radio! Hope they wear out at 20k so I can buy something better.

  7. Best tires I ever had! I currently have about 50K on them, with 70% tread still intact. Hope to get at least 100K miles out of them! bought the at $45 apiece brand new from Walmart with free install. LOVE the tires.

    • I know for a fact this is a fake review because I have had 2 complete sets on my 2008 Camry and they only got 20 k miles so quit making these false claims! 100 k miles haaahahahhahaha ! NOONE is believing that!

  8. I have used Vivas for a long time and have always got around 60k miles unless they had road hazard issues. But I rotate them every 5000 miles when I change the oil and I keep them properly inflated so that may be the difference.

  9. I went walmart to get altimax rt43 tires they did not have them and I was in a hurry for a road trip they guy said either these or another model of altimax tires. i wish I’d have paid the extra to get altimax tires. I paid 250 to these tires in total. the guy said they were good. they are terrible. look; my older tires were very worn goodyear ls tires and since I got these new viva 3 tires my traction got worse.

    They don’t feel safe to me. I’ll just bite the bullet and get a new set once I get money but I don’t forget how Walmart stole my money claiming 60000 on these tires.

  10. Hi folks, we’ll I bought my Viva 3’s at Wally World as well. The price was great and they’re Goodyear’s! so what could go wrong! I’ve had them for six months and my used Costco tires were better. They’re noisy! There’s a vibration at 60 mph and I’ve had them balanced and even changed struts and lower control arms, thinking it was my hoopti that was the problem. Nothing helped, so as soon as I can I’m going back to Wally World and see about replacing these junkers.

  11. Worst tire I’ve ever purchased. Less than 20k miles I’ve replaced 2 because of broken belts. I do drive on gravel/rock roads, but I also drive like a grandpa. So many puncture flats with nothing in the tire I’ve been used up a plug kit this summer just to get home or to a service shop. Absolutely worst tire ever!

  12. Worst tire I’ve ever purchased. Less than 20k miles I’ve replaced 2 because of broken belts. I do drive on gravel/rock roads, but I also drive like a grandpa. So many puncture flats with nothing in the tire I’ve been used up a plug kit this summer just to get home or to a service shop.

  13. I purchased one tire today just because Walmart is discontinuing stocking 195/70R14. I got the tire for $13.00. Going to put it on my spare in trunk. I figured something was wrong with this tire for a rated 60,000 mile rated road warranty, and was normally priced for $59. So for a spare tire, I got a deal!

  14. Sure you can get 60,000 miles on Viva 3 tires. I bought four of them and they lasted 15,000 miles each. Do the math: 4 x 15,000 = 60,000.
    But beyond the treadlife issue, the tires are LOUD, they will mess up your alignment by pulling hard even after doing an alignment. I will never, ever buy Viva tires again.

  15. normal driving, normal rotation, 3 flats, 19000 miles no tread left. you get what you pay for. about to stop in waldo mart to see if they honor mileage warranty. right

  16. I bought the less expensive Douglas tire. Made in the USA and less expensive than the VIVA 3. The Douglas, also a Goodyear, lasted 28000 miles with a 40000 warranty. Walmart did give a pro rated refund on a new set. They are so so tires. A friend has the Viva 3 on his Dodge Caliber. He thinks they are ok. For the price they are both ok. Want the best? Spend $800 for 4 Michelins. Good luck!

  17. Well shoot. I sit here reading all these negative reviews and wonder if it’s even worth trying to fight with Walmart. I have a complete set, Viva 3’s w/ ~ 25K miles. The right front tread, separated from the tire and remodeled the front of my 2001 Camry. I have pictures just after it happen while on the Interstate @ 75 mph… tire still full with air and the tread missing in large sections… over 80% missing and quite a bit of damage to my car. Rotated & balanced every 7k – 8k miles. It was free and part of the warranty so why not? The tires were definitely cheap, & I expected a rough & noisy ride, but not this!

  18. I bought two (2) new tires from Wal-Mart at 1490 Hudson Ave, Rochester, NY at $77.50 on 5/8/2011 at 49,210 miles on my Toyota Scion xB 2006. It wasn’t a sale item, My mechanic said I needed two new ones; but after the tune-up, I thought I’d shop around. I didn’t know anything about tire quality, but did feel some urgency to correct the situation, and this local store had an auto component.

    Now, at 76,667 miles, both “Viva 2s” have failed the “Lincoln head test”: 76,667 – 49,210 = 27,547 miles on what was a 60,000 mile warranty. That’s 27,547/60,000 = 45.76% of the 60,000 mile guarantee in 8 years and 4.5 months. By-the-way, 27,547 miles/8 years is an average of 3,883 miles/year at city/Interstate driving i.e. all well-paved roads/highways. The average yearly mileage is 12,000. And, they made more noise than the old ones, but I’m not too sensitive to noise, so I ignored it.

    So, yes: Goodyear “Viva 2” tires are not worth the money for a 60,000 mile warrantee.
    On the other hand, having gotten 8 years out of them at an average 55 mph (best speed to get 35 mpg optimum mileage), perhaps that’s the way they should be marketed: “Economy for the ‘Cautious, Close-to-home Traveler’”.

  19. Come on people. Some of these reviews are total nonsense. I saw a 16000 miles? 20,000 miles? On a tire that’s rated for 60000 miles? apparently somebody screwed up along the way, and I’m going to make a bet it was not good year. I just got to Viva 3’s since it was a toss-up at Walmart between them and the Douglas. They replaced the linglong tires that I had. Now those didn’t last too long. The reason was because my tires were out of alignment oh, so even though there was still some tread on them and they have lasted a good amount of time, they were worn on the sides to the point where the belt was showing. This was on the inside so it was not easily seen;. One of them also had a puncture in it so the inflation was not kept well and Willmar claimed that they couldn’t legally repair the puncture, Richard think is a bunch of BS in one way or another. All in all, I thought it was a good idea to replace at least two of the tires. If you keep your tires inflated correctly, have the correct size , don’t overload your vehicle, don’t do burnouts or drifting, don’t spend them in the snow and rain to get out of a stuck position, they should last at least up to the warranty, maybe more. A lot of tire guys will tell you to swap the tires when they are still good. If they have tire wear indicators, which are little blocks in the tread grooves, and they are not even with the rest of the tread, they are still good. If they don’t have those indicators put a penny upside down and if the top of Lincoln’s head is still visible then you know it’s time to replace them. Just part of being human – trying to take advantage of others. Don’t listen to these clowns. If you want to value tire Goodyear Viva 3 years are probably just as good as many other value tires. Just keep in mind that they have a 60000 mile tread warranty so that is all you are guaranteed up to oh, and make sure that whoever installs your tires will honor the warranty and record the mileage that they are installed. You’ll be fine. When you do decide to get them, make sure your car is aligned well , that you don’t have worn out shocks struts or ball joints,; and rotate them for good measure just to be sure. Walmart includes the rotation free so just let them do it.

  20. For a budget priced tire I’ve found the Viva 3 to be satisfactory for everyday commuter driving. I question the harsh reviews. No, these tires are not top of the line Goodyear, or Michelins, or Continentals. But they do the job. I have had a set on my Altima for a little more than 2 years and have put more than 24K miles on them and they still have lots of life left in the tread. They do produce slightly more noise than other tires I’ve had but they are also quieter than some tires I’ve had. If you are on a budget, you should strongly consider these. If you are looking for performance you best choose another tire, likely a much higher priced tire.

  21. I purchase my Viva 3 tires 3 1/2 years ago and have put 42K on them. They’re on my 2005 Corolla and have been the best tires I have ever put on this car. I should be able to get another 5k out of them before they need replaced. I had my car aligned and have rotated every 5k.

  22. I had to replace a blown michelin tire. In 9/20 bought a viva from Walmart with road hazard, lifetime balancing. Rotated and balanced by Sam’s. On 9/21 went to Walmart to have it balanced. Only 15000 miles on it. They said it didn’t have enough tread.

  23. I purchased these tires for my daughters 2015 Volkswagen Passat. barely 12,000 miles on them after ten months. They are so loud but they appear in good condition. I spent money having my bearings checked and constantly checking pressure. My fear is that they will separate at a high speed. she now drives a little further to work than when she was going to school. i am taking them back to Walmart with hopes of paying the difference to get a better tire. Stay tuned. It is a shame that two of Americas largest companies conspire to continue selling a tire of this poor caliber. They are so loud.

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