I understand what you are saying, but your friends dad would be unable to carry the YK 520 & YK 580 lines........as an independent tire dealer, they are required to purchase from distributors (not the mfg's) and as such they are subject to, well, seconds being sold as 1st runs, etc.

Compared to Michelin, Uniroyal, BFG, their quality exceeds these lines....and they have never had the massive recalls (fed mandated) that these lines and Goodyear have had.....not to mention Firestone......check out a few of these.........

Michelin Tire Issues
I would avoid Michelin, BFG, Uniroyal like the plague....tread cap separation, sidewall blowouts, excessive wear issues are all commonplace with BFG & Michelin subsidiaries.....it’s not consistent but seem to "rotate" from product line to product line. Michelin dropped the orange oil marketing last year after they initiated a 100,000 tire recall ordered/agreed to by the feds..............Yokohama like the other mfg began incorporating the "orange oil" in their tires but not anywhere near what Michelin did and I would bet they are back peddling as fast as they can.....

very well known...just Google....you will see all the recalls (complaints & failures) over the past 2 years.........here's just a few that we could pick out it just 5 minutes..........................

Michelin recalling 841,000 BFGoodrich, Uniroyal tires
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/26/travel...all/index.html

Michelin recalls 77,000 tires for safety problem
http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/...afety-problem/

the tire maker is recalling BFGoodrich Commercial T/A A/S and Uniroyal Laredo HD/H tires sold in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/...million-tires/

MICHELIN PILOT POWER AND PILOT POWER 2CT FRONT MOTORCYCLE TIRES
http://www.arfc.org/tires/michelin/p...01/recall.aspx

Michelin Recalls 799,900 Tires For Tread Belt Separation
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...eparation.html

Michelin Recalls Pilot Sport Extra Load Tires

December 31, 2005
Michelin North America has notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Transport Canada that it is recalling approximately 6,500 Michelin Pilot Sport 255/35ZR20 97Y Extra Load tires in the United States and Canada.


Michelin—225/70 R15 100S LTX A/T TL Tires
http://www.recalls.gov.au/content/in.../itemId/953676

Michelin, Honda settle lawsuit over costly Odyssey runflats
Sitemap - Autoblog

I had been running BFG’s on everything going back to the late 70’s (yes, the square block tread pattern T/A’s) until the mid-90’s…..that is when (IIHM) Michelin began inducing design and compound changes in the BFG brand……tire wear was progressively terrible (25% of what I was getting- same vehicle, same driving conditions), and then switched to Yokohama Sports…they were very close to BFG T/A’s and excellent wear again. I have been running Yokohamas on my Mark LT (YK 520's past 3 years) & wife’s 1997Cougar Sport V8 (YK 580's for 1 year) and ran the Avid V4's for about 8 years prior to that (yeah same set) they are an incredible durable wet/dry traction tire....the ride and handling & quietness reminds you of the Michelins of 30 years ago....very solid grip, very good steering feel that is almost road race type performance feel/input but without the typical heavy steering - I'm sure you know what I'm trying to say here.....
not a single failure to date.....even found a 5/16" diameter bolt about 3/4" long in my wife’s tire one day...I just knew it was going to leak when I pulled it & was all ready, but it did not penetrate the core....that is one tough tire.

Per the mgr at America Tire Company (where i have been buying my tires for 20 years- same store)....the difference between the 520 & 580 is a minor design change to make the tires quieter...I guess they had a few customers complain (we never did experience this)....to introduce the tire, Yokohama rented a track down in Texas for a week & invited Discount/America to drive a variety of domestic & imports with the 580's in comparison to Michelin and Pirelli......it was literally 100% of the staff agreed the tire performed as well or better in head to head testing and was a lot less $...with as good or better