Price of tyres

[JohnD]

In the US, Walmart are selling Triumph-compatible tyres for $20 according to this Triumph site:    http://www.triumphexp.com/phorum/list.php?8

That's £16.  Anyone know of a source of £16 tyres in the UK, have you bought them and what are they like?

John

[ferny]

That's £16 for five year old random brand tyres? You must really like trees if you're looking for something similar to buy.

[Hogie]

Hi John,
          about 10 years ago I got a 165x15 Hankook, balanced etc for £10.  I think the shop wanted rid of it.
I do all my tyres at this one place

Roger

[kin74]

I'd buy cheap seat foams or cheap carpets, but not cheap tyres.
Those Walmart ones are branded Rovelo and I wouldn't like to rely on them during an emergency drive.

[RedRooster]

Quick google search & they seem fine, if you like going sideways that is...

[Clive]

http://www.tyrecomp.co.uk/car-tyres/175-70-r13.htm

So about £25 each delivered but not fitted. At that price you can get a Toyo, which is s decent mid range brand......
(175/70 13size, £22 a pop at 155/80 13)

BTW he paid $133 including taxes......that is over £100 for 5 year old ditchfinders.
4 Toyos, fitted and balanced would be £160 here (seems £15 a pop is the going rate for fitting etc)

I know what I would buy!

[Spider]

Try Uniroyal rain expert 3's I fitted them to my GT6 and they transformed the handling especially in the wet, paid £33 fitted up to £39 now but worth every penny in my book gave me the confidence to drive the car as it should be driven, even in the wet.

[thescrapman]

Quoted from cliftyhanger

http://www.tyrecomp.co.uk/car-tyres/175-70-r13.htm

So about £25 each delivered but not fitted. At that price you can get a Toyo, which is s decent mid range brand......
(175/70 13size, £22 a pop at 155/80 13)

BTW he paid $133 including taxes......that is over £100 for 5 year old ditchfinders.
4 Toyos, fitted and balanced would be £160 here (seems £15 a pop is the going rate for fitting etc)

I know what I would buy!

Those Toyo are a bit of an anonoly I think, old stock or something a bit undesirable. All the others in that price range are Chinese products.

That said I got 4 Blackcircle "Specials" at £25 a corner in a 185/60-13 and they are great. the Herald is never going to exceed the grip they provide. They were all seasons M+S tyres as well.

And when I flog the Herald they will supersede my 30-year old comedy autosolo Pirelli P6's as I have given up hope of ever wearing them out.

[John Bonnett]

Quoted from Spider

Try Uniroyal rain expert 3's I fitted them to my GT6 and they transformed the handling especially in the wet, paid £33 fitted up to £39 now but worth every penny in my book gave me the confidence to drive the car as it should be driven, even in the wet.

Now that is good to know. I've not used them before but they were recommended to me for the G15 so I bought a set of four from Camskil @ twenty six pounds plus forty to have them fitted.

[Toledo Man]

I saw a video on YouTube (I think it was from an episode of Fifth Gear) and the greater stopping distances with part worn tyres have put me off them. You're better off with cheap brand new tyres.

[JohnD]

Pirelli P Zero Assymetrics or Yoko A48Rs, the Revolos are not.
But the Chinese MGs come with them fitted, so they can't all bad.

£25 seems to be rock-bottom around here.   Not so far off £16, when the bulk-buying power of Walmart, in the US with five times more potential tyre buyers, is considered.
But would you really want a rock-bottom tyre on your Spitfire, unless you HAD to?

John

PS Part-worn tyres come from Germany, where the minimum tread depth is 3mm (UK 1.6, if you had forgotten)
So they are nearly worn out anyway.   J.

[Bitumen Boy]

Quoted from JohnD

PS Part-worn tyres come from Germany, where the minimum tread depth is 3mm (UK 1.6, if you had forgotten)
So they are nearly worn out anyway.   J.

I always wondered where they all came from and why, never been tempted myself but thanks for that little nugget all the same.

Mind you, in the right circumstances used tyres could be a bargain. A chap I know went to a scrapyard looking for something else, found what he wanted and also came away with 4 practically new tyres (on rims) for next to nothing, off a car that had had them fitted just before the MOT then promptly failed on something else. Only the week before he'd been grumbling about the likely cost of new tyres so was well pleased with that scrapyard visit.

[Dogsbody47uk]

Quoted from Spider

Try Uniroyal rain expert 3's I fitted them to my GT6 and they transformed the handling especially in the wet, paid £33 fitted up to £39 now but worth every penny in my book gave me the confidence to drive the car as it should be driven, even in the wet.

I agree!

[ferny]

Quoted from JohnD

PS Part-worn tyres come from Germany, where the minimum tread depth is 3mm (UK 1.6, if you had forgotten)
So they are nearly worn out anyway.   J.

Only the ones from Germany come from there, the others don't.

Lots of pub knowledge about part works gets regurgitated. Few know the facts;
http://www.partworn-tyres.co.uk/?qards_page=the-law

[Jonny-Jimbo]

When my mates did a sprint day up in Scotland at a small track called Kames, one lad had a Punto, and was the only one driving hard because he'd bought a set of part worn tyres and chucked them onto a set of steelies he'd picked up at the scrap yard for a few quid. Meant that he still had his good tyres to drive home on.





So, part worns DO have some use. However, you don't know the history of them so I'd never put them on a car and use on the road.

[Clive]

Going to play devils advocate here.
We all drive on part worns without knowing the history. Every time you buy a secondhand car or even hire one.....

I have bought "part worns" and happily used them. Best buy I had was a set of 2 week old michelins, all absolutely mint. But great care is needed. Most tyre issues are fairly obvious....though some are difficult to spot. Even if fitted from new to your own car ....
But these days tyres seem pretty cheap anyway. Last ones for our modern were Goodyears (I really like them) were £35 a corner. Similar for the spitfire (falkens, again like those, and 185/60 just over £120 for a set)

[npanne]

If you can see and inspect the tyres for internal damage prior to fitting, and you've checked the date markings to make sure that they aren't particularly old, there's nothing wrong with part-worns at all.

Maybe not worth the hassle if new tyres are £30-35 a pop, but plenty are the other side of £150 each.

Got some recently from a reputable source for £20 (equiv new were £120) that still had 6mm tread left. They'll last for a good couple of years.

[Don Cook]

"We all drive on part worns without knowing the history. Every time you buy a secondhand car or even hire one....."

As soon as we drive off the tyre-fitter's forecourt we are driving on part-worn!

[ferny]

Two careers ago I used to inspect vehicles. The amount of tyres which look fine but are unsafe at closer inspection is unreal. There are certain tyre manufacturers I won't touch for that reason...

I also tend to replace tyres shortly after getting a new car. I've either found out they're rock hard/old, unevenly worn or in one case de-laminate on the motorway. I don't trust previous owners at all. And again, that's from have a job getting up close to what people consider to be safe and drive every day.

[Saltddirk]

^^^
It is only those 4 strips of rubber making the difference of black top or a ditch.

I know good reputed brand tires are expensive but then so are the cars we are driving, and I'm not wanting to risk my investment for the sake of a few quid.

It is a very polarizing topic and people tend to get upset if you are disagreeing with their point of view, but for me I'll buy the best I can afford.
The idea of partly worn tires has not yet caught on in Europe. If it had then I might be tempted to buy some if in good condition, of a reputed brand within age etc. It is not the wear and mileage that kills them for us, so partly used might still have a good few years in them. Issue is as Pete points out, what is good condition? do you have the skills to see potential flaws? The daily we are driving now came wit 19 inch rims and low profiles, not a good idea on the potholed rutted roads where i live. After 2 years and replacing 5 tires due to punctures I sold the wheels. Even if all tires had plenty of thread and were ,except one, all less than 2 years old I could see at least 2 where the sidewall was damaged after being pinched. I sold the Rims which happened to have tires on, but I'm sure the bloke who bought them did partially for the tires even after I told him why we were selling them.

[npanne]

I think part-worns get a bad reputation as a lot come from scrap yards and less-than-reputable back-street traders, but as long as they are properly inspected and within age etc, they're no different to any tyre that you've had on your car for 5k miles +

[ferny]

Quoted from Saltddirk

^^^
It is only those 4 strips of rubber making the difference of black top or a ditch.

I know good reputed brand tires are expensive but then so are the cars we are driving, and I'm not wanting to risk my investment for the sake of a few quid.

It is a very polarizing topic and people tend to get upset if you are disagreeing with their point of view, but for me I'll buy the best I can afford.
The idea of partly worn tires has not yet caught on in Europe. If it had then I might be tempted to buy some if in good condition, of a reputed brand within age etc. It is not the wear and mileage that kills them for us, so partly used might still have a good few years in them. Issue is as Pete points out, what is good condition? do you have the skills to see potential flaws? The daily we are driving now came wit 19 inch rims and low profiles, not a good idea on the potholed rutted roads where i live. After 2 years and replacing 5 tires due to punctures I sold the wheels. Even if all tires had plenty of thread and were ,except one, all less than 2 years old I could see at least 2 where the sidewall was damaged after being pinched. I sold the Rims which happened to have tires on, but I'm sure the bloke who bought them did partially for the tires even after I told him why we were selling them.

Out of interest, Continentals?

[thescrapman]

Quoted from ferny

http://www.partworn-tyres.co.uk/?qards_page=the-law

So if you find a trader applying the correct Part-Worn stamp then perhaps that is a good starting point

[nang]

Agree with Saltddirk. I wouldn't ever consider 2nd hand tyres for any car. Is it really worth the risk to save a few bob ?
Can't understand people spending big money on their car and them buying cheap tyres.
Sorry for the rant but I feel strongly about this. (scared)
Tony.

[Nick Jones]

Coming back to Clive's point earlier, whatever tyres you buy new at any price become second hand as soon as you use them and are subject to sharp stones, broken glass, random screws and nails, potholes raised drain covers and any other random road debris, every mile you drive.

So how many of you religiously inspect your now second hand tyres for damage every week?  Or even every month?  Or ever?

Myself, I'd take in-date part-worns of a decent make and no visible damage inside or out in preference to new "budget" far eastern ditch-finders any day.  And part worn means more than 4mm tread - anything less is worn out....

However, in general I'd completely agree that this is not an area to be cheap, though I do wonder how certain "premium brands" justify their significantly higher prices.

A little thread drift maybe but yesterday I was combing my favourite scrapyard for a spare wheel and associated tools to suit my fathers nearly new Honda Jazz.  Whereas his old one had a space saver, this one has a cheap electric pump and some sort of liquid puncture repair poop - tucked into an enormous polystyrene insert that occupies the (still present) wheel well in the boot.  Neither he or I think that no spare wheel at all is acceptable and Honda wanted > £ 300 for the "kit".

Judging by the trouble I had assembling the necessary bits and bobs, we are not the only ones that think cars should have spare wheels.  A few years back I could have lifted the complete, probably unused, set from the first or second car I came to.  Yesterday I didn't find a single untouched, complete set in a car of any make.  

Nick