Dealer has over pressured my tyres

I bought a brand new Audi S3 six months ago. I've now done 4200 miles. I have a long drive tomorrow so decided to check the tyre pressures for the first time. They should be 38psi front/35psi rear at normal loads and 42psi all round with a full load. However, I found all four tyres to be at 50psi.

I can only assume they must've been higher than this when I collected the car. Why? Will this have caused damage to the tyres or suspension?

Asked on 24 May 2016 by Andrew Mullin

Answered by Honest John
No, won't have caused damage. But this is the second time I have heard of an Audi dealer putting a car out on storage tyre pressures. This is actually very common but proves that the pre-delivery inspection was not carried out correctly so you should seek some acknowledgement of that from the Audi dealer.

In the other case, the Audi owner received a replacement set of tyres FoC. Anyone buying a new car should check the tyre pressures. I have had to reduce them substantially on my last two long term test cars. Remember, pressures rise as heat gets into the tyres so that 38/35 is the hot pressure, not the cold pressure. Inflate to 38/35 cold and you will get 42/39 after a motorway run.
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