Does anyone have any experience of problems with Matador tyres? I have a 2005 VW polo which has Matador Elite 2 (185 60 R14 82T) tyres fitted to it.
Yesterday I noticed a golf ball sized bulge in the side wall of one of the tyres, so have changed to the spare and got a new tyre on order to replace it. The car has only done 2700 miles, and to my knowledge has never been curbed, or hit anything with the wheel or tyre.
So what I'm wondering is firstly if anyone knows of any similar problem with these tyres, and secondly what my course of action should be? Should I go to the VW garage where I bought the car and ask for the money back for the tyre I've had to buy, as it must have been faulty? Should I go further and say I'm worried about the quality of the tyres and what them all replaced with a more well known make?
Any help or advice very much appreciated.
Pete
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Slovak tyre company - very big in the motorsport world..
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Have you had the car from new and are they the original tyres?
If so you may have grounds for some goodwill/warranty replacement from the supplying dealer.
Otherwise go to the tyre supplier and tell them how wonderful their tyres are. Unless there is an obvious sign of impact, then it is your responsibility.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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i wish there were no potholes where i live,how can you drive on britains roads and not traverse a single pot hole?as a matter of interest was it front nearside?and are you the only careful driver?
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Yes I have owned the car from new, and bought it from a VW main dealer. Yes, the tyres are as supplied by the dealer on the new car.
As it happens, it is the front nearside wheel. There is no damage on the wheel or tyre on the outside, other than the golf ball sized lump.
The VW garage where I live don't have the facilities to change tyres, and that's not the garage I bought it from. So I took it on Saturday to a tyre place to get the tyre replaced. The guy there said he thinks it is a tyre defect, and when they change it (had to order a new one, so have the spare on at the moment) he will give me the tyre back so I can take it to the dealer I bought the car from. He said if they had fitted the tyre they would replace it, and send it back to the manufacturer.
I'll see what they say when I can get up to the VW garage later this week.
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I have always stuck up for VW on this website. However, if VW are putting cheapo east european tyres on their cars I will change my mind.
My neighbor bought a new VW van with Hankok tyres fitted, I would have made them change to something better, ie Michelin/Goodyear/Pirelli etc.
I wonder what other cheap parts VW are fitting, that we can't see?
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VW fit a variety of tyres at the factory, including Kumho, Hankook and Matador,. as well as the Western brands like Firestone and Conti. I notice a lot of recent Fords have Hankook Ventus tyres fitted..
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Actually Hankook tyres are pretty good.
I was finding my old 3 series a handful in the wet, replaced the rears with a pair of Hankook something or others and the car started behaving very nicely indeed! I found the back end stuck to the road much better when conditions were wet than it used to.
A friend of mine also fitted them to his 17" alloys and found them perfectly acceptable, they even came with the rim protection that has saved his alloys from some minor scuffs (shame my Focus doesnt have them, the rear n/side alloy is not pretty at the moment!)
Seeing as they come fitted as new from the factory on some Mondeos I'm of the opinion that they must be fine, they're good value too! :-)
Blue
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I wasn't decrying Hankook - I've used recent Kumho's and been very impressed so I have a certain respect for Korean tyres. I'm less keen on East European tyres though....
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Sorry, should have made it clear that I was replying to Quizman.
Blue
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I think my local Renault garage sells Matador, says they are owned by Continental IIRC.
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However good or bad the eastern tyres are, I think you should expect "proper" tyres on a supposed premium car. If you want a cheap tyre for replacements fair enough.
On tractors the cheap eastern tyres never last as long, Michelin and Kleiber are the tyres of choice for most farmers.
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dear mr c2pete
...........................thank you for the recent conversation that we had regarding your recent complaint regarding a matador tyre fitted to your car.We have had our best engineers check this for you under rigorous clinical conditions and find that it was fitted to the nearside front of your automobile,we found this due to the slight pickup on the offside of the shoulder,while we truly try to do the utmost on every occasion to satisfy our customers we do find on this occasion customer error only,even if you were unaware of the microscopic tears in the sidewall beading.We have sent you a free tyre valve in recognition of your loyal service to our brand and hope it goes some way to compensation.
.................yours faithfully
...........................................customer services
hows that?as to be honest i would be very surprised ne shocked if you get conpensation on a tyre with a carbuncle.Please uddate us wont you with the outcome?Will the moderators allow this?no offence meant
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I think my local Renault garage sells Matador, says they are owned by Continental IIRC.
Could be - I know that Continental own the Barum, Viking and Uniroyal brands.
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I would never expect Matador tyres on a new VW or similar make. Maybe on a Proton, Kia or even a Skoda, but budget tyres should be fitted to budget car makes, not supposed 'premium' marques. Very bad.
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Well Hyundai/Kia put decent quality Kumho tyres on their cars, which IMO are just as good as the European brands, if not better in some cases. Bear in mind that just because they're not seen as recognised brands in Europe doesn't make them "cheap".
Don't know much about Matador. There's one attached to my old Nissan, but I'd assumed they were some off-brand manufacturer supplied by a fast-fit chain. I now know better.
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Well Hyundai/Kia put decent quality Kumho tyres on their cars
Not always, they use lots of brands, Bridgestone on the Cerato for example. Slightly old cars are unbranded.
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You can get a free Kia with a full set of Michelins! ;-)
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