I have noticed over the last 3 or 4 months that tyre prices have steadily crept up, especially as I need 2 new ones for my A4 Avant.
The tyres I have been looking at online have gone from about £98 each to nearly £120 in this time period. This is quite an increase, but why ? Oil prices are supposedly still low, is it the weak pound that is the problem ?
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A financial commentator on R4 talked about a 30% drop in the value of the pound against other currencies. So that would fit in with your experience. Going to need tyres myself soon as well.
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For the last 5 years, I've listened to ' a high pound to the dollar ratio is no good to us ". This is now followed by ' a low pound to the dollar ratio " is causing us problems. Any one know where the happy medium is ?
I shopped around recently to get 4 run flats on a BMW 530d. Taking in the internet, local suppliers, so called tyre supermarkets, I was surprised to find the cheapest by miles was............... Kwik Fit !
Edited by Mr X on 02/04/2009 at 12:26
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I think they have gone up a bit, but not as much as you might expect for imported goods.
Over the last few years I've been paying £60 each for 205 55 16 tyres for a choice of premium brands and these are now £119 at Kwikfit, £105 at National, and £80 fitted via mytyres.com
Now the same tyres at ETS are £67 and when I quipped they reduced it to ~£64. (5% discount)
About 18 months ago, I noticed with my bionic eyes, the paperwork at ETS and saw that they paid £33 for the Goodyear Excellence tyres they sold me for £60 so there is a big mark-up, especially for the big national chains.
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For the last 5 years I've listened to ' a high pound to the dollar ratio is no good to us ". This is now followed by ' a low pound to the dollar ratio " is causing us problems. Any one know where the happy medium is ?
there is no happy medium, strong pound is good for imports, weak pound is good for exports (not that we have any), so in the current setup we have of next to no manufacturing strong is generally better, it also means foreigners don't come over here driving our prices up as there money isn't worth as much :)
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Its because of a shortage of rubber trees......
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For the last 5 years, I've listened to ' a high pound to the dollar ratio is no good to us ". This is now followed by ' a low pound to the dollar ratio " is causing us problems. Any one know where the happy medium is ? >>
So for 5 years, it was cheaper to buy goods made abroad, making UK factories uneconomical. Hence the "uneconomical" ones were shut down. Therefore it was no good to us, because jobs were being lost and we were closing our manufacturing industries.
Now that the pound is weak, it would be cheaper to buy those goods if they were still made in the UK. Except, of course, those goods are no longer made here. So you are forced to buy at higher prices from abroad.
Now, if the UK overheads [cost of UK bureaucracy, business rates, energy costs, elf and safety, minimum wages, 12 months maternity leave, etc.] do not contrive to make it too expensive still to return to the UK, you just might see some new manufacturing industries starting up again in the UK. But it will take some real cost cutting, beyond the 50% advantage given by the £ devaluation, before the UK can really compete against the cheap foreign bases.
In the meantime, with the cost of foreign holidays and expensive imports, it just might allow/force Brits to get back in to the saving habit, and stop relying on borrowing to fund their lifestyle and spend that saved money on UK made goods.
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Erm, surely it makes no difference how strong the pound is, if we're buying from the UK? It's still XX pounds regardless. Only way around this I can see is that the weaker pound allows manufacturers to lower prices in response to higher sales.
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Erm, surely it makes no difference how strong the pound is, if we're buying from the UK? >>
Erm, shurely, no, no, no.
Only if the input costs in the price of goods in question are 100% UK sourced [materials, labour, etc.].
Then if the £ is weak, it may make help exports of those goods to other countries to be competitive.
That means higher levels of production, leading to possible economies of scale, leading to cheaper prices, leading to more sales abroad, leading to even greater economies of scale, leading to ever growing jobs and wealth in the UK. A "never ending boom", which is a better situation than "no more bust", i.e. better than Gordy's economics predicted when the £ was strong!
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I recently bought 4 tyres - on my car, Mercedes, fronts are narrower than rears.
Fronts were same price as last time (2years ago) at £80 - I though "that's good". Then they told me rears were £130. :yikes: They were £100 last time. Same tyres - Michelin Primacy HP's.
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Im going to need some new tyres soon on the front. £38 each fitted, which doesnt seem overly expensive to me so I will quietly pay it.
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I shopped around recently to get 4 run flats on a BMW 530d. Taking in the internet local suppliers so called tyre supermarkets I was surprised to find the cheapest by miles was............... Kwik Fit !
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I am stunned by this ! I only look at Kwik Fit prices to cheer myself up, after I have bought elsewhere usually !
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Before this recession kicked in china had the monopoly on all that the rubber tree plantations could supply and like lead there was only a days world supply
I dont know if this still holds true but my tyre wholesaler now doesnt even send out a price booklet i have to ring up for a spot price
the tyres that i mainly buy have gone up a good 20% this last twelve months and some imported tyres are now as cheap as remoulds made in this country
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