You've got two options - go down the SoGA route and claim against the seller in the small claims court on the grounds of "unmerchantable quality" - or go down the manufacturers warranty route which is subject to their terms and conditions as these rights are additional to SoGA, not instead of.

As you bought them online, you're between a rock and a hard place - but that's your position.

Tyre claims have always been a strange area, years ago when i was involved, tyres that had failed were sent to the Bermuda Triangle like ''Tyre Manufacturers Conference'' as it was then called never usually to be seen or heard of again, it appears little has changed in the intervening 40 years.

Interesting car situation though, is the car suffering from heavy wear to the inside edges of the front tyres, maybe the forces causing the wear are causing the treads to split?

If so my MB does exactly the same (2 x Goodyear F1's starting to split as you describe), and reading many postings on my MB forum it appears many owners find the same problem with various tyre makes, i have this year bought some non directional summer tyres and will be rotating each season to help even the wear out.

My wheel alignments and suspension condition are as good as new, i can only put this wear situation down to the extremely good steering lock enjoyed by cars driven at the correct (rear) end, toy cars, FWD.;) don't have turning circles worth mentioning so maybe don't have this problem.....this isn't scientific or anything, just my observations.

Thanks for all the replies, i've decided the hassle factor and the percentage of tread left on the tyre make it uneconomical for me to pursue this any further.

I just won't be buying any more Dunlop tyres after this, it's left a really bad taste in my mouth. Especially after I worked out that in the last 6 years i've driven just slightly less than 200,000 miles (in two cars) and i've been using Dunlop SP Sports for 90%+ of that mileage.

Yes I do think the crack is a serious problem, if I was involved in a high speed braking effort then i'm not sure what would happen to the tyre, it's obviously got a weakness which could be exploited during an emergency therefore I will have to get them changed. But yes I will take them to a good tyre dealer for a more professional opinion.

No the tyres are not sufferring from any excessive wear, it's all even.

Adam :-(