Any - New old tyres | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Wed 5 Sep 2012 16:57

Any - New old tyres - unthrottled

Yes, It's an old topic (and I'm not attempting to start another slanging match). Just had two part worns fitted and posting first impressions.

-Tyres £20 a corner (175/70R13), fitted and balanced, 2 wheel laser tracking £20 extra.

-non matching pair (sadly) One Michelin MXH, the other Kleber Viaxen but very similar tread patterns.

-plenty of tread on the tyres (at least 5mm-probably 6), both correctly labelled as part worn.

-Wheels properly balanced (I watched the fitter do it). Tyres checked for leaks. Wheel nuts torqued with a wrench, not the blasted air gun!

-Paid in cash-no recipt offered. :)

-The fitters are East European, appear to be quick and competent, but their English is very limited so don't expect to have a matey conversation about tread compounds or optimum toe-out.

-The company (Top Gear in Ellesmere Port) appeared to be doing a brisk business with some expensive kit (Audi RS4 Avant) sitting on the jacks having some preloved rubber fitted. The New tyre/exhaust centre across the road appeared to be much quieter. Sign of the times?

So far, I'm a happy bunny. (I expect the deep tread will peel off tomorrow when the blu tac dries... ;) )

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 17:45

Any - New old tyres - Collos25

But you can new ones for not much more then they would match last a lot longer and you would no their history.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 17:59

Any - New old tyres - primeradriver

Not convinced you'd be able to get new tyres for much more than £20 in all honesty.

6mm tyres have about 75% of new tread still intact.

I agree with the third point though.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 18:03

Any - New old tyres - thunderbird

Quality Toyos in that size are available at £29.75 a corner, you can get Chinese unknowns for even less. Why on earth would you want to fit someone elses cast off tyres that were removed for a reason you aer not aware of. The car may have been in a major accident.

Totally crazy when new is a tenner more and will last much longer.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 18:08

Any - New old tyres - unthrottled

£29.75 fitted?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 18:04

Any - New old tyres - unthrottled

A comparable quality new tyre would be around £50. Since the car isn't going to last another 20k+ miles so, for me, there's nothing to be gained by buying new. I think the cost/mm is still better than new.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 18:09

Any - New old tyres - primeradriver

Ah, didn't see the size.

Yeah I'm not overly convinced of the case for part-worns here either.

Still, if they do the job, nothing lost.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 18:15

Any - New old tyres - gordonbennet

www.camskill.co.uk/m73b0s366p959/Toyo_Tyres_Car_To..._

If that links correctly...plus a tenner del for 4

No i wouldn't someone else's cast offs on my car either.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 19:09

Any - New old tyres - Collos25

Good value tyres ,here in Germany if a vehicle is involved in an accident which involves body work repairs then the tyres have to be changed these tyres are then shipped to UK along with thousands of others my question is would you take the wrisk driving on what looked like good tyres but may be death traps.There is no proper Legislation in the UK to cover the sale of second hand tyres some maybe good but there are a lot of chaf in there,its not only your life but anybody you might involve.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Fri 7 Sep 2012 10:39

Any - New old tyres - TeeCee

A while back I saw an interview with the MD of a tyre remanufacturer based in Wales.

The largest source of the tyre carcasses on which they remanufacture was DE.

Their largest market for the finished product was, er, DE (at the time, globally the largest market for remanufactured tyres, many countries wouldn't touch 'em) and the vast majority of their business was in tyres in the more exotic size profiles and speed ratings.

QED: You're probably getting the same ones back, rather than their being punted on the UK part-worn market.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 19:38

Any - New old tyres - coopshere

"Still, if they do the job, nothing lost."

But if they don't maybe be your life and that of some innocent people.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 20:04

Any - New old tyres - skidpan

At least they were properly inspected by 2 East Europeans with little command of English.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 20:23

Any - New old tyres - unthrottled

At least they were properly inspected by 2 East Europeans with little command of English.

They balanced them-which is more than can be said for a major outfit my brother visited for new tyres.The balancing machine displays numbers. Since the Polish alphabet uses the same characters as English, no translation problem.

Death traps.

I wondered how long it would take for the "Wives and children could have been killed" claim to rear its head. Ask yourself: if you had bought a shiny new tyre and hit a kerb hard, would you rush straight down to the tyre fitters for a replacement? No, of course not. You'd curse, and if the tyre didn't lose pressure, you'd keep driving on it.

Better to fit some tyres with a decent tread and nice compound than buy some awful buget tyre with a compound as hard as concrete that won't grip or keep putting off the date for replacement.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 21:34

Any - New old tyres - Bobbin Threadbare

Good bargain shopping unthrottled. Major chain garage couldn't balance my wheel properly and it took them over 3 hours to swap my tyres over, so thumbs down to them. All the Eastern Europeans I know (mostly Poles) are excellent at English; spoken not necessarily a strong suit but reading is fine. Wiec tam!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 23:16

Any - New old tyres - primeradriver

"Still, if they do the job, nothing lost." But if they don't maybe be your life and that of some innocent people.

Agreed, but I was being diplomatic.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Fri 7 Sep 2012 00:50

Any - New old tyres - Lygonos

2 Uniroyal RainExperts from camskill = £72 delivered.

Fitting & Balance from a local tyreshop maybe takes it to £100

(Similar to the prices of mid-brands fitted from blackcircles.com)

So for the cost of a tank of petrol you'd fit 2 potentially mismatched half-worn tyres instead.

At least it's not the most important safety-orientated part of the car.

Would you fit part-worn brake pads if someone was giving them away too?

To each their own.

Edited by Lygonos on 07/09/2012 at 00:53

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 21:49

Any - New old tyres - bear807

Personally I find part worn tires is ok, if you don't mind the cracks. In economic climate like this, is sensible . I live in stafford, where I find people drive copper s and Audi to change tire. If you want new ones doesn't necessary go for ultra low budget tires, there is some pretty good too

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 22:05

Any - New old tyres - unthrottled

I looked for cracks and would have refused anything with excessive UV damage. tbh, I didn't see much. both tyres were non-repair.

I tried the part worn route on a recommendation of my local indy on a "worth a shot" basis and, so far, I'm happy. I'm never buying an ultra budget tyre again after my experience of them on my first car. As far as the safety issue goes, at £20 a pop, there's no reason to put off replacement which a lot of people do. I can actually become one of the saints that pre-emptively replace tyres at 3mm. You might know the history of a bald tyre, but it's still a bald tyre!

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 22:16

Any - New old tyres - SteveLee

I hope the car has ABS if you''re mixing brands of tyre left to right.

I'd rather have budget tyres than secondhand ones, I replace tyres before they drop below 3mm tread depth or 4mm if I'm heading into winter.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 22:34

Any - New old tyres - unthrottled

Kleber are a Michelin brand. The tread is visually identical to the Michelin. The compound may or may not be. The groove depth is very similar which is the main issue.

As I said earlier, my first car had ultra budget tyres. The road noise and grip were appalling. Never again.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 23:16

Any - New old tyres - Chris M

Very brave of you to post unthrottled!

I too would be concerned about the history of secondhand tyres, but they will be no worse than what you get when buying a secondhand car. I'd sooner be driving on secondhand tyres with tread than bald ones that I knew the history of.

I've had internet bought tyres fitted at a secondhand tyre place and some of the customers turn up with tyres worn through to the carcase. Anything with grooves would be an improvement.

You buy what you can afford.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 23:16

Any - New old tyres - SteveLee

The appearance of the tread is neither here nor there, they will have vastly different compounds or why would anyone buy a hidiously expensive Michelin?

I've run plenty of budget tyres - the vast majority of them have been fine. The Michelins my C5 came on were terrible in the wet - far too hard - I generally buy mid-range Korean tyres, up there with the premium brands for performance without the cost.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Wed 5 Sep 2012 23:18

Any - New old tyres - primeradriver

Kleber are a Michelin brand. The tread is visually identical to the Michelin. The compound may or may not be. The groove depth is very similar which is the main issue. As I said earlier, my first car had ultra budget tyres. The road noise and grip were appalling. Never again.

The tread design is not everything. The chances are that the compound is quite different.

There are remould tyres which use Michelin carcasses exclusively, and use Michelin tread patterns. Are these the same as Michelins?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Thu 6 Sep 2012 01:07

Any - New old tyres - unthrottled

No one bothers remoulding car tyres, surely?!

Remoulding of truck tyres is routine-and if the new tread is properly vulcanised then performance is no worse than a new tyre. I don't believe this process is economical on car tyres though.

Yes, compound matters-and I'd much rather have secondhand decent compound than budget new compound.

I'd be more concerned about mixing tread depths than tyre choices on an axle because I still consider wet braking to be the major safety issue rather than dry grip which is largely a matter of convenience.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Thu 6 Sep 2012 09:45

Any - New old tyres - Collos25

I was really suprised to see new remould car tyres for sale on ebay.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Thu 6 Sep 2012 23:00

Any - New old tyres - leighriley

I purchased 2 part-worn Maxxis tyres with approx 5mm tread on both for nearly half the cost of new ones. They are undamaged and have not been repaired. I also confirmed the 4-digit date code before purchase, so I knew the age of the tyres. They also match the rear tyres, so all 4 are the same. I do relatively little mileage per year (5-6000) that spending money on new tyres is hard to justify, as the rubber perishes and cracks with age long before the tread has worn to a level which requires replacement. I have more confidence in the newer matching part-worn tyres than I did in the older mis-matched tyres. I suspect modern tyres are capable of tolerating far higher levels of abuse than the average driver subjects them to. New tyres become part-worn tyres as soon as they are driven away from the fitting centre.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Fri 7 Sep 2012 09:52

Any - New old tyres - Collos25

Are you trying to convince yourself.Tyres have 8mm of tread when new and are just about unusable at 3mm so you have not got such a good bargain plus history unknown.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Fri 7 Sep 2012 10:20

Any - New old tyres - coopshere

"I purchased 2 part-worn Maxxis tyres with approx 5mm tread on both for nearly half the cost of new ones"

So you paid around half the price of a new tyre for around 3mm of usable tread, doesn't sound like a bargain to me.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Fri 7 Sep 2012 19:12

Any - New old tyres - unthrottled

So you paid around half the price of a new tyre for around 3mm of usable tread, doesn't sound like a bargain to me.

8mm-2mm=6mm.

So at half the price, the economics work.

Besides, The author states that they only do 5-6000 miles p.a. With that annual mileage UV degradation would be a problem with starting with a full 8mm.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Fri 7 Sep 2012 21:20

Any - New old tyres - thunderbird

I purchased 2 part-worn Maxxis tyres with approx 5mm tread on both for nearly half the cost of new ones.

Unthrottled, sugegst you check your maths.

8mm -5mm = 3mm used.

5mm -2mm (min safe tread IMHO) =3mm

Therefore tyres are 1/2 worn.

1/2 price for 1/2 worn tyres is not a bargain.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Fri 7 Sep 2012 21:36

Any - New old tyres - unthrottled

Most people change their tyres at 2mm (or even less)

A half worn tyre at half original price is fair. What's the point in me spending £50/ tyre when the car isn't going to last another 20,000 miles? As soon as you drive off the fitting court, you are on part worn tyres.

I wasn't going to 'risk' proloved rubber, but the hysteria surrounding part worns typified by www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/legal--motoring-advice/2/ made me suspicious and I decided to give them a chance. So far, I'm not sorry.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Fri 7 Sep 2012 21:44

Any - New old tyres - thunderbird

As soon as you drive off the fitting court, you are on part worn tyres.

Fair comment but "part worn tyres" with a known history.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Fri 7 Sep 2012 22:01

Any - New old tyres - unthrottled

If the known history is a bad one, would you replace the tyre pre-emptively just in case the carcass structure was damaged? I don't know anyone who has done this, but I know a lot of people (myself included) who have hit a pothole or kerb hard and kept driving on the tyre.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Fri 7 Sep 2012 21:59

Any - New old tyres - balleballe

I can easily pick up a pair of contis with 5-6mm tread for £50 a pair for 205/55/16

New ones would cost me £150 a pair.

The economics makes perfect sense

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Fri 7 Sep 2012 21:47

Any - New old tyres - leighriley

I hope this thread has more to do with debunking the myths about purchasing or using part-worn tyres, rather than arguing over the specific costs involved.

Price is objective
Value is subjective

Not everyone can afford new tyres. I made the decision to buy and use part-worn tyres. I appreciate there are drivers that would not use part-worn tyres.

Also, new tyres do not always equal good tyres. I once purchased a pair of (new) Admirals for approx £60 which were so noisy I had to move them to the back of the car, and which were truly dangerous in the wet.

I would never preach part-worn tyres to any other driver, but can confirm, for me, at the time, they offered a reasonable and safe option.

Edited by leighriley on 07/09/2012 at 21:50

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Sat 8 Sep 2012 07:59

Any - New old tyres - Collos25

How do you know they are safe the other parts I would agree with you.

Edited by Collos25 on 08/09/2012 at 08:00

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Sat 8 Sep 2012 09:39

Any - New old tyres - skidpan

The last set of tyres I bought for the Focus were 205 55 16 V rated Kumhos, they were £220 all in.

Rotating them front to rear I would expect to get 30,000 miles out of them. During the same period I expect to spend about £4400 on diesel, £600 on servicing at least, £300 on RFL and £700 on insurance, thats over £6000.

£220 for tyres is peanuts, its the lowest of all the items listed, if you cannot afford it you should not be on the road.

If you are skimping on tyres what else are you skimping on, insurance, MOT and RFL perhaps.

For gods sake, a tank of diesel costs about £75.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Sat 8 Sep 2012 11:29

Any - New old tyres - balleballe

I've never bought new tyres, but since I now get them at trade price i'll be interested to see how long they last. In November I intend on fitting bridgestones all-season tyres. I'll be happy to see 30k out of them.

Part worn conti or bridgestone summer tyres normally give me 20k before they're around 2mm

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Sat 8 Sep 2012 11:43

Any - New old tyres - gordonbennet

Haven't run my tyres down to 2mm for as long as i can remember, i get itchy when they reach 4mm and they're always off by 3mm.

As an excellent post above mentions, such a small part of overall motoring costs and arguably the most important decision you can make, one i research fully.

I save a lot of money and ensure my own choices by buying often 6 or more months before needed then keep them in the cool and dark, i have 4 online sites i ise regularly, and keep an eye on sizes i or my family need, then when the right bargain comes along from my shortlist buy....you have to do this if you want good winter or all season tyres without having your pants pulled down anyway.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Sat 8 Sep 2012 13:00

Any - New old tyres - Hamsafar

As long as people know the limits of the vehicle and tyres and drive accordingly (don't crash) I don't see the problem. It's like lambasting someone for driving a classic car when for a little more (or less) they could have a new NCAP rated Daicha Duster.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Ask Honest John

Sell Your Car

Real MPG

Fuel Calculator