New cars, Winter tyres and Consumer Law !
Discussion
Every year we have the discussion about the wisdom of fitting winter tyres because both car and tyre manufacturers say 'summer' tyre are poor in cold weather e.g. below 7degrees C.
Consumer Law says a car bought from a dealer must be fit for purpose which I suggest means driveable ALL year. In the UK the temperature is below 7 for about 40% of the time: say half of the year for the sake of argument.
So if you buy a new car in the Autumn, Winter and early Spring should it come fitted with All-weather tyres because otherwise for almost 50% of the year you are not (it could be argued) following the manufacturer's recommendation !!
In my experience most new cars I have bought come fitted with so-called summer tyres and then they pester me to buy their 'winter' tyre sets!!
I wonder if our legal eagles have a view on how the new regs that came on-stream from the 1st October might affect the definition of 'fit-for-purpose'?
Consumer Law says a car bought from a dealer must be fit for purpose which I suggest means driveable ALL year. In the UK the temperature is below 7 for about 40% of the time: say half of the year for the sake of argument.
So if you buy a new car in the Autumn, Winter and early Spring should it come fitted with All-weather tyres because otherwise for almost 50% of the year you are not (it could be argued) following the manufacturer's recommendation !!
In my experience most new cars I have bought come fitted with so-called summer tyres and then they pester me to buy their 'winter' tyre sets!!
I wonder if our legal eagles have a view on how the new regs that came on-stream from the 1st October might affect the definition of 'fit-for-purpose'?
HustleRussell said:
I bloody hope not, that'd cost car dealers a fortune and guess who they're going to pass the cost onto?
ETA: oh, and this would certainly result in all used cars being fitted with the cheapest nastiest budget winter tyres which are really the worst of all worlds.
Not true = all they would need to do is fit 'All-season' tyres. ETA: oh, and this would certainly result in all used cars being fitted with the cheapest nastiest budget winter tyres which are really the worst of all worlds.
The so-called 'summer' tyres are usually fitted because they give the best 'test' performance for journalists and most markets.
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