Dealer fitted 8 year old tyres to 15 month old car
Discussion
Hi All
I posted this on my readers cars thread but thought it might be worth repeating here for the specialist knowledge!
A small issue has arisen with the used Tesla model S I bought on the 17th March this year.
I bought it at 15 months old from a posh car dealer (Not Tesla) and the dealer agreed they would fit new Tyres as part of the deal.
As I have got more confident with the car and its range I have spent more time keeping up with the general flow of the right hand lane on the M4 and have noticed a bit of vibration at higher speeds. So I popped down to Headley tyres south of Newbury to get the wheel balances checked, and was told some rather unsettling and frankly annoying news.
One of my "new" rear tyres is not quite round, Headley needed to add 200g of weights to balance it as best they can, but after a quick trip to Slough it is still not vibration free.
All four tyres (while they are matching) are between 8 and 9 years old:
These were the "new" Pirelli tyres the dealer I bought the car from agreed to fit to replace the worn OEM Michelins.
While it is not provable, based on the wear they look like part-worn tyres.
My receipt of course says "Tyres" and not "New Tyres".
When I bought the car I just saw what looked like new (i.e. dressed) tyres with plenty of tread where as the originals were borderline illegal. I am feeling a fool for not checking the tyres age, but who does that on a 15 month old car with "new" tyres. Shows how naive I am!
I will be calling the dealer on Monday asking what they will do to remedy this.
While not illegal I believe it is extremely inadvisable to fit 8+year old tyres to a 400+ horse powered car.
I think as a minimum they should pay to replace the rear pair as one is not round and not fit for purpose and you need to replace both so the axle has matching tyres. But to be honest I would like the to cover both axles as I think they are taking the Mickey. The Michelin OEM tyres will be around £250 each all in and fitted.
Any thoughts from the PH hive mind on my legal position here?
I posted this on my readers cars thread but thought it might be worth repeating here for the specialist knowledge!
A small issue has arisen with the used Tesla model S I bought on the 17th March this year.
I bought it at 15 months old from a posh car dealer (Not Tesla) and the dealer agreed they would fit new Tyres as part of the deal.
As I have got more confident with the car and its range I have spent more time keeping up with the general flow of the right hand lane on the M4 and have noticed a bit of vibration at higher speeds. So I popped down to Headley tyres south of Newbury to get the wheel balances checked, and was told some rather unsettling and frankly annoying news.
One of my "new" rear tyres is not quite round, Headley needed to add 200g of weights to balance it as best they can, but after a quick trip to Slough it is still not vibration free.
All four tyres (while they are matching) are between 8 and 9 years old:
These were the "new" Pirelli tyres the dealer I bought the car from agreed to fit to replace the worn OEM Michelins.
While it is not provable, based on the wear they look like part-worn tyres.
My receipt of course says "Tyres" and not "New Tyres".
When I bought the car I just saw what looked like new (i.e. dressed) tyres with plenty of tread where as the originals were borderline illegal. I am feeling a fool for not checking the tyres age, but who does that on a 15 month old car with "new" tyres. Shows how naive I am!
I will be calling the dealer on Monday asking what they will do to remedy this.
While not illegal I believe it is extremely inadvisable to fit 8+year old tyres to a 400+ horse powered car.
I think as a minimum they should pay to replace the rear pair as one is not round and not fit for purpose and you need to replace both so the axle has matching tyres. But to be honest I would like the to cover both axles as I think they are taking the Mickey. The Michelin OEM tyres will be around £250 each all in and fitted.
Any thoughts from the PH hive mind on my legal position here?
Edited by Spunagain on Sunday 4th June 07:07
Edited by Spunagain on Sunday 4th June 07:24
Assuming that code does indeed mean week 40 of 2008 where would the dealer have found them? Has he swapped them off another car with the same size tyres From within his showroom?
Very poor show IMHO, I presume the car wasn't cheap and the dealer is a premium seller. I would hope he'd be mortally embarrassed to have been found out (let's face it who checks their tyre dates - not many I'd guess). Just go back and say you are shocked at what you've found and you want it rectified at his cost. Bear in mind it might be one of the workshop staff trying to pull a flanker and the dealer doesn't know anything about it - maybe a staff member has a brand new set of trees on his car?? Don't threaten from the off but if he kicks off then you have the option of posting facts all ove social media and review sites - that'll cost him more in lost business and loss of face than replacing your tyres FOC.
Very poor show IMHO, I presume the car wasn't cheap and the dealer is a premium seller. I would hope he'd be mortally embarrassed to have been found out (let's face it who checks their tyre dates - not many I'd guess). Just go back and say you are shocked at what you've found and you want it rectified at his cost. Bear in mind it might be one of the workshop staff trying to pull a flanker and the dealer doesn't know anything about it - maybe a staff member has a brand new set of trees on his car?? Don't threaten from the off but if he kicks off then you have the option of posting facts all ove social media and review sites - that'll cost him more in lost business and loss of face than replacing your tyres FOC.
Spunagain said:
Hi All
I posted this on my readers cars thread but thought it might be worth repeating here for the specialist knowledge!
A small issue has arisen with the used Tesla model S I bought on the 17th March this year.
I bought it at 1 months old from a posh car dealer (Not Tesla) and the dealer agreed they would fit new Tyres as part of the deal.
I hope the 1 month old bit is a typo as if not, i'd be a bit concerned that a 1 month old car needed a new set of tyres!I posted this on my readers cars thread but thought it might be worth repeating here for the specialist knowledge!
A small issue has arisen with the used Tesla model S I bought on the 17th March this year.
I bought it at 1 months old from a posh car dealer (Not Tesla) and the dealer agreed they would fit new Tyres as part of the deal.
Anyway, good luck with your request for another set of tyres!
Post has been edited by the looks and says 14 and 15 months so worn tyres a possibility.
Until you've had a conversation putting your points across to the dealer and given the nature of the complaint I'd do it in writing, it's hard to advise more, but an 8 year old tyre is not fit fir purpose, a google will show advice on changing at anything from 5 years.
Until you've had a conversation putting your points across to the dealer and given the nature of the complaint I'd do it in writing, it's hard to advise more, but an 8 year old tyre is not fit fir purpose, a google will show advice on changing at anything from 5 years.
Hi All
Thanks for the replies! Sorry, corrected the text to match the title - the car was 15 months old when I bought it.
I noticed it a while back but only got the time to get the wheels balanced yesterday. The vibration was only at high speed so I have just not driven that fast.
The sense of urgency is down to the age and trustworthiness of he tyres. The useability of `the car means putting down max torque is only a twitch of the ankle away, and I don't want to trigger a catastrophic failure.
Thanks for the replies! Sorry, corrected the text to match the title - the car was 15 months old when I bought it.
I noticed it a while back but only got the time to get the wheels balanced yesterday. The vibration was only at high speed so I have just not driven that fast.
The sense of urgency is down to the age and trustworthiness of he tyres. The useability of `the car means putting down max torque is only a twitch of the ankle away, and I don't want to trigger a catastrophic failure.
Poor show from dealer. They should replace FOC once they realise /find out why they were fitted. As an aside and obviously not in the same league, I've just bought a van with 12 yr old rear tyres on it, although I did notice before I'd purchased it. Plenty of tread remaining but were a bit cracked, so have been replaced with new Michelins. Mine were only £80 each though!
I expect he hasn't done anything illegal, but it should be.
I wouldn't run any vehicle with tyres older than 5 years other than a wheelbarrow. The tyres will have hardened and will likely be a significant risk in colder and particularly wetter conditions.
Unsurprising from a secondhand dealer (or driveway seller) punting out £1500 sheds, but in this case almost wierd.
I would tell the dealer what you have found and that you expect them to be changed. In view of what he's done I expect he'll put some new cheapo tyres on, so you could offer to contribute towards a set you are happy with.
I wouldn't run any vehicle with tyres older than 5 years other than a wheelbarrow. The tyres will have hardened and will likely be a significant risk in colder and particularly wetter conditions.
Unsurprising from a secondhand dealer (or driveway seller) punting out £1500 sheds, but in this case almost wierd.
I would tell the dealer what you have found and that you expect them to be changed. In view of what he's done I expect he'll put some new cheapo tyres on, so you could offer to contribute towards a set you are happy with.
CoolHands said:
what a bunch of 
s. I would not expect any resolution from them, or any second-hand dealer, they're all a bunch of shysters.
The dealer had a sale, then the tyre issue came up. Any money spent here was going to come directly from his profits. A mid-range set of tyres for a Tesla (educated guess) is £300-400 with a premium set £500+.s. I would not expect any resolution from them, or any second-hand dealer, they're all a bunch of shysters.So he spent £100 on some part-worns.
Simple business decision, if the part-worns have been properly vetted then that's that. Not a decision I would have made.
Teslas aren't likely to be common on the forecourts of inherently dodgy dealers.
cmaguire said:
The dealer had a sale, then the tyre issue came up. Any money spent here was going to come directly from his profits.
Op said it was part of the deal, and so a negotiating point."I am willing to pay you £x if you give me a set of new tyres" is not "I bought this car off you for £y and now demand you give me new tyres"
InitialDave said:
cmaguire said:
The dealer had a sale, then the tyre issue came up. Any money spent here was going to come directly from his profits.
Op said it was part of the deal, and so a negotiating point."I am willing to pay you £x if you give me a set of new tyres" is not "I bought this car off you for £y and now demand you give me new tyres"
Personally I would have pinned him down on exactly what tyres were going on as I am particular about tyres and would expect to be unhappy with whatever the dealer put on (certainly not expecting part-worns though, just Nankangs or some such crap), but I can accept that the OP would have just expected some 'normal' mid-range tyres and given it little concern.
Perhaps the dealership is trying to pull a fast one.
However, while I'm not questioning the OP's integrity, I'd expect the dealer to tell them to FO after waiting over 2 months to bring it up with them. Who knows what has happened in the meantime. For all the dealer knows, someone could have swapped out the new ones and put old ones on. They could have done burn outs and worn new ones out, and then stuck some old ones on.
Of course, it could be an honest mistake and some tyres from the back of warehouse ended up on the car and the dealer not even looked at the dates - why would they? How many people would if they were ordered from a reputable wholesaler?
Hopefully they have the invoice for them still and should be easy to find out what has happened.
However, while I'm not questioning the OP's integrity, I'd expect the dealer to tell them to FO after waiting over 2 months to bring it up with them. Who knows what has happened in the meantime. For all the dealer knows, someone could have swapped out the new ones and put old ones on. They could have done burn outs and worn new ones out, and then stuck some old ones on.
Of course, it could be an honest mistake and some tyres from the back of warehouse ended up on the car and the dealer not even looked at the dates - why would they? How many people would if they were ordered from a reputable wholesaler?
Hopefully they have the invoice for them still and should be easy to find out what has happened.
Many years ago I traded in my MG Midget for a Fiat 128SL coupe at a secondhand car dealers place somewhere near Stamford.
A few days later, the thick tyre paint wore off and I read the words 'Sub standard - max 50 mph' on one of the tyres. So I changed the lot.
Made me feel less guilty for forgetting to tell the Arthur Daley type who'd sold it to me that the Midget's 3rd gear was missing a tooth.... Oh dear, how sad, what a pity....
A few days later, the thick tyre paint wore off and I read the words 'Sub standard - max 50 mph' on one of the tyres. So I changed the lot.
Made me feel less guilty for forgetting to tell the Arthur Daley type who'd sold it to me that the Midget's 3rd gear was missing a tooth.... Oh dear, how sad, what a pity....
Sheepshanks said:
Heres Johnny said:
... but an 8 year old tyre is not fit fir purpose, a google will show advice on changing at anything from 5 years.
They could be 5yrs old when first used - tyre industry guidelines say up to 5yrs old are 'new' (up to 3yrs is 'brand new).Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff