mismatched tyres..

[Shuvi McTupya]

My mother has just picked up a 1 yr old used car with 16000 miles on it from a local Renault dealer. The car is a Renault Captur.

I noticed one of the tyres looked like it had probably done more than that so i looked at the others and discovered three different brands of tyre on the car!

It has matching continental budget tyres on the passenger side and a goodyear and a different continental on the drivers side.

This is the tyre that looks to me like it is not a tyre that has done 16K on a 'shopping' car.
Is it my imagination?


And if it were you, would you be complaining, or as the car is used should we just go and buy a couple of budget continentals so they all match atleast, or just not worry about it??

[Donbot]

It's a used car. It's up to the buyer to decide if the tyres it comes with are acceptable providing they are legal.

Personally, I'd replace the tyres as they wear out.

Edited by Donbot on Saturday 5th October 20:00

[Shuvi McTupya]

thanks, I am just reading up on it and trying to figure out if the tyres are actually legal or not.
The advice seems to be that you should not have different tread patterns on the same axle, and having one radial and on cross ply on the same axle is illegal.

I need to figure out what sort of tyres they all are before i decide how to advise her.

In principal i agree that is ir our responsibilty to replace aging tyres on a used car. I just suspect they have nicked the tyres off it that were orginally on it!

[trickywoo]

There won’t be crossplys on it so you can forget that.

Anything 1.6mm tread depth or more is legal.

IMO it’s crap service but a fuss should have been made before the sale was agreed.

At this stage they will probably only throw the cheapest budgets on if they can best case scenario.

If it was me I’d get a new set of branded tyres in the budget I’m happy with and move on.

[Donbot]

No modern tyres are cross ply (as far as I know), so I doubt it's that.

As far as grip goes, different tyres will have different levels of grip. But different tread patterns don't matter as each wheel clears its own water and doesn't affect the other.

[Shuvi McTupya]

Thank you both.

We will just accept what we have!

[Chris32345]

Tyre's had punctures and likely had patterns stuck on
Very common as long as all 4 are in reasonable condition don't worry about it just replace then in pairs when they get down to 2/2.5 mm area depending on your preference

[paintman]

Shuvi McTupya said:

thanks, I am just reading up on it and trying to figure out if the tyres are actually legal or not.
The advice seems to be that you should not have different tread patterns on the same axle, and having one radial and on cross ply on the same axle is illegal.

I need to figure out what sort of tyres they all are before i decide how to advise her.

In principal i agree that is ir our responsibilty to replace aging tyres on a used car. I just suspect they have nicked the tyres off it that were orginally on it!

Radials, cross plies, bias belted.
You cannot mix two types on the same axle.
If you have different types on the vehicle, radials must go on the rear.

[parabolica]

I'd be questioning how it's come to have 4 different tyres on it in 1 year; my guess would be a serial kerb slapper who kept on bursting wheels and getting kwikfit to replace with the cheapest they had in stock. How does the rest of the car stack up?

[Mexman]

Budget Continental tyres???

[Wooda80]

It's more likely that that is what the car was traded in with , rather than dealers swapping tyres off ris and between cars - far too time consuming.

Guessing the tyre pictured is near side front, worn on the edge from scrubbing off speed on roundabouts etc?

If it's 1.6 or more across 70%(?) of the tread then it's legal if not necessarily desirable.

Independent tyre tests show that some budget brands are as good as some brands that sponsor racing cars.

[Shuvi McTupya]

Mexman said:

Budget Continental tyres???

Well, they are continentals but they dont have any more info or name or anything on them so i figure they must be the cheapest ones available!

[Shuvi McTupya]

parabolica said:

I'd be questioning how it's come to have 4 different tyres on it in 1 year; my guess would be a serial kerb slapper who kept on bursting wheels and getting kwikfit to replace with the cheapest they had in stock. How does the rest of the car stack up?

We saw the car just after they took it (back) in as a part ex and it needed a little cosmetic work on the back corner so i think you may be right.

The car seems perfect apart from this perceived issue..

She does have a pretty good relationship with the garage as it is her third car from them and they gave her a very good deal on the last part exchange as it went back to them for two gear boxes in a few months (Dacia Sandero) and after that she told them she didnt want it anymore. The deal she got to upgrade to this car was pretty good so all in all we are happy.

[Shuvi McTupya]

Wooda80 said:

Guessing the tyre pictured is near side front, worn on the edge from scrubbing off speed on roundabouts etc?

Near side rear.

[wiliferus]

Get the matching conti’s put in the same axle.. I’d put them on the rear.
Then put the mismatch conti and good year on the front axle... they’ll wear out quicker so they’ll be the first to be replaced. Then you’ll have at least matching pairs on the same axle.

Assuming all the tyres are over 1.6 your current set up is perfectly legal, if not a poor show by the dealer. That said, 3 contis and a good year is better than 4 brand new Ling Long Ditchfinders.

[Shuvi McTupya]

wiliferus said:

Get the matching conti’s put in the same axle.. I’d put them on the rear.
Then put the mismatch conti and good year on the front axle... they’ll wear out quicker so they’ll be the first to be replaced. Then you’ll have at least matching pairs on the same axle.

Assuming all the tyres are over 1.6 your current set up is perfectly legal, if not a poor show by the dealer. That said, 3 contis and a good year is better than 4 brand new Ling Long Ditchfinders.

Sounds like a good plan, i will get onto it.

[Leptons]

wiliferus said:

Get the matching conti’s put in the same axle.. I’d put them on the rear.
Then put the mismatch conti and good year on the front axle... they’ll wear out quicker so they’ll be the first to be replaced. Then you’ll have at least matching pairs on the same axle.

Assuming all the tyres are over 1.6 your current set up is perfectly legal, if not a poor show by the dealer. That said, 3 contis and a good year is better than 4 brand new Ling Long Ditchfinders.

Exactly what I would do.

[Shuvi McTupya]

Just for thread 'closure'..

We aired our concerns to the dealer and they agreed that one of the continentals was 'marginal' and probably should have been dealt with before they gave the car to us. They very kindly swapped it for a brand new Good year to match the other one on that axle.

Thank you Specialist Cars (Renault) Of Aberdeen. (That is allowed isnt it?)