Buying new tyres privately

Buying new tyres privately

Author
Discussion

Lannister902

Original Poster:

1,559 posts

116 months

Saturday 23rd September 2023
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Hi,
I'm not sure if this is a dumb question, but is there anything I need to be careful about when buying a new set of tyres from a private seller? I'm kind of a novice when it comes to higher end branded tyres that I'm going to buy...
The way they've been stored maybe?

miniman

27,763 posts

275 months

Saturday 23rd September 2023
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Check the date codes on the tyres to see how old they are. Unused and new is not necessarily the same thing.

brillomaster

1,482 posts

183 months

Saturday 23rd September 2023
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Why are you buying higher end branded tyres privately? Once you add £20 a wheel for fitting, are you really any better off?

Chubbyross

4,677 posts

98 months

Saturday 23rd September 2023
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brillomaster said:
Why are you buying higher end branded tyres privately? Once you add £20 a wheel for fitting, are you really any better off?
It’s definitely not something I’d do. If I’m zipping down the motorway I like to be sure of my tyres’ provenance.

911Spanker

2,285 posts

29 months

Saturday 23rd September 2023
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Yep seems like a daft idea.

Griffith4ever

5,430 posts

48 months

Saturday 23rd September 2023
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It's far from a daft idea. Many many owners of high end cars (supercars) throw away perfectly good tyres because one on the other side had a puncture and the internet told them to never have different wear across an axle. All 3 sometimes!

Go shopping for P0's for an R8/Hurracan. There are some barely used bargains to be had.

To the OP, make sure it's a source you trust, the tyre looks like it should, and the date code is not like 6 years old. It's just a tyre at the end of the day, not a re-entry parachute. They rarely blow out in any catastrophic way and most lightly worn used tyres are sold for genuine reasons.

Good example, my tyres (R8)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314573312251?fits=Rim+D...

5.5mm average, one professional repair. £139 for the pair.
New = 9mm, legal - 1.6mm, so safe to say a touch under half worn.

New - £370 EACH. So £740 for a pair.

Half worms, for 1/5th the price. Unless you are going to actually be doing 198 MPH (which, seemingly, no one on here goes anywhere near), having one puncture repaired tyre will make zero difference, and, you get a bargain.). If you are about to do a track day, it's even more attractive as you KNOW you'll be binning your tyres.


Edited by Griffith4ever on Saturday 23 September 19:54

Techno9000

142 posts

89 months

Tuesday 3rd October 2023
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As miniman says, check the date code to see how old they are.

Other than that, if you understand what sorts of defects / damage you should be looking for and you are inspecting the tyres before purchase, then you are in a better position to inspect them whilst unmounted than once they are on a vehicle. You can check every part of the tyre inside and out at close quarters.

The argument that you shouldn't buy a used tyre because you don't know its history doesn't hold water with me for two reasons; tyres on your own car may or may not be damaged by any given impact with a random pot hole, one horrible sounding impact leads to no visible damage, another innocuous looking pot hole then causing a puncture, you can't tell what will cause damage just see the outcome of it, the other reason is that almost all of us have bought used tyres in our time - when we have bought a used car. Are those proponents of avoiding a used tyre really going to follow that up with stating that they then immediately renew all tyres on that used car irrespective, so they don't have tyres they don't know the history of? Surely not.

Swoxy

2,839 posts

223 months

Tuesday 3rd October 2023
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Griffith4ever said:
It's far from a daft idea. Many many owners of high end cars (supercars) throw away perfectly good tyres because one on the other side had a puncture and the internet told them to never have different wear across an axle. All 3 sometimes!

Go shopping for P0's for an R8/Hurracan. There are some barely used bargains to be had.

To the OP, make sure it's a source you trust, the tyre looks like it should, and the date code is not like 6 years old. It's just a tyre at the end of the day, not a re-entry parachute. They rarely blow out in any catastrophic way and most lightly worn used tyres are sold for genuine reasons.

Good example, my tyres (R8)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314573312251?fits=Rim+D...

5.5mm average, one professional repair. £139 for the pair.
New = 9mm, legal - 1.6mm, so safe to say a touch under half worn.

New - £370 EACH. So £740 for a pair.

Half worms, for 1/5th the price. Unless you are going to actually be doing 198 MPH (which, seemingly, no one on here goes anywhere near), having one puncture repaired tyre will make zero difference, and, you get a bargain.). If you are about to do a track day, it's even more attractive as you KNOW you'll be binning your tyres.


Edited by Griffith4ever on Saturday 23 September 19:54
I agree - but bad example, in that these are DOT 2014!

thebraketester

14,933 posts

151 months

Tuesday 3rd October 2023
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I did it quite a bit several years ago and saved a lot of money. Tyres were genuine and recent dot codes. Would it do it again. Yes.

vikingaero

11,787 posts

182 months

Thursday 5th October 2023
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I buy used winter tyres during the summer as they are cheap. People want to get rid of them because they've changed cars and no longer fit. And being bulky the pressure is on to get rid of them.

Apart from the date code, tread depth and condition, you have the benefit of seeing inside the tyre carcass to check for satisfactory repairs and damage - if you buy a second hand car you don't know the provenance of the internals of the tyre.