Mystery Tyre Damage
Discussion
A couple of weeks ago someone reversed into the side of my car while it was parked (he admitted full liability so his insurance took care of repairs etc.) and I ended up with a courtesy car from Enterprise. I had the car for almost two weeks while mine was being repaired and everything seemed fine until they came to collect it. They spend quite a while looking at it before they even rung the doorbell, and then told me one of the tyres had been damaged requiring a replacement tyre, which they now want to charge me £110 for. I took a pic of the damage but still can't recall how it could have happened. Since I only drove the car a few times while I had it, mostly on motorways/ A roads, and didn't curb it at all, I really am puzzled by how the tyre could have had a chunk taken out. In nine years of driving I have never seen this sort of thing happen to any tyre on my own car and wondered if it was already there when I got the car. (The damage can only be seen if you look really closely at the tyre so I guess I could have missed it when I checked the car upon delivery.)
Here is the pic of the damage, any ideas how this could have happened? Are they trying to rip me off?
Here is the pic of the damage, any ideas how this could have happened? Are they trying to rip me off?
That's borderline in terms of acceptable damage - but without being able to inspect the tyre to check if cords are exposed you can't be certain. I would argue that unless it fails an MOT then it's just cosmetic damage to the rim protector. You could try contacting the tyre manufacturer and ask what the overall depth of damage to the rim protector can be before they advise replacement?
I suspect the merest hint you're not going to cough up voluntarily and they'll probably give up on chasing it
I suspect the merest hint you're not going to cough up voluntarily and they'll probably give up on chasing it
If your certain you didn't kerb it then i'd fight it
It could have been there before you got it. Who is to say Enterprise don't just keep it like that so they can get £110 off every unfortunate who is given the car.
Don't accept liability if your certain you didn't kerb it just because it was a courtesy car and you feel obliged to do so.
It could have been there before you got it. Who is to say Enterprise don't just keep it like that so they can get £110 off every unfortunate who is given the car.
Don't accept liability if your certain you didn't kerb it just because it was a courtesy car and you feel obliged to do so.
S10GTA said:
It's pretty clear (imho) that the wheel has been curbed at some point. You can see the marks round the alloy. The only bit not marked is where the rubber has had a chunk taken out of it, and probably saved it from marking the wheel.
Agreed, However the damage to the alloy is well oxidised and not clean and bright so it is several weeks old. My bet is old damage and the next customer will get it in the same state and billed again for the same damage.Edited by Martin4x4 on Monday 21st July 21:37
Always got to watch this with rental cars. Had a rental car twice and went round the car with the guy in lots of detail. Tyres are often something overlooked by people - they are always very fussy on tyre damage for safety reasons because if a tyre blows out when you are renting one of their cars you would not be happy.
The damage is on the inside edge of the tyre, so I'm suspecting the tyre has clipped the edge or corner of a proud manhole or drain cover in the middle of the road rather than being kerbed. Similar thing happened to the OH's car a few weeks ago and the damage looked identical to this with what looked like a clean cut.
r11co said:
The damage is on the inside edge of the tyre, so I'm suspecting the tyre has clipped the edge or corner of a proud manhole or drain cover in the middle of the road rather than being kerbed. Similar thing happened to the OH's car a few weeks ago and the damage looked identical to this with what looked like a clean cut.
Agree on it being the inside of a tyre. My first thought was that the car had been parked with 2 wheels up on a pavement (not suggesting the OP did this - just at some point in the car's life) and the inner edge of the wheels still on the road had rubbed against the kerbstones. If it was an old style kerbstone (i.e. roughly cut stone, not the precast concrete things used these days), the gap between the stones might be enough to make that sort of mark on the tyre. My brother once managed to rip a hole in a sidewall after rubbing the outside edge of a tyre over old-style kerbstones.alangla said:
Agree on it being the inside of a tyre. My first thought was that the car had been parked with 2 wheels up on a pavement (not suggesting the OP did this - just at some point in the car's life) and the inner edge of the wheels still on the road had rubbed against the kerbstones. If it was an old style kerbstone (i.e. roughly cut stone, not the precast concrete things used these days), the gap between the stones might be enough to make that sort of mark on the tyre. My brother once managed to rip a hole in a sidewall after rubbing the outside edge of a tyre over old-style kerbstones.
I did a similar bit of damage on a hire car, on a raised metal gate stop in the middle between two gates. Just clipped the side of it with the inside of the tyre, however damage was more severe, and ripped a tear in the sidewall. I put a new tyre on myself and handed it back.....Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff