Advice needed - Tyre Replacement - All 4 !

[Jon_Bentley]

Hi

I need some advice from the learned massive on here!

Unfortunately I've ended up with a dilemma. I am due to return / swap / sell / change my 997.2 in August but plans haven't quite gone right and I need to change all 4 tyres, they've had a good life but have ended up on the minimum tread a little earlier than I planned (due to mileage rather than abuse, probably got about 15K+ from them so I'm not uhappy).

If I don't change them, OPC are going to deduct the cost of 4 x new tyres straight off any deal which is a no brainer, plus it would put me in an illegal state for 2 months which I don't really want.

Currently have Pirelli P Zero Rosso's fitted all round (ended up with N1s front and N2s rear but that's another story)

What make / type does the group recommend I fit?
who is cheap currently?
or are there any other options I haven't thought of here?
Are the tales of OPC's price matching true?

I am based in the midlands, ideas so far Costco, Kwikfit, OPC, E-tyres? are there any deals to be had anywhere?

many thanks in advance for ideas of suggestions
hopefully your all enjoying the sun and out enjoying it properly, rather than sitting in-front of a PC working!
Jon

[james S]

Given the mystery that is N rating I would call the dealer and get their guidance on what is / isn't going to be acceptable when t comes to handing thr car back. Once you know what you can put on then Event tyres, Black circles or Costco would be my first choices

You could of course try ebay if you are just need something which will be legal once you come to return the car. I have done well on Ebay with the odd type when I needed a pattern which had ceased to be manufactured.

[Stokepotter]

I recently had to replace my rears and spent a couple of months checking and monitoring prices of both on line sellers (camskills) and your kwik-fits etc.
Having decided on my choice of tyre (Michelin PS2) the cheapest in the country were Formula one auto centre so I would just do as I did, decide on your tyre choice and then certainly include formula one in your search.

[sidicks]

james S said:

Given the mystery that is N rating I would call the dealer and get their guidance on what is / isn't going to be acceptable when t comes to handing thr car back. Once you know what you can put on then Event tyres, Black circles or Costco would be my first choices

You could of course try ebay if you are just need something which will be legal once you come to return the car. I have done well on Ebay with the odd type when I needed a pattern which had ceased to be manufactured.

The 'N' rating is hardly mysterious or difficult to understand.

The OP is likely to have a choice of Michelin, Bridgestone or Pirelli in your size, so if he won't be keeping the car I would get a number of quotes for 4 tyres from those manufacturers and simply go with the cheapest.

Providing they are N-rated and the correct size / fitment, the OPC cannot have any problems.

Sidicks

[mohitos]

I'd recommend Michelin above others. Chris at Exel Wheels is very competitive on tyres.

[sidicks]

mohitos said:

I'd recommend Michelin above others. Chris at Exel Wheels is very competitive on tyres.

So would I, but for the OP it's about finding the cheapest N-rated tyres to hand back the car with!!

[james S]

sidicks said:

The 'N' rating is hardly mysterious or difficult to understand.

The OP is likely to have a choice of Michelin, Bridgestone or Pirelli in your size, so if he won't be keeping the car I would get a number of quotes for 4 tyres from those manufacturers and simply go with the cheapest.

Providing they are N-rated and the correct size / fitment, the OPC cannot have any problems.

Sidicks

I would tend to agree, though nothing seems to confuse this section of the forum quite so much as this topic, as evidenced by the seemingly monthly threads which almost always become heated. I'd find out what the minimum requirement is within your contract and proceed that way.

[mrdemon]

The OPC pay less for tyres than you do, so it's best to hand it back with no new ones imo.

I am sure they will only knock off the trade cost of the tyres as they are for themselves.

Edited by mrdemon on Sunday 2nd June 16:28

[FarQue]

mrdemon said:

The OPC pay less for tyres than you do, so it's best to hand it back with no new ones imo.

I am sure they will only knock off the trace cost of the tyres as they are for themselves.

I would be very surprised if an OPC only deducted their trade cost, unless our original poster was about to spend a substantial amount of money with them... and what's on the car are not going to last the course by the sound of things, anyway.

Edited by FarQue on Sunday 2nd June 16:21

Edited by FarQue on Sunday 2nd June 16:22

[sidicks]

mrdemon said:

The OPC pay less for tyres than you do, so it's best to hand it back with no new ones imo.

I am sure they will only knock off the trade cost of the tyres as they are for themselves.

Edited by mrdemon on Sunday 2nd June 16:28

That was my initial thought, but it seems the OP will need to change tyres a few months prior to returning the car.

Sidicks

[Jon_Bentley]

That's the rub, leaves me 2 or 3 months on no tread which I'd rather not risk especially given how wet it's been and will be no doubt

[355f]

When I needed to raplace mine I found the price at OPC solihull within a few pounds of the best fitted prices and they checked the alighnment with their supe new machine! Why not speak to them?

[BnB]

Jon_Bentley said:

That's the rub, leaves me 2 or 3 months on no tread which I'd rather not risk especially given how wet it's been and will be no doubt

I've got two 997.2 N-rated PS2 rears 295/30 19" with 4-5mm on them. Certainly good for a couple of months and back to the OPC. If you can similarly find a couple of fronts then make me a reasonable offer and save a packet.

[Perec]

When I last had a tyre changed the OPC needed to know which N rated tyre it was, there were N0-N4 I seem to recall. Might have been something to do with the compound.

They said it was important not to mix and match because of potential handling issues - anyone know anything about this? I was left with the impression that not all N rated tyres, even from the same company, are the same. The OPC was getting the business anyway so I don't imagine it was a story.

[f1ashgordon]

N is the iteration. N0 is the first of that tyre, N1 the next generation and so forth.

[Gio G]

Do a little a research. Lots of tyre companies out there offering good quality part worn tyres, purely for those people who are handing their car back within the next few months. If I was in your position, I would not personally be buying brand new tyres. I suspect this will set you back £1,000+ were part worn probably less than a third of the price..

I did this on Audi A6 of mine.

[helmutlaang]

BnB said:

I've got two 997.2 N-rated PS2 rears 295/30 19" with 4-5mm on them. Certainly good for a couple of months and back to the OPC. If you can similarly find a couple of fronts then make me a reasonable offer and save a packet.

Do this.worst case scenario is you have to fork out for 2 new tyres not 4

[Jon_Bentley]

Hi
Thanks for all the advice. On the off chance that I keep the car after September, I decided to fit new, and thanks for the offer of the part warns only just seen your comment thanks.

Shopped around everywhere online and phone for a while earlier in the week. OPC came back with a not ridiculous figure and then countered it slight, but cheapest by far were kwik fit, went for Pirelli p zero rossi's .

I know they sometimes get a bad rap and possibly deserve it. But the time and effort spent by the 2 guys today was excellent, even got free coffee, ok it wasn't the full OPC experience but they were over £300 cheaper! Interesting to find that the individual stores can beat their own Internet prices, normally the other way around

Anyway thanks for the help
Jon

[FarQue]

Thanks for the update JB.

[mrdemon]

Crap tyres though :-( if you now plan to keep it.