Have you bought a car with below par tyre make or wrong size
Discussion
I guess some owners really don't know what's suppose to be original
But for example when I was looking at tt, r32, I think standard is 225/40/18 but saw some as 225/35/18 maybe cos they are cheaper and owners don't understand the difference etc
Would this put you off a car or did you have some luck negotiating?
But for example when I was looking at tt, r32, I think standard is 225/40/18 but saw some as 225/35/18 maybe cos they are cheaper and owners don't understand the difference etc
Would this put you off a car or did you have some luck negotiating?
p1tse said:
But for example when I was looking at tt, r32, I think standard is 225/40/18 but saw some as 225/35/18 maybe cos they are cheaper and owners don't understand the difference etc
Would this put you off a car or did you have some luck negotiating?
Do you understand the difference? A slightly lower profile is going to do no more than change the final drive ratio - make the speedo over-read slightly, decrease the top speed and increase the acceleration.Would this put you off a car or did you have some luck negotiating?
It is not a dangerous change by any manner of means.
When I bought my Avensis last year it would vibrate so violently over 60mph that I'd get out of the car ready to vom. All caused by one tyre (that had done a grand total of 1,500 miles) which had a flat spot on it. The previous owner had them on the car for 2 months before they were all binned by me.
OH - and at some stage the car has moved up from 60 to 65 profiles too! Not sure why, but extra comfort is welcome!
OH - and at some stage the car has moved up from 60 to 65 profiles too! Not sure why, but extra comfort is welcome!
r11co said:
p1tse said:
But for example when I was looking at tt, r32, I think standard is 225/40/18 but saw some as 225/35/18 maybe cos they are cheaper and owners don't understand the difference etc
Would this put you off a car or did you have some luck negotiating?
Do you understand the difference? A slightly lower profile is going to do no more than change the final drive ratio - make the speedo over-read slightly, decrease the top speed and increase the acceleration.Would this put you off a car or did you have some luck negotiating?
It is not a dangerous change by any manner of means.
I purchased a fiesta where the ford dealer "kindly" replaced 2 toyos on the front that were getting low for 2 Wanlis. They were awful. Wet weather wheelspin in 3rd should not happen with ease in a 1.6 fiesta diesel!
Binned all 4 (the rear toyos were getting low) for falken 914s and was much better
Binned all 4 (the rear toyos were getting low) for falken 914s and was much better
Slightly off topic, but just bought the wife on 09 plate new shaped KA, and one of the tyres is original but is dated early 07 - so either the car had sat around for a couple of years when new, or the tyres had! One of the other tyres is a proper cheapo brand and is dated 06 - so the previous owner must have been conned into buying a part-work - even when premium tyres for it are only £50!!
When we bought our 350Z it needed new tyres all round, the (Nissan main) dealer said he would put tyres on, I asked which and he said 'the cheapest' I agreed with him to pay the difference to upgrade to Bridgestone Potenza's;
He was utterly perplexed by this and actually suggested it was an awkward request (after the deal was done) and actually suggested his ditchfinders would be just as good. On a >300BHP car I think it's money well spent.
He was utterly perplexed by this and actually suggested it was an awkward request (after the deal was done) and actually suggested his ditchfinders would be just as good. On a >300BHP car I think it's money well spent.
I bought a puma recently that has 4 unmatched tyres on it, not only that on closer inspection the fronts are 50 profile and the rears are 55!
Doesn't matter now as I managed to find a set of mondeo is alloys and brand new tyres on the bay for less than a set of original sized tyres of a semi decent make!
Doesn't matter now as I managed to find a set of mondeo is alloys and brand new tyres on the bay for less than a set of original sized tyres of a semi decent make!
it arrived with four badly cracked Yongsongbyong tyres (old age and being parked up too long)... and a brand new MOT cert. hmmmm...
I think that, in the fourteen or fifteen cars I've bought, only one had the original spec tyres. Unfortunately, on a Mk4 Golf estate, these were Dunlops! It took a few months to work out why the front wheels kept spinning when I set off. I had nearly worn the last one out (it had a new spare) when a rock jumped out and smashed the sump (the insurance wrote the car off due to lack of oil)!
The current Golf (Mk5 Bluemotion) was bought with Michelin Energy tyres, filled with nitrogen. Unfortunately, the rogues swapped the nearly new tyres for a set of 16" alloys with three different makes of tyres - two Contis with 3mm a Chinese one with about 5mm and a Singapore one with 6mm. I couldn't prove that I had seen it with the original steels on and they swore blind it had the alloys. It has Pirellis in place of the Contis as the local dealers didn't have the Michelins in stock (I've used them on the previous two VWs and found them good enough for me!). I didn't push the sharks too much - the alloys look better (though not really practical when our roads get covered by sea water on a regular basis).
The worst was a Maxi that my late father bought - 195/70 x 13 instead of 155 x 13. They were a make that I had never heard of - or seen since. The back wheels rubbed the arches; as did the fronts on full lock. I had put 165 x 13s on my Maxi, but that was acceptable as the HL version had them as standard.
The current Golf (Mk5 Bluemotion) was bought with Michelin Energy tyres, filled with nitrogen. Unfortunately, the rogues swapped the nearly new tyres for a set of 16" alloys with three different makes of tyres - two Contis with 3mm a Chinese one with about 5mm and a Singapore one with 6mm. I couldn't prove that I had seen it with the original steels on and they swore blind it had the alloys. It has Pirellis in place of the Contis as the local dealers didn't have the Michelins in stock (I've used them on the previous two VWs and found them good enough for me!). I didn't push the sharks too much - the alloys look better (though not really practical when our roads get covered by sea water on a regular basis).
The worst was a Maxi that my late father bought - 195/70 x 13 instead of 155 x 13. They were a make that I had never heard of - or seen since. The back wheels rubbed the arches; as did the fronts on full lock. I had put 165 x 13s on my Maxi, but that was acceptable as the HL version had them as standard.
SystemParanoia said:
anything over 3yrs old is almost guaranteed to have ditch finders on.
...or at least a pair of ditchfinders on the front (fwd) and the original tyres on the castors on the back if it hasn't done too many miles.From conversations with friends and colleagues: very, very few people do not think that 'all tyres are the same'.
I would prefer to buy a used car with worn tyres that need replacing than one with a new set of hard plastic Linglong, Evergreen, Roadhorse etc. that would need replacing anyway.
p1tse said:
I guess some owners really don't know what's suppose to be original
But for example when I was looking at tt, r32, I think standard is 225/40/18 but saw some as 225/35/18 maybe cos they are cheaper and owners don't understand the difference etc
Would this put you off a car or did you have some luck negotiating?
35s would probably be more expensive than 40s. My Alfa had the same the difference, the 40s on new tread are definitely more comfortable.But for example when I was looking at tt, r32, I think standard is 225/40/18 but saw some as 225/35/18 maybe cos they are cheaper and owners don't understand the difference etc
Would this put you off a car or did you have some luck negotiating?
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