Black circles

[laterontoday]

I’m needing a couple of tyres. My options for the fitting are quite limited as I don’t really want to go to Kwik formula because they can never balance a wheel properly after fitting.

I wondered what anyone’s experience of Black Circles was more importantly their fitting service?

Thanks in advance

[AdamV12V]

I used camskill, which is similar to blackcircles.

Spoke with my MD first and they agreed I could order and get them shipped directly to their workshop, and they fitted, balanced and disposed of the all the old tyres for me for £20 each (£80). Saved a fortune over the best price they could offer the tyres for too. Dealer quite happy with that setup.

[LTP]

I also used Camskill, but only because they were cheaper than Black Circles (and kudos to Mike of BR who suggested them as I’d never heard of them before). I arranged with Mike for him to fit the tyres, ordered them and arranged delivery to direct BR; Mike then emailed me to arrange a fitment date when they arrived. Worked perfectly.

My local main AML dealer also said they would fit non-Bridgestone replacements as long as they has instructions in writing, but the Camskill/BR route was slightly cheaper.

I would not trust my V8V to any non-specialist as I don’t believe most of them know how to jack the cars or even correctly tighten the wheels. When I used Black Circles for my Volvo their fitting service is just a network of local garages that work with them, so the service depends on your local selected agent.

Edited by LTP on Saturday 11th September 13:55

[Dewi 2]

After having damage and also other bad experiences with tyre fitters, I am very cautious now.

I bought tyres from Black Circles at a non fitted price and they were delivered promptly to my home.
Manufacturing dates were very recent too, so everything good regarding the supplier.

Then later on, I took those tyres to a firm I trust to be fitted.
I have even kept some of the old giant tyres, now cleaned and completely shoe polished, as garage ornaments.
They look like brand new intermediates, stacked in an F1 pit garage. No usual rubber smell either.

Edited by Dewi 2 on Saturday 11th September 14:10

[Geffg]

Costco is decent on price too. Slightly more than camskills etc but the price is a fitted price and they take care of the wheels too. I just had some fitted by them and weary due to having black wheels of them being marked but not a mark on them.

[Jon39]

Geffg said:

Costco is decent on price too. Slightly more than camskills etc but the price is a fitted price and they take care of the wheels too. I just had some fitted by them and wary due to having black wheels of them being marked, but not a mark on them.

I might have got this completely wrong, but I thought Costco is a general goods discount warehouse.
Do they now also employ skilled car mechanics to fit tyres, who are knowledgeable about the precise jacking locations of (soft alloy 'chassis') Aston Martins?

[Trahison]

On tyres, what's the general sentiment on what's optimal? 06 Vantage, 19", on Potenzas currently (as when I bought it). Plenty of life in them, and I do absolutely nowhere near enough mileage to warrant a swap, but just in case...

[M1AGM]

laterontoday said:

I’m needing a couple of tyres. My options for the fitting are quite limited as I don’t really want to go to Kwik formula because they can never balance a wheel properly after fitting.

I wondered what anyone’s experience of Black Circles was more importantly their fitting service?

Thanks in advance

I bought a set of 4 tyres for my rr last week from blackcircles. The website gave a number of options for local garages (partners) to fit them so I chose one, booked a day and time, turned up, tyres already there, fitted, all good.

[Simon.b]

Problem with black circles is they allow the fitter a limited time slot and most tyre fitting outlets use well used and sometimes worn machines, which are OK if they can take there time, See the problem.

I recently had a cancellation from black circles as my chosen fitting centre refused to do the Aston. So I rang them direct to ask why and this is what they told me. He also said in future ring direct and they will do it, but the time slot they needed to guarantee a good job wasn't available for a few days.

Since I had a puncture and needed it sooner, so I rang another specialist out of town and got them done the next day, cheaper than than blackcircles and a good job they did too.

[krisdelta]

I’ve used black circles a few times, I have a great branch or Merityre locally and they always take care of the car and wheels and are a black circles fitter too. I used Camskill loads way back, but you do need a local friendly fitter (or at least you did).

[Buster73]

Last time I used BC the tyre they sent was over 3 years old.

Might be worth checking.

[vulcan26]

Jon39 said:

I might have got this completely wrong, but I thought Costco is a general goods discount warehouse.
Do they now also employ skilled car mechanics to fit tyres, who are knowledgeable about the precise jacking locations of (soft alloy 'chassis') Aston Martins?

My local Costco offers a proper tyre fitting service and yes, they are properly trained. I got them to fit Michelin PS4s tyres to my DB9, as they have some sort of affiliation with Michelin, and pointed out exactly where to jack the vehicle, and they use my set of jacking pads. The supervisor was brilliant and insisted on doing the work himself, and I was able to watch through a massive window into the workshop while it was done.

https://www.costco.co.uk/tiresearch

[BiggaJ]

I did a tour of local tyre fitting centres and spoke to each of them in person. Obviously price was a factor but most important for me was the way they would handle my car, making sure of the jacking points etc.

Only two centres knew anything about the jacking points so these went to the top of my list, in the end I chose an independent that has very good reviews. No problems.

[laterontoday]

Thanks for all the replies.

In the end I have used a local tyre company who were also a BC fitter but I went direct. Costco do seem a good price but I don't have a branch near me. In the end I've paid £175 ea for Pilot Sport 4S for the fronts compared to £205 from BC albeit they were doing a £15 discount code for buying two.