New Tyre.

[acetip]

As my Auris front tyres are down to 2mm ive decided to change them now although there is a bit in them before they become illegal.winter is expected to be early this year and i do low mileage these days,most of the driving is on untreated rural roads.the tyres appear to be original according to the dot mark on them, thats 07 the car was first reged in jan 08.the car had done just under 20000 miles when i got it and its now done 24500 miles.

i did a search for tyre reviews and its funny how 2 people using the same tyres on the same car model have different opinions,one will say they the best tyres the have ever had and the other will slag them off and vow to never use that make again.

the original tyres i have are conti premium contact 2.i cant fault them,nice and quiet,steering is sharp and never had a slip on cornerig nor braking.

But being a poor old pensioner pennies count,so after checking the reviews ive gone for Bridgestone E300.

on the loads of reviews ive checked out they have not come out top on things like braking,cornering,noise etc but they have always been near the top with no weak points so giving a better average than any of the other premium tyres in the size i use,thats 205 55 16 91v.with the annual mileage i do they should see me through till i have give up driving.i managed to get a pair at kwik fit online fitted etc.for £148.

as i dont like tyre depots jacking my car up as they are not too fussy in my experiance.so ive removed them with the aide of the spare and they are now in the back of the wifes car for fittng tomorrow.this also gave me a chance to clean up the back of the wheels.

ive got a good range of tool from when i was in the trade many years ago,but dont seem to have a 21mm socket but got around that problem when i discovered that 13/16 AF socket is the same size,its a nice close fit and less likly to damage the chrome on the nuts.only worry now is they dont mark the alloy rims when fitting the tyres. not all tyre fitters use the protection pads like they should,so i will keep a beedy eye on whoever doing the job.

[Andy Kerry]

Have you been to your local toyota dealer to see if they would price match the tyres. I would rather go to my local dealer than go too damage-fit and i work for kwik fit and i dont use them! Would rather complain to a toyota dealer if they damage it and let them fix it than go to kwik-fit them damage it and them get them to sort it. Tell them that you dont want too see a single bit of damage on your wheels and you will check them before you leave. They will look worried and it will be the slowest job they ever do. Any centre should have all the right equipment for scratch free fitting. Which one you using?

Just my personal choice. Dont let me put you off they serve 1000's of peeps every year. Cant be that bad all of the time!

[acetip]

Have you been to your local toyota dealer to see if they would price match the tyres. I would rather go to my local dealer than go too damage-fit and i work for kwik fit and i dont use them! Would rather complain to a toyota dealer if they damage it and let them fix it than go to kwik-fit them damage it and them get them to sort it. Tell them that you dont want too see a single bit of damage on your wheels and you will check them before you leave. They will look worried and it will be the slowest job they ever do. Any centre should have all the right equipment for scratch free fitting. Which one you using?

Just my personal choice. Dont let me put you off they serve 1000's of peeps every year. Cant be that bad all of the time!

Hi Andy

checked at my local (2) toyota dealers are far more dearer there.thanks anyway.

the THETFORD branch ive booked with.

[Andy Kerry]

I would have gone for the Conti's if im honest. Bridgestone are good tyres but there is a reason why Conti are the most common tyre on most models acoss the world. There the only 2 tyre brands I would ever fit on my own car.

[acetip]

I would have gone for the Conti's if im honest. Bridgestone are good tyres but there is a reason why Conti are the most common tyre on most models acoss the world. There the only 2 tyre brands I would ever fit on my own car.

as ive said there are people who would not touch conti with barge pole on the reviews.but had no trouble with mine,theres no sign the spare has ever been used so they may well have had a puncture free life.

[Andy Kerry]

Thats a lovley thing then. Good luck with them keep us up to date with how you find them.

[Mooly]

Prices vary enourmously. Our 1.4 Corolla needed four new tyres this summer. It only covers a low mileage (23K ish in 8 years:)) and the originals were cracking badly in the bottom of the treads.

Quick Fit quoted £490 and implied it was a good deal as it was 4 for the price of 3. They said they were an uncommon size and only one or two manufacturers made them.

A local fitter quoted £380

Toyota offered to fit four Maxxis brand tyres for £260 and as the car has a full history with them we got them done along with the service and MOT. They said they fit quite a lot of this brand on older cars that do low mileage and they offer a good price/wear/performance ratio.

http://www.maxxis.co.uk/

On Quick Fit...

Back in January I suffered a puncture outside of my local area and so was forced to use the first place I found really. I made a point of mentioning that I didn't want the wheels marking and that I wanted the wheel balanced properly afterwards. Full marks for their handling of the wheel and also looking up the torque settings and using a hand torque wrench but I was surprised some weeks afterwards to notice that the wheel had not had the original balance weights removed, just more added to balance the wheel with the old weights still in place.

Is that normal practice anyone ? I can't fault the balancing at speed though (it's a front tyre).

[acetip]

Prices vary enourmously. Our 1.4 Corolla needed four new tyres this summer. It only covers a low mileage (23K ish in 8 years:)) and the originals were cracking badly in the bottom of the treads.

Quick Fit quoted £490 and implied it was a good deal as it was 4 for the price of 3. They said they were an uncommon size and only one or two manufacturers made them.

A local fitter quoted £380

Toyota offered to fit four Maxxis brand tyres for £260 and as the car has a full history with them we got them done along with the service and MOT. They said they fit quite a lot of this brand on older cars that do low mileage and they offer a good price/wear/performance ratio.

http://www.maxxis.co.uk/

On Quick Fit...

Back in January I suffered a puncture outside of my local area and so was forced to use the first place I found really. I made a point of mentioning that I didn't want the wheels marking and that I wanted the wheel balanced properly afterwards. Full marks for their handling of the wheel and also looking up the torque settings and using a hand torque wrench but I was surprised some weeks afterwards to notice that the wheel had not had the original balance weights removed, just more added to balance the wheel with the old weights still in place.

Is that normal practice anyone ? I can't fault the balancing at speed though (it's a front tyre).

I think they normaly remove the original weights first,then add them as required.the weights on my car are are at the back of the wheel,nothing on the front.years ago had my old capri fitted with michelins alround and did not need any weights fitted at all.

[Cyker]

They should remove them first; You don't want extra weight on the wheel more than necessary!

Make sure they use stickies too if they're alloys, not clip ons as they'll damage the wheel!

[Mooly]

I would have thought they should remove old weights first too. I suppose leaving the old on doesn't stop it being rebalanced correctly, just a time saving measure. Not good though.

Yes they are stickies but, looking at the rears and one has a clip on (on inside rim) as well as sticky. These are original (owned car from new) and came as a bit of a surprise.

[mrpj]

If it's still a new, full sized Continental spare then I would have just bought one Continental and used that in conjunction with the spare.

Then the better of the two "old", still legal tyres as spare. :)

Hopefully KwikFit will not try and persuade you that your car needs new brakes, dampers, exhaust etc. and is too dangerous to continue driving it!

[Andy Kerry]

Any centre 1-should have the equipment not too scratch alloys 2-they must! torque wheel bolts to the correct settings which should be avalible to them 3-all stick on weights should be removed before balancing the wheel.

They are all trained to do this its not that hard basics of tyre fitting.

Mooly not bad tyres really do think its worth going to your local toyota dealer im sure if you speak to them they will try to get you a good price for you.

I know i maybe been picky but if you cant do the easy things properly why bother.

Kwik fit training staff (me being one of them) teach them all the right things and the correct way, but time after time it never lasts long before sort cuts start to show.

Really angers me.

Sorry rant over.

[Mooly]

Mooly not bad tyres really do think its worth going to your local toyota dealer im sure if you speak to them they will try to get you a good price for you.

Thanks... Mine (Auris) should be good (hopefully) for many thousands more miles on it's tyres. The Corolla has all new of course.

[acetip]

If it's still a new, full sized Continental spare then I would have just bought one Continental and used that in conjunction with the spare.

Then the better of the two "old", still legal tyres as spare. :)

Hopefully KwikFit will not try and persuade you that your car needs new brakes, dampers, exhaust etc. and is too dangerous to continue driving it!

The spare on mine is a space saver.they didnt have chance to fault car as i took the wheels into them in the wifes car.there was one small clip on weight and a strip type weight on each wheel. they were removed before balancing and one strip type weight fitted to each wheel during balancing.

as ive already said, tried toyota dealer for same tyres but they got no where near kwik fit for price.

as for toyota being more careful than others,well all i can say there are people who have had their cars marked/damaged when at the toyota dealers,been several post about this and the dealers have denied responsability.

being a toyta staff member does not automaticaly mean they are perfect little angels,and can do no wrong.beleave it it or not they are human beings who have their off days.and they will try to sell you parts you dont require just like any dealership.but you cant fault them for warranty work though.just as well with the head gsket and steering noises problems they cant afford bad publicity after the sticking pedal saga.