Tyres

[Natashap33]

Hi everyone,

I hope someone can help me with an advice.

I've purchased my Auris SR 180 2.2d just under a year ago from Currie Motors Toyota in Chiswick. It is a 58, first reg end of Jan 2009, and it had just under 23K on the clock. I've paid 11.25K for it. Being a single mum, not particularly into cars (I just like them not to be lazy…), I've chosen to buy my car from an established dealer, mainly for a 'total peace of mind' as they have it displayed as their motto all over the showroom. And I’ve accepted to pay a premium price for this pleasure.

Couple of weeks ago, I went to my local tyre place, just to check how much it would cost to repair slightly damaged front left alloy (had to swerve to avoid a collision, and have scratched it on the curb). Very kind guy checked it, but noticed my tyre was in a very bad state - all cracked and on the edge of being legal. I've never even carefully looked at the tyres before (apart from checking the pressure), as I presumed they were still ok - car was under two years old when I bought it, and I've done only 4k in a year. I had all the tyres checked, only to discover the following:

- My front two tyres are Pirelli, and were made in week 36 (August) 2007, about a year and a half before the car was registered. They are both cracked throughout, like a soil in Savannah :-), and are almost illegal;

- My back left tyre is Dunlop, made in week 8 2008, and is probably the only original tyre (I think this model was originally fitted with Dunlop tyres) on the car; it is in a OK condition.

- My right back tyre is a Michelin, made week 16 2006!!! So two and a half years older than a car itself. Very old, all cracked, I could barely read the brand and a production date.

I was absolutely staggered with my discovery and went the following day to see manager Michael who sold me the car. He was firm he did not want to take any responsibility, as the car was sold with tyres 'as seen'. He has double checked the info he had about the car, just to make sure I did not tempered with the tyres (which I did not), so he knows these tyres were fitted on the car he has sold to me.

The best quote I had for all 4 tyres to be replaced is £540, as they are some fancy 225/45 type, so quite expensive.

Can anyone help me with an advice what to do next? Am I right to think the tyres on the car which was 20 months old when purchased from a main dealer should last more than a mere 4000 miles? If I wanted to have three different brands of tyres, and to be prepared to have them changed after only 4K, I would have bought my car through the LOOT, or a Car Giant, probably for couple of thousands less. Is it too much to expect a 'peace of mind' for a bit more time/mileage?

Any sound advice will be most appreciated,

Natasha

[Daveyonthemove]

225/45/R17 are not a fancy, or expensive tyre.

You could easily replace all 4 tyres for under £100 a corner if you wanted a budget tyre.

It sounds like the tyres fitted to your car could be part worns put on by a previous owner. Your car should have had Dunlops on from new, and they do wear very well (my rears still have original set on and my car has covered 30K).

I'm not sure if you will get anywhere over the condition of the tyres, but check to make sure the speed ratings and load ratings are correct (normally two numbers and a letter, something like 93W) and if they aren't then you should have grounds to fight them for replacements or a contribution.

I had that issue with my Mondeo and pointed out that their safety checks were a load of b0ll0x if they missed the tyre rating being too low for my car. They had no leg to stand on and replaced 2 out of the 4 tyres and I replaced the other 2, making it a cheaper way of getting new tyres.

Good luck with it all, I hope you get a satisfactory conclusion.

[FROSTYBALLS]

I think after almost one year, all you could reasonablly expect would be a goodwill contribution towards the cost. I would go back to the dealer with this in mind.

Aside from that Blackcircles.com have Kumho Solus KH15 225/45 R17V tyres for £ 89.92 each fully fitted.

We had some Kumho Ecsta KH31's (195/45 R16V) fitted to our Mazda 2 in August, and we have been quite impressed with them

[jig]

Tyres are consumables and wear at a variable rate according to driving style and conditions as well having to be kept in balance. I would ask if the dealer could give you a dicount under the circumstances maybe if you were to have your 30 000 mile service there.You can buy the tyre on line and get them fitted at a centre near you with http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=110&cart_id=89401533.110.16112&Cookie=&s_p=Tyres which I have used and are excellent.You can also have the tyres sent to your address and ask some local fitters how much they would charge to fit with new valves and balancing.I'm sure someone with an SR180 will advise you on good tyres they have bought and correct ratings.You need to decide if you want to go for performance,budget,wear rate or combination.Hope you have some luck and will see if Currie motors are "nice people to do buisness with".

[Soot1]

Looks some of the wheels have been swapped by a thief or an employee when the the car was parked at the dealership, especially the old Michelin one. Maybe be they been swapped over since you bought the car. If you had noticed the unmatched tyres when you bought the car or a few days later then I would expect the salesman to correct them. As it is a year has passed and even the most helpful dealer would struggle to see your point. Hopefully you will take more notice in what you buy in the future otherwise you will always be stripped of your hard earned cash.

As for 4 new tyres you need now, you should be able to find all 4 for about £400 sticking with a well know make such as Pirelli, Dunlop, Michelin, it's all about shopping around as anything else you buy.

[ormi]

right tyres are made in batches you could buy a new tyre tomorrow and the tyre marking could say it was made in 2008......

also the car was a used car the first owner might have been a crap parker and damaged the side walls and had to replace them ie miss matched tyres

load and speed rating are not a legal req in this country so they are irrelevant in this case..

as long as a tyre is legal thats all the dealer has to do if a tyres at 2mm and cracked slightly then it can go out as its legal....

cracking is caused by lack of use!!also cracked tyres arent illegal but if the cracks hit the cord then its an mot fail..

sorry but i would understand if it was a few weeks/months after sale but nearly 2 years..also doing 4000miles a year wont help..

cant see the dealer budging on this...im all for helping people but this has been left too long

[toytech80]

I have 17's on my sr and have been looking into tyres as are req soon ,my tyre size is the same 225 45 17 and am thinking of fitting 215 45 17 as they seem to be about a tenner cheaper in most makes ,budget tyres do start at £50 each with out fitting tho.Have had budgets before -never again-!

[forevered]

sorry going off the story a bit, but am surprised you bought a diesel considering you have only done 4k in the last year

[ormi]

prob because the petrol cars are painfully slow....diesels are the quickest cars in the toyota range

[Daveyonthemove]

Thats an interesting point... They may be faster, but they come with a dreaded DPF filter, so low mileage is going to be a problem with this car (sometime in the future) unless you do a decent run at a constant speed on a regular basis.

Watchdog reported on this on last nights show, and it's quite a common issue on diesel cars that do low mileage.

[PADDYLAD]

Natashap33

Have you spoke to your local dealer about replacing them. Most Toyota dealers have a beat any price agreement. I got a puncture which could not be fixed. Took it to Inchcape Burton (fantastic dealer) and they replaced it with a Dunlop (factory fitted tyres)for cheaper than a budget tyre from my local tyre dealer.

I know you probably dont want to give them your business but if it is going to save you £100 remember, life is a poo sandwich, the more bread you have, the less poo you have to eat.

[balli hi]

I hope this post is not too late in the day, but only just seen this thread, first of all sorry to hear of your troubles Natasha.

Basically this is just a heads up as Costco's are doing a 20% discount from Monday when you buy any 4 tyres in a single transaction, i was in there on Friday and got a price on 4 Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyres, size for my car 205 / 55 / ZR16 Speed Rating 91W , Costco's can do them for £93.58 each all in, that includes Vat, fitting etc, total 4 x 93.58 = £374.32, minus 20% = £299.45.

I checked with my Local Toyota Dealers first and they could not match that price let alone beat it, they wanted £112 per tyre. They did however offer me Dunlop fast response tyres at £91 each, but these they admitted were not as good as the Michelin's.

I shall be ordering mine on Monday from Costco.

PS

If your not a member of Costco's then find someone who is, or join, Membership is in the Region of £24 off the top of my head, and lastly if i were you i would give my local Trading Standards Office a call, it won't hurt to do so and with a bit of luck they may be able to help you

[lazer_mjj]

If you dont want to fork out massive amounts on tyres give these a go....

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?details=Ordern&cart_id=32513136.110.3790&typ=R-133907&ranzahl=4&Breite=225&Quer=45&Felge=17&Load=91&Speed=W&weiter=40&Ang_pro_Seite=10&Transport=P&dsco=110

I had 2 sets of these on a Toyota Levin AE111, have a set on my T180 and would happily stick a set on my GT-Four. A guy I work with gave these a try on his Lexus and prefers them to the Lexus recommended brand he had previously