Tyre wear. Legally acceptable limit?

Hintza

scotsman4th wrote: »

Take it to kwik fit for a free tyre check, they'll advise you if it's dangerous and needs replacing or not.

Oh definitely dangerous then...........:rotfl:

onejontwo

7mm is the maximum depth of thread measured with a brand new tyre
With some high performance tyres you can have as much as 12-15 mm tread when new, so bearing this in mind, in the testers comparison, this was quite worn!
advisory notes should be highlighting existing faults, not faults that may occur some time in the future?
If the car had existing faults it would most likely fail the MOT!
A tester can pass an item with some degree of wear , but would advise you of this as some time in the near future it will probably need replacing. Same goes for slight exhaust leaks, brake pad wear etc.

xocbc

"The legal minimum tread depth for cars and light trailers (including caravans) up to 3500 kgs gross vehicle weight and/or 8 seated passenger vehicles including driver is a minimum of 1.6mm in a continuous band throughout the central three-quarters of the tread width, throughout the whole of the circumference"

Premier_2

onejontwo wrote: »

...advisory notes should be highlighting existing faults, not faults that may occur some time in the future?
If the car had existing faults it would most likely fail the MOT!
A tester can pass an item with some degree of wear , but would advise you of this as some time in the near future it will probably need replacing. Same goes for slight exhaust leaks, brake pad wear etc.

That's not what advisory items are for. They are for reporting non-testable defects, test items very close to failure (the official wording being "only just passable") or vehicle peculiarities.

Dangerous defects
If in the opinion of the NT the vehicle has a dangerous defect, which is also a test failure; record in the reason for failure column and box C of the VT 30. If the vehicle has a dangerous defect which is not a testable item and the vehicle has failed its test, record the defect in box C of the VT 30.

If the vehicle has passed its test, issue an advisory document explaining the nature of the defect with the VT 20. In all cases dangerous defects should be clearly explained to the vehicle presenter.

Other Defects
The vehicle presenter should be notified of:

• Any items which are near to, but which have not yet reached the point of test failure.
• Any peculiarities of the vehicle identified during the the inspection, for example front passenger seat not fitted.
• Any defects on non-testable items which are found during the inspection procedure.
Advisory items should ideally be noted on a numbered and dated sheet, such as a checklist, a copy of which should be retained by the VTS. A reasonable alternative to this practice is acceptable.

http://www.ukmot.com/manual.asp

On your argument, MOT testers should be issuing advisories on all tyres, brake shoes/pads, discs, ... infact all serviceable items as they will all require replacing 'at some time in the future'

onejontwo

Premier wrote: »

That's not what advisory items are for. They are for reporting , items very close to failure

http://www.ukmot.com/manual.asp

On your argument, MOT testers should be issuing advisories on all tyres, brake shoes/pads, discs, ... infact all serviceable items as they will all require replacing 'at some time in the future'

No.......an MOT tester does not carry out a service , but if he notices say brake pads low, exhaust in poor condition," TYRE TREADS CLOSE TO LEGAL LIMIT!!" It would be proper and in his interest to inform the customer of this.

Premier_2

That's right. So back to the original question:

Can anyone explain why this tyre is considered "close to the legal limit" regarding wear please?

onejontwo

Premier wrote: »

That's right. So back to the original question:

Can anyone explain why this tyre is considered "close to the legal limit" regarding wear please?

As was explained in post 3, he has not condemned the tyre, but merely advised the customer to keep an eye on it. If the customer does a lot of high mileage it could possibly require replacing in a matter of months. It would be a different story if the customer got pulled by the police and got 3 points for a worn tyre in a few months time, then it would be a case of "I only had it MOT'd a short while ago and the tester didn't mention it!..................
I honestly can't see what the problem is, He's just doing his job!

tomstickland

It's just an advisory. "Your tyre is a bit worn".

Wig

scotsman4th wrote: »

Was a tyre gauge used by whoever says 4 or 5 mm?
If it's 4mm, it's only 2.4mm away from being 3 points (a new tyre at 7mm being 5.4mm away from it).
So there is less than 50% life left.

Take it to kwik fit for a free tyre check, they'll advise you if it's dangerous and needs replacing or not.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

They'll just advise you need 4 new tyres and new brakes and suspension.

Zanzibar

Can anyone explain why this tyre is considered "close to the legal limit" regarding wear please?

It doesn't appear close to the limit though we haven't seen the complete circumference but I'm sure your eyes are fine and that there are no more worn areas.

If he defines 'close' as what we see then that's his issue really - it didn't fail and you may want to avoid that test centre again. Its the vagaries of the system - many here have had advisories that just 'disappear' at the next MOT.

I had advice on a 'weeping shock absorber' once - 11 years later I changed it - never mentioned in the intervening time.

Do ensure he wasn't referring another tyre by mistake.

I have had a few recent MOTs where the tyres are only just over 1.6MM as its a car rarely driven - about 1.8MM I'd say - not a mention on the paperwork other than a verbal "dont forget to check as they only have a few thousand left.." etc