The economics of part-worn tyres

jase1

Ignoring the safety argument for the purposes of this thread, I was wondering about the economics of buying part-worns as against brand-new "decent budget" (i.e. Hankook/Khumo/Federal/Falken/Nankang etc etc) tyres.

I am interested to know how much people are paying for these.

We are often told that part-worns are coming in from the like of Germany where the rules on tread depth are more stringent than here.

With this in mind, is it not the case that most of these tyres are going to have 4-5mm of tread only, and therefore only have around half their life remaining (or even 1/3 of their life depending on whether or not you, like me, prefer to change tyres over when they have 3mm left).

From what I can make out, most of these tyres are being sold for around £20-25 each, as against a typical price of around £50 (fitted prices) for one of the aforementioned tyre brands.

I personally have found very little difference indeed between a Khumo for example with 8mm of tread, and a Dunlop or Pirelli with 4mm. So I don't buy that argument at all.

So we are left with a tyre with 1/3 to 1/2 of useful life available, for 1/3 to 1/2 of the cost.

Where exactly is the saving? I genuinely don't understand this one.

And, if all these 4mm tyres are coming from Germany and are perfectly OK, where are all the 6-7mm tyres coming from? Surely the only reasonable source for these in any great number must be cars that have been written off?

Flying-High_2

I thought you were involved with the tyre trade with your knowledge in previous posts.......

What am I paying? 7-8 Euros each:D

Seriously Retail no more than £35 for a Michelin or Conti or the likes...

Minimum out of Germany will be 4mm they'll be cheaper gain due to lack of tread... More tread = more money... Most being 6/7ish.

Most people buy Part worns on price.... Simple... £20 fitted for a 6mm Hankook or the likes over £45 for a new one?.... They're not interested in the life of it they're interested in the ££ this moment in time.


I'd also hazard a wild guess having run Michelin Primacys on various cars.... a part worn Primacy with 6/7mm tread would last aswell as if not longer than at least 2 of the brands you mentioned.... And at for example £35 work out cheaper in the long run.

Flying-High_2

jase1 wrote: »

I personally have found very little difference indeed between a Khumo for example with 8mm of tread, and a Dunlop or Pirelli with 4mm. So I don't buy that argument at all.

But if very little difference was found then surely you must see the "Fors" for the part worn argument...

Granted you pay top whack for your part worns as you've posted in previous posts... But as for the 2 tyres compared I guess the difference in price if you pay what seems to be the norm, feel and wear must be upon equal? Now pay what seems to be the normal price for part worns and noticing very little difference must work out better than new tyres of brands that you mention?

Hintza

Nice to see a good discusion point on here. When woud I buy part worns?

If I was selling the car and needed a tyre or two for an MOT prior to sale.

If I had a puncture that wrote the tyre off before the end of its useful life. I try and buy tyres in pairs under normal circumstances.

Interestingly recently I have messed around with four tyres that were leaking at the rim and with punctures. Cost was £30 and with the lmited amount of tread on some of them it was really a false economy (took two off for the MOT), wish I had just bitten the bullt and bought two new ones at the time.

hubert_cumberdale

i got a set of part worns and have done around 9000 miles on them and they are still legal one was a pirelli and the other was some random make but then they were only £8 each

Wh05apk

On a previous car (MG ztt) it had 225/45 18's the original contis were past it at about 18,000, and would have cost the best part of £600 a set, at the time I was doing about 30,000miles a year, so could have been spending close to £1000pa on tyres!!!! I went down the part worn route, and could get a complete set of "premium" brands nearly new for about £150, to me it was a no brainer.

A lot of the good tyres come from people upgrading wheels on new cars, or where they are told that if they get a puncture in one tyre, they should change both on that axle!

I agree for a cheap tyre on a Fiesta or something similar the savings are minimal, on more expensive tyres then it is worth doing.

With regards safety issues, I have no concerns, the tyres are inspected before hand, if you buy a used car, would use change all 5 tyres or would you keep them - they are somebody elses part worns.

KillerWatt

There have been one or two occasions when I'd have loved to be able to find part worn's (265/75/16) for our car, but nobody seems to let them go until the tyre has done it's lifespan (can't say I blame them given the price).

Safety wise I agree with the above, so long as there is no obvious/visible damage then I see no reason not to use a tyre again.

fred7777

I pay £25 for 195/55/R15 part worn tyres (fitted) against £95 for the cheapest new tyre the local tyre places have in stock.

Wh05apk

fred7777 wrote: »

I pay £25 for 195/55/R15 part worn tyres (fitted) against £95 for the cheapest new tyre the local tyre places have in stock.

You need to shop around Blackcircles have kumho's for under £60 fitted, along with cheaper "value" tyres from £50.

fred7777

Wh05apk wrote: »

You need to shop around Blackcircles have kumho's for under £60 fitted, along with cheaper "value" tyres from £50.

Yes, you are right I can get them cheaper, I was just comparing like for like, where you simply turn up and ask for what they have in stock.

In my area black circles you get Kumho (the cheapest there) for £59 however there would be a 48hour wait.

jase1

£95 for a 195/55/15?

Wow.

As mentioned reasonable tyres are available for well under £60. I have this size myself on the Mitsu. The very cheapest tyres are £37 from mytyres, so getting these well under £50 shouldn't be an issue (not that I'd recommend these).

And 195/55/15 is a bit of a funny size -- more expensive than a lot of similar sizes around it.

How much tread do these £25 tyres have? That is important. As I said, if they only have 4mm of tread, they're a false economy at that price.