Tyres - Cheapest I Found......

jase1

Wig wrote: »

My fitter will give me a price of any tyre I want and he will have it delivered in 24 hours (to his shop). Other places are probably able to do this aswell.

Yeah and all he'll be doing is scouring the internet for the same deals, probably with a negotiated discount for repeat purchase.

If he can get close to the price quoted by the online shop -- great. But that hasn't been my experience.

Andreg

Limey wrote: »

Please, please, please avoid budget tyres for the sake of saving pennies. They are the most important component in making your car stop!

Get the best you can afford, I had a guy run into the back of me because his tyres were crappy TDFs (Taiwanese Ditch Finders), cost him more than the price of some decent rubber.

The reason he ran in the back of you is he was driving too close and not concentrating enough! Quality of the driving is more important than quality of the tyres.

jase1

Agree with Andreg -- whilst it is undoubtedly the case that some very cheap tyres don't perform in the wet, if he was driving properly this should still not have happened. Many more reasons for the car not to have stopped.

I'd also take issue with the "Taiwanese Ditch Finder" comment. Taiwanese tyre manufacturers such as Federal and Nankang make some reasonable tyres. The problem rubber comes from a few, very small Chinese suppliers. And even they perform perfectly well in dry conditions -- it's only in the wet that they fall down, precisely the conditions where you should be being more careful in any case.

On every test I have seen where actual stopping distances have been quoted, the worst tyre on-test has met or exceeded the performance specified in the Highway Code. So if you are driving "by the book" you should still stop in time.

I think people have this idea that driving on a cheap tyre is like skating along the road. It's not as simple as that. Certainly when I have found myself driving on poor tyres, the main problem has been a tendency to understeer into a roundabout, and as this something typically done at low speed it's easy enough to live with.

What is far more dangerous is running on tyres with less than 3mm of tread -- then you get into the realm of the tyre that loses traction in a straight line. So my advice would be that if you do run cheap Chinese tyres, get rid as soon as they run down to 4mm.

jase1

Actually here's an alternative way of looking at the ditchfinder debate.

A modern car with cheap tyres comfortably beats the standard stopping distances as laid out in the HC.

Isn't it more the case, then, that these cheap tyres represent the "standard", and that good tyres are just very good in relation to that?

With that in mind, if someone comes to grief "due to a cheap tyre", isn't it the case that it is the driver that is deficient and not the tyre, given that an old Ford Anglia (the standard vehicle that produced the distances in the first place) would be far worse in an emergency stop situation?

birkee

Some observations from these posts:
Tyres need to be specified in order to compare prices from different sources.
Tyre A might be cheaper from dealer X on one brand but dearer from dealer Y
Tyre B mght be cheaper from dealer Y, but dearer from dealer X
So, you have to decide what you want, before you get the quotes on prices.

Tyre rotation:
My attitude has always been, that the front tyres do the steering, so need to be the newer tyres, AND....all the weight transferrs to the front tyres for braking too.
As for the cars handling when the best tyres are on the front / back.....that's down to driver skill.
I appreciate the suggestion of running new tyres in first, before rotating them, but how many of us will get round to doing it? We'll stick em on once, and then just get on with it....... New tyres on the front!

thenudeone

oldagetraveller wrote: »

It doesn't inspire much confidence when they can't get the correct tyre initially.

One of my cars always comes up with the wrong sizes whichever site I use.
I think Experian provides the data behind the registration plate lookup. Don't blame the site using it!

Wig

jase1 wrote: »

Yeah and all he'll be doing is scouring the internet for the same deals, probably with a negotiated discount for repeat purchase.

If he can get close to the price quoted by the online shop -- great. But that hasn't been my experience.

You can see from my quoted examples, every tyre I asked for a price on was cheaper direct with local, than on t'internet when you factor in delivery and fitting or compared with fully fitted prices online.

Given that there are 2 shops in my town (and mine is a small town Pontypridd) that do this with similar prices between them I find it difficult to believe that other towns won't have shops with equally good prices. All you have to do is the phonework to find them.

mikey72

We've got ATS, KwikFit, and one small indi, the indi competes with ATS prices, and none will even come close to internet prices round here. Even with £10 a go fitting the internet prices are way cheaper.

jase1

That's pretty much what I've found as well.

If I can synchronise servicing with tyre replacement, my local mechanic will throw in tyre fitting at £5 a corner if I get rid of the tyres (not an issue for me as I work for a council...). That does free me up to be able to buy from just about anywhere. He actually prefers me to bring the tyres in as it means he's not having to go and get them himself.

The indies can sometimes get close, but they're not interested in getting in specific tyres in my experience.

bigjl

I will stick to Elite in Rainham and when I am flush I will use Costco for Michelins.

I can buy tyres online, wait for them to be delivered, then take them to a tyre shop, that has the bollock ache due to me not buying the tyres from him.

Any issues (such as manufacturing defects) then I have to get them removed at own expense and send them back.

I then may have to pay for carcass disposal.

I prefer to have the convenience of using my regular places.

I used to use a little shop a few miles from my old house.

I still try them to see if they can come close, but I am not going to spend an extra £40 for a set of tyres just to support a small independant, if I needed a part worn to get a car I was selling through it's MOT then I would use him.

But sadly makes no sense to spend the extra.

The prices from ATS and KwikFit are much worse than my little indy, but again no where near the prices that Elite an Costco can offer.