Second hand car sold with wrong tyres on

Jazzking

I bought a 2008 Citroen C4 Picasso in March from a dealer in March, using my credit card.

This week I took the car to my local tyre shop to get a new tyre fitted as one of them was well worn down and I had also booked into get the wheel alignment done as the car was suffering with vibrations through the steering wheel over around 60mph.

Tyre shop said that the tyres on the car were inappropriate for the car and underloaded (91V fitted as opposed to at least 93W) and recommended that all were replaced with 215/55/16/97Y as having the wrong tyres on could invalidate insurance.
I agreed to this and paid for 4 new tyres on my credit card but asked to keep original tyres as I planned to take it up with original seller.

Car now drives perfectly, but I'm £325 worse off!

Got home and found that 1 of the 4 old tyres was of the wrong type (205/55/16/91V) and the others are 205/55/16/93W, i.e the load rating is correct.

However, the correct size tyre for my car is 215/55/16/93W :doh:

So, do I complain to the original seller that 3 months ago he sold me a car with the wrong size tyres on (205s as opposed to 215 and one tyre the wrong load rating) therefore Sale of Goods act not fit for purpose?
Do I go back to the tyre shop and complain they sold me 4 tyres when actually 2 would have done (the one worn one and the one underloaded one) and ask they put the two perfectly good ones back on but admit then I'd have a mix of 205s and 215s

Do I just suck it up and keep the two original wrong sized tyres as emergency spares?

Part of me's thinking can I be bothered, but the other part of me is annoyed I've had to replace all tyres when I shouldn't have had to...

forgotmyname

V = upto 150mph, W = upto 168mph, I doubt your vehicle will do over 150mph so thats not an issue.

The 91 / 93 is the load rating.

91 is 615kg x 4 = 2460kg, The vehicle's gross weight is less than that so
again a non issue.

93 =650 x 4 = 2600kg. The cars gross weight will be under 2460kg so no need for anything more.

The tyres were fine in that respect.

There were 205 and 215 tyres fitted to your model so they may not have been 215 from the factory.
Sounds like that tyre shop is one to avoid and warn people about.

arcon5

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but the tyre shop have played you for a fool. The original load rating was fine.
And I'm not sure you'd have any comeback on the size either, if they was different sizes possibly, but not the case here.

Get your cars handbook out and see what size it says in there.

CHR15

Wowzer, the tyre shop saw you coming. went in for one and they flogged you FOUR.

put it down to experience, at least you have for new tyres now but never listen to the clowns trying anything to scare you into giving then more money

peter_the_piper

Kwik fit???

societys_child

:rotfl:Did you have to pull your pants back up after leaving the tyre shop?

Jazzking

Hi folks, thanks for getting back to me with your knowledgeable replies and confirming it was probably the tyre shop taking me for a ride TBH I'm a bit clueless and when he said the tyres on the car weren't what was intended (which they weren't) and it might invalidate insurance having non-standard tyres fitted I thought best to get all sorted.

As you say, lesson learned and 4 brand new tyres on with the problem fixed so not the end of the world, just a tad annoying.

Any advice on disposing of the ones I have leftover?!

force_ten

it the tyres fitted were 205/55/16 then they were the wrong size for the car

if the car should be fitted with a 215/55/16 then the rolling circumference of the two tyres was about 5.% difference and with 205/55/16 tyres when the speedo shows 70mph the car will actually be doing 65-66 mph and it will also make the mileage reading on the odometer wrong as well

so the tyre shop may have been right saying that the tyres were wrong but i would say that is down to the previous owner being a muppet and having the wrong tyres fitted and you can bet your life the selling dealer checked the tread but didnt check if the correct size and profile tyres were fitted

the fact that you have had the tyres replaced you have gone about it the wrong way

you should have taken the car back to the selling dealer with the tyres still fitted and asked him what he thought and if he was willing to do anything then it would be down to them to change the tyres

have you looked at the handbook to see what is the manufacturer's recommended tyres are for your car

when i go shopping for tyres I know what size profile and speed rating i want and often know what tyre make and model i want as well

loskie

Look in the owners manual that came with the car or a door plate affixed to the car. It will state the range of tyre sizes that are suitable. It will be a range rather than specific size.

facade

If you open the drivers door, and look at the doorpost there will be a sticker that gives the recommended tyre pressures, and sizes for your car.
Some models can have 2 or 3 different tyre sizes depending on exactly which wheels the factory had in stock when it was built.

CHR15

The first number is the width. the circumference is the same no matter what width the tyre is.
my car can have staggered wheels, wider at the back than the front but they all roll along at the same speed...

second digit is the profile and third digit the diameter. these figures affect the circumference