Used car sold with the wrong tyre size

foxy-stoat

Sern wrote: »

Hi all,

Just want to get some advise on this issue...

Last year we bought a ford fiesta titanium from one of UK's biggest chained car dealer..

We have only found earlier this year when we took the car to Costco to get some new tyres as one has worn out.. the costco garage worker point out that we had the wrong size tyre fitted on all four.. as we do motorway driving daily and the weather condition was bad during that time.. we decided to get four new tyres which costed around £300..

the original tyre fitted on was the "185/50 R16 85V P306 Three-A"

the new ones we got is Michelin Pilot Sport 3 ( 195/45 R16 84V)

Just wondering what's the best way to go about it as we ideally would like to go back and claim the cost of the tyres back? but which direction should I take ? as a health and safety issue as the wrong tyre size is clearly not suitable?
Any authority/organisation I could contact to help ?

Any advise is greatly appreciated

Get on with your life and know that you have been ripped by the garage, unless the other 3 tyres were half worn out.

alan_d

Sern wrote: »

when we took the car to Costco to get some new tyres as one has worn out.

So you have no case - they were worn out, and needed replacing anyway. No-one was ever in danger, and the size difference is marginal.

Also, there was nothing stopping you checking the tyre size when you bought the car, they're not exactly hidden.
The dealer just sold on a used car, with road-legal tyres - albeit a slightly different size to what the car should have had. Why should they have replaced them?

sheramber

From Ford's website

Wheel cover–Steel–15"x6" (fitted with 195/60 R15 tyres*
)Alloy–15"x6" ,8-spoke ,Sparkle Silver (fitted with 195/60 R15 tyres*)

Alloy–16"x6.5" ,10-spoke ,Sparkle Silver (fitted with 195/55 R16 tyres*)
Alloy–16"x6.5" ,8-spoke Rock Metallic machined finish (available as part of a Style Pack) (fitted with 195/55 R16 tyres*)

motorguy

Sern wrote: »

Hi all,

Just want to get some advise on this issue...

Last year we bought a ford fiesta titanium from one of UK's biggest chained car dealer..

We have only found earlier this year when we took the car to Costco to get some new tyres as one has worn out.. the costco garage worker point out that we had the wrong size tyre fitted on all four.. as we do motorway driving daily and the weather condition was bad during that time.. we decided to get four new tyres which costed around £300..

the original tyre fitted on was the "185/50 R16 85V P306 Three-A"

the new ones we got is Michelin Pilot Sport 3 ( 195/45 R16 84V)

Just wondering what's the best way to go about it as we ideally would like to go back and claim the cost of the tyres back? but which direction should I take ? as a health and safety issue as the wrong tyre size is clearly not suitable?
Any authority/organisation I could contact to help ?

Any advise is greatly appreciated

The slightly narrow tyre size was just fine, so frankly the tyre reseller upsold you three tyres you didnt need, had you just replaced like with like for the tyre that was on the car.

So, no, no recourse with the dealer, no recourse through a health and safety body, no kittens were harmed....

Tokk

motorguy wrote: »

The slightly narrow tyre size was just fine, so frankly the tyre reseller upsold you three tyres you didnt need, had you just replaced like with like for the tyre that was on the car.

So, no, no recourse with the dealer, no recourse through a health and safety body, no kittens were harmed....

Whilst true - a few mm might not make very much difference at all...

I would personally have swapped for 4 the correct size - if nothing else, insurance companies often don't like modifications and might charge once declared (wouldn't want to be invalidating insurance).

System

Sern wrote: »

Just wondering what's the best way to go about it as we ideally would like to go back and claim the cost of the tyres back? but which direction should I take ? as a health and safety issue as the wrong tyre size is clearly not suitable?
Any authority/organisation I could contact to help ?

Any advise is greatly appreciated

Well you're barking up the wrong tree with it being a health and safety issue because it isn't. Had you had one size on the left side of the car and a different one on the right then you would have a case but even if they were say 195/45/16 on the rears and 185/55/16 on the fronts you'd not have an issue because that is legal. The tyre size is suitable and is actually fitted to the lower specs in the range. My Mondeo for example comes with everything from 205/55 R16 tyres up to 235/45/R18 and all sorts inbetween. Even on the 16 inch rims it can either be a 205/55/R16 on the poverty spec or 215/55/R16 on the Zetec.

On my Zetec Mondeo which came originally with 215/55/R16 tyres I actually chose to go down to 205/55/R16 because it saved me £40 per tyre on the Goodyear all season tyres I bought for it. I have noticed no difference in its ability to go round corners or stop.

motorguy

Tokk wrote: »

Whilst true - a few mm might not make very much difference at all...

I would personally have swapped for 4 the correct size - if nothing else, insurance companies often don't like modifications and might charge once declared (wouldn't want to be invalidating insurance).

I might have. But i wouldnt be looking for recourse off the dealer or some health and safety body.

Sern

Hi

see below details

Vehicle make: FORD
Year of manufacture: 2012
Cylinder capacity (cc): 1399 cc
Fuel type: DIESEL

wgl2014

Sern wrote: »

Hi

see below details

Vehicle make: FORD
Year of manufacture: 2012
Cylinder capacity (cc): 1399 cc
Fuel type: DIESEL

Whilst very interesting that doesn't really add much!

Steve_KK

I think you should be happy with the replacement tyres as they are a massive improvement over the cheap no-name tyres previously fitted. At £300 for 4 Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyres you have a car that will be safer on the motorway, have better handling for those emergencies and a shorter stopping distance. In short I would suggest you have no come back to the dealer as while the tyres may not have been sizes recommended by the manufacturer they clearly have not been a danger/problem, other than being crappy no-name (Dia Yeung Ditch Finders?) that in an emergency braking situation might have been the difference between stopping in time or hitting the obstacle.
Tyres on a car are so often overlooked, but are a vital part of the safety. Years ago it was the case that a tyre's contact with the road was about the same as your knuckles on a flat surface - newer cars generally have wider tyres so this probably isn't the case any more, but the area will not be that much larger.

Regards,
Steve