Car Warranty

thriftywifty

Hi everyone

I'm a newby to this site and would appreciate a wee bit of advice.

I purchased a 6 year old Seat Mii last August 25 with a 6 month warranty (takes me to end of Feb) from a well known dealer.

My car's MOT has come up and following the MOT check I was advised on the following potential fails:  

* Wishbone on driver's side needs replaced
* Tyres as the side walls are cracked

I have contacted the dealer about the warranty covering the wishbone and providing they agree with the findings of the previous mechanic which carried out the MOT check that the 6 month warranty will cover it's replacement.

I am aware that tyres are not generally covered by a warranty however I haven't done a lot mileage on the car since I bought it, therefore I would like to expect that the tyres would be covered as I driven less than 1000 miles since purchasing the car.

Is it naive of me to expect a newly purchased used car to be well prepped i.e. with decent tyres which would last more than a few months.  Should the dealer's mechanics not have replaced the tyres when prepping the car for selling?

Thanks for your help.

TW

Isthisforreal99

You say 'potential fails', so did it fail on tyres or just an advisory, i.e. are they still legal?

As long as the tyres were legal at the point of salea, that's all that is relevant. You had the chance to inspect the car before buying?

thriftywifty

Isthisforreal99 said:

You say 'potential fails', so did it fail on tyres or just an advisory, i.e. are they still legal?

As long as the tyres were legal at the point of salea, that's all that is relevant. You had the chance to inspect the car before buying?

Hi thanks for getting back to me.  The mechanic used the term 'worst case scenario'.

I did check the tyres but and they looked fine to me, I certainly don't recall seeing any cracks in them but I'm not an expert and I don't have any mechanic friends who could check on my behalf.

Thanks 

Isthisforreal99

But did it pass the MOT?

If so, the tyres were legal when you bought the car and they are still legal now.

Sounds like they are trying to 'upsell' you new tyres.

snowmen

Would say that you might get joy with the wishbone but not the tyres.
Even though you haven't done much mileage on them since buying, if they were legal i.e the car had a valid MOT at the time of sale, then they probably won't cover it.
Chance your arm if they say yes to the wishbone though!

thriftywifty

The MOT hasn't happened yet, I normally get my car MOT checked before MOT and it's always passed.  

thriftywifty

snowmen said:

Would say that you might get joy with the wishbone but not the tyres.
Even though you haven't done much mileage on them since buying, if they were legal i.e the car had a valid MOT at the time of sale, then they probably won't cover it.
Chance your arm if they say yes to the wishbone though!

Hi snowmen, thanks for replying.  Part of the problem is that the MOT was last carried out in 2024 as in NI certain cars only need to be MOT'd every two years .... so the previous MOT was just over two years ago.

thriftywifty

thriftywifty said:

snowmen said:

Would say that you might get joy with the wishbone but not the tyres.
Even though you haven't done much mileage on them since buying, if they were legal i.e the car had a valid MOT at the time of sale, then they probably won't cover it.
Chance your arm if they say yes to the wishbone though!

Hi snowmen, thanks for replying.  Part of the problem is that the MOT was last carried out in 2024 as in NI certain cars only need to be MOT'd every two years .... so the previous MOT was just over two years ago.

Sorry got that wrong, the previous MOT was end of 2023 not 2024 .... doh!!

fatbelly

The tyres sound like an advisory. I have had that on tyres that are perfectly fine.

Have a look to see if you can see a 4-digit code on them.  It gives week and year of manufacture. If they are over 6 years old then you do need to be thinking of new ones. 6 years ago would have been 0320

thriftywifty

fatbelly said:

The tyres sound like an advisory. I have had that on tyres that are perfectly fine.

Have a look to see if you can see a 4-digit code on them.  It gives week and year of manufacture. If they are over 6 years old then you do need to be thinking of new ones. 6 years ago would have been 0320

Hi fatbelly, Thanks for your response. 

I've had a look at the tyres and took pictures of both of them. 

If I'm reading them correctly looks like the tyres are dated Sept.  2018,  is that right? 

What are your thoughts on the actual tyres.  Thanks again for your help.   

CliveOfIndia

Looks like a code of 4918 as far as I can see, which would make it December 2018.  So they're just over 7 years old.

I'm no expert, but there's a bit of cracking on the sidewalls - nothing too drastic, but why chance it?  And there's a reasonable bit of tread left, but not an awful lot - they're probably getting close to needing to be changed on tread depth alone.

My view would be - why take the chance.  I'm guessing that tyres for your car are somewhat less expensive than you'd have on a Ferrari, so for the sake of safety and peace of mind, get 'em changed.  A couple of new, reasonable mid-range tyres, will be a lot less than a nasty prang if they should develop a fault whilst you're driving on the motorway.

<Edit to add>  It looks like they're the back tyres?  If so, even more reason to get some half-decent replacements.  I've no wish to re-start the perennial debate about whether front or rear tyres are more important, but the rears can potentially cause a lot more trouble if they blow out or whatever.