Eco tyres
 

'Eco' as in economical as well as eco as in ecologically friendly:)

I got four 'new' tyres put on the old girl today. Good ones, three goodyears and one pirelli (because the lad couldn't find a fourth goodyear one).

It cost me £100 for all four supplied and fitted, and its made a massive difference to the car. Handling is much better, less road noise, and I'm using less throttle for the same speed and the automatic gearbox is making better use of the gears so I'm probably saving a few quid on fuel too.

So this got me to thinking. It would be good if there were more places that do 'part worn' tyres. I wonder how many tonnes of perfectly good tyres get disposed of every year just because they were on a car that is being scrapped for reasons nothing to do with the condition of the tyres, and I wonder how many people are driving around on ditch finders because its all they can afford new.

If you have two different makes of tire on the same axle you will probably fail your next MOT. Certainly illegal here and if stopped on a spot check would incur a fine

Fortunately the UK isn't under the rule of Ze German's and we don't have rules like that. I sometimes think it would actually make our roads that little bit better even if it is draconian.

Hello

I've been offered part-worn tyres before.

I must admit I'm too scared of what might have happened to the tyres on the previous car. I realise that the fitter has given the tyre the "all clear", but.....

That said, I imagine that a part worn Goodyear, Continental or Dunlop is still massively more reliable than a cheapo Chinese tyre.

Issue with many eco friendly and low rolling resistance tyres is that they are actually worse than part worns!

Fifth gear:
http://youtu.be/4p3HUeqYDvo?t=13m38s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYoh1xNTs7w

The interesting results start at 3:40 in the second video, but watch it all. All I will say is the most expensive was actually useless.

As for part worns I sit on the fence with them some people say you do not know where they have been blah blah. And that is true.

But so long as they are legal via pressure testing, minimum 4mm tread, no illegal cuts , bulges etc. I don't see the issue.

The majority of part worn sellers unfortunately shoot themselves in the foot by not following the final legal requirement for sale that they must be marked as part worn...

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/c...DV062-1111.txt

I have heard of some terrible ones so buy sensibly from a reputable one if you go down this route.

Well all I know is that before, I was skidding around all over the shop and actually feared for my life when driving on cold damp roads unless they were perfectly straight. I remarked to the chaps at work that I've accidentally skidded my current car more times than all my other cars put together. Then I got some second hand tyres put on, by a firm that has been there for years and years and is far from secretive about their operation, advertising on massive unmissable signs from the main road, and now the car holds the road much better, is quieter, feels more stable and is generally pleasant to drive.

I think at best I'm also on the fence over part worns, you don't know where they've been and unfortunately it seems most part worn sellers don't comply with the simple bit of the legislation that requires them to put a sticker on the tyre to indicate it is a part worn, if they don't do that how sure can you be that they've done proper checks on the tyres? (if they are competent to do them).
Having said that if I couldn't afford new decent brand tyres I think I might prefer a good brand part worn over a weird Chinese cheapie. Way back I put some Tygar brand (Eastern European) tyres on my VW Passat, I didn't expect the car to last much longer and had not got money to 'waste', but they were an absolute nightmare if there was the slightest amount of moisture on the road.
These days I buy named brands, Avons on the Volvo and Michelins on the wife's Almera, it would be easy to get 'holier than thou' and say if you can't afford premium tyres you shouldn't be driving but I've been there trying to make both ends meet. If you know a good seller of tyres, new or partworn, it's worth keeping in touch with them.

edit: Just an additional thought, in the past I have heard of people buying part worns for economy but ending up paying more overall, if the part worn is 3/4 of the way through it's useful life paying half price is a false economy, if it's still got 3/4 of it's useful tread left then you get a bargain.

If you buy a used car, or let your wife/husband take the car to the shops/work, do you immediately have brand new tyres fitted?

If not, then you can't be sure what's happened to the tyres you're on. In fact you can't anyway. I once drove over a nail on the way home from the tyre place having had two brand new tyres fitted. Sod's law or what. I didn't know I'd driven over a nail until I happened to notice it when I parked up and got out to go in my house. It was one of those moments where you step back to admire you're new purchase, and then spot the nasty nail head right in it.

I was prompted to get different tyres after one too many massive skids on a patch of road that everybody else seemed to be managing fine on. When you come off a roundabout at 30mph accelerating very gently, and the tail end comes round to the front to meet you, you know something has to give.

The Germans don't have a law like that either. You can have 4 different brands of tyres on your car. You are just not allowed to mix winter and summers. I personally don't like the idea of having mixed brands but hey, it is legal.

For me, I make a reallistic assessment of the statistical risk. On a used car, of all the things that might have been 'bodged', I'm inclined to take the tyres 'as-is' and at face value. It is a risk, but life is full of risks, and that is one I am willing to takd.

however... when buying tyres on their own, one has to ask why a part-worn tyre would come onto the market? One possible and, in my view probable, explanation is that they have been removed from a car written off on an accident. Tyres are easily damaged in accidents, and the damage may not be obvious, so I'd avoid.

Another source of apparently good part-used tyres, that I regard as borderline deceptive, is the sale of ex-European winter tyres. Seasoned European drivers know well that winter tyres are kaput at 4mm vs the absolute legal limit of 1.6mm and inscrupulous traders also know that British drivers are unaware of that distinction...