|
And don't forget BlackCircles.com - I have no connection with them but have had decent prices and good service in the past. I think they can provide pretty much anything most of us are likely to want, in a few days at worst.
Edited by Tester on 25/01/2019 at 12:18
|
|
|
|
Thanks for the feedback I also looked on Quik Fits site for a comparison, and they were considerably more expensive, I will do as you advise thanks Joe
|
|
I've brought all my recent tyres from ASDA on line (yes the supermarket). You select the most handy local fitting centre and they ship them direct, you just have to turn-up at the required time and date.
The last ones I got for my van were about £140 a corner. Cheapest locally was about £190.
Just a word regarding National Tyres. I once had a set fitted by them to a company car many years ago (a long time before the internet). They told me they were Dunlop when I enquired on the 'phone. Left the car with them, when I picked it up, they were their own brand! "No problem sir, they are Dunlop, but they brand them for us". Muggins here takes it on the chin (well it was a company car), but they were the worst tyres I have ever (and I really do mean ever) used, totally crap. I couldn't wear them out fast enough. Lesson learned I have never darkened their door since.
|
|
Try tyreshopper online. Owned by National and use National garages for fitting but often cheaper than National
|
|
Another vote for Blckcircles. To the OP -Dont be tempted to fit tyres of a lesser spec than the oem ones. It will invalidate your insurance. If your car is capable of 120mph you fit tyres that can cope with that. Even if you never go over 30mph.
|
|
To back this up, a car MUST be fitted with tyres that, as well as fitting over the brakes, in the wheel well and having the same rolling circumfrence to within +/- 2% of the OEM fitting must be of at least the speed and load rating as per the handbook (for the model/engine) and as shown on the plate on the driver's door interior.
Sometimes you can go down in terms of speed rating, but only if the handbook/plate says you can, normally when fitting a compatible higher sidewall tyre. For example, my car's manual and plate says I can fit the following:
205/55 R16 V (OEM fitting)
or:
195/65 R15 V or H (0.4% difference in overall diameter/circumfrence - OK)
V = speeds up to 149mph
H = speeds up to 130mph
My car's rated top speed is somewhere in the 115-119mph range. Not sure why the original size can't come in an H rating, but maybe that's because at the time it was made no or very few tyres were available in that lower speed rating.
I too have bought my two replacement sets of tyres (one of the OEM size/speed rating and the second, and latest, of the 195/65 R15 H type as I needed to change the alloys and were a lot cheaper for the same model of tyre, as were the smaller alloys) from Blackcircles.
The first set I had fitted via one of their nominated fitters, who gave a not so good service (I had to get one tyre refitted twice), the second set last year I bought from them via mail order and had them (and the replacement alloys) fitted at my local main dealer.
Blackcircles themselves were fine and delivered everything on time and, for the tyres I wanted, at the cheapest price around at the time. Other online firms like Tyre Leader are often recommended by Backroomers. I personally have never found Kwik Fit to be amongst the cheapest (including fitting), especially if you want to have quality tyres fitted.
If you know of a local (to work or home) fitter who'll do a great job of fitting at a reasonable price, then find out if they can match the best online quote and go with them for the tyres you want, or see if they'll fit mail-ordered tyres (delivered to you) for a decent price. That's effectively what I did with my local car main dealership - they (no surprise) couldn't match (they were the most expensive) on the price of the tyre, but bettered Blackcircles £13.20 per tyre at £10. And for me they didn't charge extra to fit the new alloys (just to buy them - own brand), which tyre fitters would've done.
Do your homework first and you'll get a very good deal and quality fitting.
PS. One thing to bear in mind is that you'll need to keep the two new tyres to be the same type as the remaining two, i.e. all summer or winter or all-season, and all directional or asymmetic or symmetric. It means they all work together as intended and can be rotated as intended to even out wear as much as possible.
You may also wish to consider putting the new tyres on the rear axle, which means moving those currently there onto the front one, as for FWD cars it has been found that it's far safer to have the new rubber on the rear axle, to avoid the back end stepping out in wet conditions when braking and turning.
|
|
Ford Mondeo Mark 2's came out of the factory fitted with "W" rated tyres. However, for the 1.8 and 2.0 litre models it was quite in order to fit "V" rated replacements. It was only the models with the V6 engine which needed "W" rated tyres or better.
Ford fitted "W"'s to the smaller engined cars because they just bought one type of tyre, which was suitable for all models, in bulk.
Edited by Galaxy on 25/01/2019 at 16:10
|
|
|
|
PPS. If you change the tyre size and/or speed/load rating, you MUST get the approval of your insurer, and have the policy altered if you change the tyre size or perhaps decrease the speed or load rating. Going up on the latter for the same size tyre - no. Your insurer should allow any such change if the car manufacturer does.
Whether they charge for this change is another matter - mine actually gave me a refund of about £14 - this may have been due to the smaller sized tyre and/or lower speed rating, and/or maybe quotes were cheaper at that time - who knows. I was lucky that as a long-standing customer (15+ years) the policy change fee of £25 was waived.
Hopefully if you do go for a lower speed rating (if it's allowed - check) tyre, then I would hope that a decent insurer wouldn't bother asking for a change in the policy for such a small difference.
|
|
As said downgrading tyres could cause a potential insurance problem in the event of a claim. I also remember someone at work downgrading his tyres as his car was of low value - it failed the MOT because of unsuitable tyres.
I brought my last pair from 'Tyres on the Drive' both competitive and convenient (fitted in works car park).
|
|
There's downgrading and there's downgrading. As my previous posts said, it depends on what is allowable by the car manufacturer for the OP's specific model and engine combo. If it is, then I would've thought all insurers would be fine about that, even if the policy needed ammending.
If they just stick to the size combo, speed and load ratings in the handbook/on the plate on the car then they'll be fine, and obviously going for a tyre with a higher speed or load rating will be ok too. If the plate and manual don't give that data (they should), then they should ask their local main dealer/manufacturer directly.
Any 'in between' tyre sizes (especially odd combos of width and sidewall height percentage) can in theory work if they fit over the brakes and don't impede the movement of the tyre on full lock etc, but these are likely considered full-on mods and will attract a large insurance premium penalty.
If someone goes for T rated (115mph I think) tyres for a car that can do 120, then obviously that is illegal and will void any insurance policy and subsequent claim on their part, and would likely be an offense as well as a straight MOT failure, even if the person legally cannot drive at that speed on the roads.
|
|
|
|
|
|
But if you want to save money, shop around by comparing National with ATS / Kwik Fit and local factors. Someone nearly always has a deal on that can save quite a few quid.
You might also consider second hand tyres if money is short - most towns have an outfit somewhere. Our Focus is still shod with almost new winter tyres in March - its other wheels (£60 for 4, ebay) haven't seen an MoT inspector for ages.
|
You might also consider second hand tyres if money is short - most towns have an outfit somewhere. Our Focus is still shod with almost new winter tyres in March - its other wheels (£60 for 4, ebay) haven't seen an MoT inspector for ages.
NO, NO, NO.
I'd never consider part worn/used tyres. You do not know their history, could have come from a right-off, how old they may be or what. Utterly false economy that puts you and others at risk.
I'd also question how others have interpreted the OP's term of downgrading? I think he means on quality, not speed/load rating.
I used to have a Mondeo 2.0 TDCi, and when the original Bridgstone's wore out and replaced them with UniRoyal Rain Sport (same size/load/speed rating), which although classified as a mid-price tyre to the Bridgstone's premium tag, were far better in the wet than the Bridgstones and fully justified their A wet rating, aquaplaning was eliminated.
That said, I bought an MX5, a month out of a new MoT where two new tyres had been placed on the back by whoever did the MoT. When I spun it on a roundabout for the second time I thought it was time to look at the tyres more closely - it needed the slightest touch on the power to make it twitch in the wet. The tyre were cheap Chinese Infinity branded - wet rating of E I later discovered, the lowest!. They replaced PDQ. Cheap tyres tend to be formulated with a hard compound which is fine in the dry, but useless in the wet or snow.
I don't think insurance companies realistically expect owners to replace tyres with what the manufacturer shod the car with from new time after time, but by looking at sites like Tyre Reviews, you can make informed decisions on brands and prices - and avoid the cheap rubbish.
And as always, shop around - my neighbour bought four tyres from Camskill, had them delivered, local garage fitted and balanced for £25 and he still saved over £100 on what a mainstream tyre shop had quoted.
|
|
I'd also never even contemplate buying 2nd hand tyres.
But my main thought on the subject is regarding the OP saying he does not need such a hich spec tyre as he is in his 70's. I could suggest (tongue firmly in cheek) that this implies all 70+ year old drivers just tootle about at slow speeds, which surely is not the case?!. Presumably though, this is about the OP himself, and that he does not drive fast. If so, why the choice of a high spec 2.0 Focus with big wheels?. Other Focus models with smaller wheels are available.
|
|
As has been pointed on here before. Whenever we buy another car we also get a set of used tyres. Even new cars may have suffered during delivery.
|
As has been pointed on here before. Whenever we buy another car we also get a set of used tyres. Even new cars may have suffered during delivery.
Not really the same thing. I'd expect a used car to come with tyres, new or used. But tyres being sold 2nd hand, by themselves offer up a different set of questions. Where did they come from?, where is the car they came from and why does it no longer need them?. Just not worth the risk, imo. Unless you buy a car with huge wheels (in which case that is your choice and you should factor in the cost of replacement tyres to the running costs), tyres are not that expensive. Given that they are the only points of contact between your car and the road, tyres are the last place you should be thinking about cutting costs.
|
As has been pointed on here before. Whenever we buy another car we also get a set of used tyres. Even new cars may have suffered during delivery.
Not really the same thing. I'd expect a used car to come with tyres, new or used. But tyres being sold 2nd hand, by themselves offer up a different set of questions. Where did they come from?, where is the car they came from and why does it no longer need them?. Just not worth the risk, imo. Unless you buy a car with huge wheels (in which case that is your choice and you should factor in the cost of replacement tyres to the running costs), tyres are not that expensive. Given that they are the only points of contact between your car and the road, tyres are the last place you should be thinking about cutting costs.
Quite right, especially as the main reasons why people replace or sell/get rid of tyres in the first place is because:
- They are old and are cracking, brittle and/or have poor traction in the wet;
- They have worn near to the legal limit;
- The have worn unevenly and cause their car to handle and ride poorly and noisily, especially at high speeds;
- They have a reasonable amount of damage;
- The car they were fitted to was involved in a major accident and the car was written off and disposed of.
Yes, some genuine bargains can be had, but they would need to be inspected with a fine tooth comb if they came from the last category (say the two rear tyres for a front-end collision) to check for damage.
Occasionally a tyre will work poorly on one car and well on another (say from a different make or a different size) that is still quite new, but its probably more often that that those tyres are just plain rubbish tyres on any car. I certainly wouldn't risk it, except perhaps for a spacesaver spare tyre & wheel that was well under 10 years old and that the owner sold direct to me coming straight from their spare wheel well in a brand new (coloured marks still on them) unused condition.
|
|
|
|
|
I am by no means a slow driver I got 2 speeding tickets last year £100 each, one for doing 39 in a 30 limit and 36 in the same place, [CHUCKLE] this is because the limit was changed from 40 mph to 30mph. It's a bit difficult to keep a 6 speed 2ltr diesel [handbook says 134mph] below 30mph in a gear above third gear. That out of the way we have had the car since 2013 just got to 28,000 miles as it has been my wife's car until recently, I sold my Golf V5 2.5 LTR A while ago. It was just a thought regarding cheaper tyre's but with all the sound advice I will get the recommended ones, You can take your tongue out of your cheek now mate no offense taken. Thank you all,as usual, this is a top site
|
|
|
|
You might also consider second hand tyres if money is short - most towns have an outfit somewhere. Our Focus is still shod with almost new winter tyres in March - its other wheels (£60 for 4, ebay) haven't seen an MoT inspector for ages.
NO, NO, NO.
I'd never consider part worn/used tyres. You do not know their history, could have come from a right-off, how old they may be or what. Utterly false economy that puts you and others at risk.
An utterly overcautious assertion. There are plenty of perfectly good tyres on old cars which have been scrapped following MoT failure. Also, cars are often 'written off' after the most minor of RTCs, thanks to protective crumple zones which are too expensive to repair. Indeed, I think it highly unlikely that the eight (possibly ten if spares were carried) tyres from, for example, HRH's recent major prang would be damaged, although both vehicles would probably be written off. Dozens of such crashes happen every day.
I know nothing of the history of my £60 ebay alloys - two had 7mm, one had 5mm tread and the punctured 4mm fourth I replaced for a tenner from my local second hand outfit. They look fine and drive perfectly well during the summer months. The date stamp in the alloys is slightly younger than those in our Focus's alloys , so I guess they came from a scrappie.
|
|
Once again, John, the problem is that whereas you are an experienced engineer and you know what you're looking for when you buy secondhand goods, many people without your skill and experience look on this forum and will jump at any advice which might save them money. This is why many of us advise caution on a thread like this
|
Once again, John, the problem is that whereas you are an experienced engineer .......
You flatter me, Avant. I am merely an amateur mechanic. I have no engineering qualifications whatsoever beyond three science 'A' levels obtained in 1967 plus the experience of maintaining and repairing (when within my capability) my cars since then. It just saddens me when people who can least afford it are frightened into needless expense by an often overcautious and sometimes rapacious motor industry.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
