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ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

Probably be buying some soon. Never bought any before, and I'm wondering what would be a fair price.

UK going rate would be of interest, but its a different market here in Taiwan so not necessarily a guide.

I'm thinking that from first principles, there could be some formula based on age, remaining tread, and a "negative premium" of what, 30%, because they are used?

So, IF you were buying part-worns (OK, you wouldn't, but IF you were) how would you work out what you should be paying?

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - galileo

The local outfits that sell part-worn tyres usually have a sign saying "Part worn tyres from £10". If you buy new tyres off the Net, you may be charged £10 each for fitting and balancing, so I don't think £10 part-worn tyres will be a god bargain unless one possessed your skills in fitting them yourself.

Having said that, car dismantlers take complete wheels and tyres off and sell them off the shelf, as so many new cars are sold with no spare or with a can of goo to (optimistically) seal punctures and re-inflate, I expect prices for them to be substantial (£60 upwards at least)

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

The local outfits that sell part-worn tyres usually have a sign saying "Part worn tyres from £10". If you buy new tyres off the Net, you may be charged £10 each for fitting and balancing, so I don't think £10 part-worn tyres will be a god bargain unless one possessed your skills in fitting them yourself.

Having said that, car dismantlers take complete wheels and tyres off and sell them off the shelf, as so many new cars are sold with no spare or with a can of goo to (optimistically) seal punctures and re-inflate, I expect prices for them to be substantial (£60 upwards at least)

That should read "so I don't think £10 part-worn tyres will be a good bargain unless one possessed your LOST skills in fitting them yourself"

I have some ideas for gadget-enhancement that I hope will mitigate this sad skills deficit, but I need to... er...acquire some more scaffolding bits, a target of opportunity.

This MIGHT allow me to source tyres from a scrappy on the wrong bolt-pattern wheels, though there are potential cultural obstacles there, ""You can't do that because nobody does it"" stylee..

Going to be too late for the inspection, though, so DIY probably has to be deferred.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - Bolt

Probably be buying some soon. Never bought any before, and I'm wondering what would be a fair price.

UK going rate would be of interest, but its a different market here in Taiwan so not necessarily a guide.

I'm thinking that from first principles, there could be some formula based on age, remaining tread, and a "negative premium" of what, 30%, because they are used?

So, IF you were buying part-worns (OK, you wouldn't, but IF you were) how would you work out what you should be paying?

I have never known 2 shops to be similar in price, they price on condition/size/tread left/when the tyres are put on the shelf (in other words they make up prices as they go)

nearer London, tyres part worn are priced from £5 each and often take offers so no hard and fast rule

They fit and balance free

Edited by bolt on 01/12/2019 at 10:26

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - bathtub tom

I bought a couple of (unused) spares out of the boots of scrapped cars very cheaply.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - gordonbennet

I would expect for decent make part worn tyre still with 6mm+ tread remaining, they would have to be less than half the price of the cheapest new budget tyre, assuming free fitting with each, 4mm part worns would not be worth buying unless it was just to get through an MOT test and/or to flog the car on.

Part worns just arn't worth it IMHO for us here in the UK at least, new tyre prices reveal some superb bargains if you keep your mincers peeled, just picked up a set of summer Falkens for the Forester, a quite expensive size 215/55 x 17 94V, £56 each delivered (Tyreleader once more knocked spots off everyone else), it'll cost me £40 to get them fitted.

There will be 4 x part worn 6/7mm Fuldas going begging once they are fitted, fantastic grip in the wet steering response is brilliant, but they are noisy and give a harsh ride, now the car is on the winter set the car has improved so much in ride and noise i can't bring myself to refit the Fuldas next spring...first world problems eh?

And that is part of the problem with part worns, those coming off the Subaru are a very good tyre and a bargain for someone who doesn't mind noise/ride, but with general part worns the buyer does not know why they were removed in the first place.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

I would expect for decent make part worn tyre still with 6mm+ tread remaining, they would have to be less than half the price of the cheapest new budget tyre, assuming free fitting with each, 4mm part worns would not be worth buying unless it was just to get through an MOT test and/or to flog the car on.

The calculation might be slightly different for me here, since I do very low miles, though I've been driving more recently.

This might mean that 4mm would be finished before they got dangerously old, whereas 6mm and up might not be.

This could make new tyres my most dangerous option, since I'd be reluctant to chuck them with tread left.

Tyres probably deteriorate faster here due to heat, UV levels, and ozone pollution.

My spare Chen Shin 155 which I was using due to a bulge in one of the Bridgestones suffered tread separation on the expressway last week. I'd been doing a bit of light off-roading earlier in the day so it might have got damaged. AFAIK its never been used before (which may or may not be a good thing) and it was a 6-ply truck tyre so it stayed together.

BUT it was made in 2007.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

nearer London, tyres part worn are priced from £5 each and often take offers so no hard and fast rule

They fit and balance free

I'd think a tyre would have to VERY bad, i.e illegal, to not be worth a fiver with free fit and balance.

That's surprisingly cheap, but I'd place a substantial bet they won't be that cheap in Taiwan.

A scrappy might be the best bet here too,and I might try that, but they might not "get" the idea of dealing with the public (which will NEVER happen here), certainly won't be used to dealing with foreigners , and probably won't do it.

Poking around on the nyet, UK advertised prices for R13's seem to be around 15 quid.

I didn't learn much else apart from

(a) A very high (>90% according to one survey) of UK used tyre dealers don't observe the regulations.

(b) German law requires 3mm minimum and they must be replaced in matching sets of 4, providing a substantial supply.

This German wholesaler site

https://www.monstertyres.com/tires-export_preise-lang=en

shows quite a lot of detail which is sort of interesting re the destinations of the various grades, though I don't fully understand all of it.

It doesnt seem all that cheap for wholesale. though. For example. best price for the best grade is 6 Euros each, but you have to buy 1000

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - Zippy123

I am sure you can get good part worn tyres, but in reality, you are risking a lot more than just a few £ on potentially shoddy tyres.

Remember the tyres are the things keeping you safely on the road.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

I am sure you can get good part worn tyres, but in reality, you are risking a lot more than just a few £ on potentially shoddy tyres.

Remember the tyres are the things keeping you safely on the road.

I already have potentially shoddy tyres.

I've never driven on anything else, including a company car and hire cars, though the potential in those cases was significantly lower.

The only blowout I've experienced while driving was on a hired VW Polo with shiny newish Continental's;. Probably hit something.

Edited by edlithgow on 02/12/2019 at 02:27

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - oldroverboy.

Apologies in advance,

But isn't Taiwan a good place to find cheapish (new) chinese(ish) ditchfinders?

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - SLO76
The only time I’ve fitted part worn tyres is on cheaper trade sale cars or my own cars that I was planning on selling on soon after. The bulk of them have little life left but on cheap sub £1,500 cars money is tight so I did use them occasionally as long as it had a reasonable amount of tread left. Otherwise I always stump up a little more for a decent mid range tyre. This morning I had a new Hankook fitted to my Polo for £59 as one of the front were approaching the minimum tread depth. Compared to cheapo Chinese rubber these are decent value and give good wet weather grip, something that’s important on a commuter car in Scotland. I wouldn’t scrimp on my own cars nor would I never put cheap poor quality rubber on a sale car, always choosing mid range or again part worn on a cheaper car but you need to examine the tyre before agreeing.
ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

Apologies in advance,

But isn't Taiwan a good place to find cheapish (new) chinese(ish) ditchfinders?

Dunno.

I suppose I'm about to find out,

But since its a fairly globalised marketplace (with some variation due to differing regulation and culture) I'd think Taiwan would be pretty much the same as everywhere else.

I'd guess, though, that, however cheap the new Chinese(ish) ditchfinders are, used ones ought to be cheaper.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

Having seen the suggestion (on an otherwise fairly irritating youtube video) that you could get "60% of the tyre for 40% of the money, or 70% for 50%" I thought I'd have a look on US Ebay to see what the usual differential range was, since the above 20% differential would be a relatively simple yardstick to aim for.

Not many ads give you the required tread dept hor age (and why would you buy a tyre on the Internyet without this information?) but those that do seem to be all over the place.

I got 11, 3, 11, 31, 15, 24 and 15 before I lost interest. That's an average of 16%, but the variation means it doesnt really work as a simple rule of thumb. Not going below a 10% minimum probably does though, and maybe aiming for 15%.

I got 7%, so probably overpaid.

Bet value (31 and 24 % differential) were allegedly "showroom takeoffs" and essentially unused.

Only a couple of the ads gave the age, which I'd want to know too.

I was impressed by this ad though, fora pair of (presumably fairly rare) OEM Porsche tyres at 150 USD each.

www.ebay.com/itm/163705099440#vi-ilComp

Couln't find a new price for them, so didn't derive the differential, but (I suppose to the sellers credit), in the detailed description were the following DOT codes

DOT: 4208 & 1407

I THINK this means they are about 11 years old.

Now I've admittedly been guilty of running tyres that old.

But I didn't pay 150US for them

And I don't drive a Porsche

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

I got a couple of Maxxis MA-P1.for 800 NT each (about 20 quid)

One of them has ECC 0717 (irritatingly, on the inside as mounted, probably NOT a coincidence) which I think means its 2.8 years old, with 72% of a nominal 10 year life span left, which is OK-ish

The other has ECC 1015, which I think means its 3.9 years old, with 61% of a nominal 10 year life span left, which is not so good.

Both have about 60% of the legal tread left, measured with a cheapo plastic vernier caliper for the 4 circumferential grooves at the 4 bolt holes, so 16 measurements.

Calculating the residual value against an ebay new price of 1800NT, and averaging it for lifespan and tread, (I now have a mildly complex spreadsheet) it seems the used discount on that is about 30%.

Not great. I was hoping for 50%, but I wasn't really in a position to haggle. Still likely to outlast the car and/(or me, here at least.

Less tread for a lower price would probably have madei sense, and I might try for that if/when I replace the other tyres

My impression is that the UK is cheaper, perhaps because there's less competition here because Taiwanese don't generally buy used stuff, and are generally clueless.

Edited by edlithgow on 03/12/2019 at 13:35

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

Mistako.

Ebay price (found by GF who can search in Chinese) was 1500NT,( though that doesn't include mount and balance.)

So the used discount on the calculated residual value works out at about 16%, which seems poor.

Will have to try and haggle next time

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

Oops

Someone found a new price of 1200 on't nyet. Ad might as well be in Chinese, because it was, so extras/location unkown, but that would be a better deal for most people.

Objectively its probably not a better deal for me, but they do make the used ones overpriced, since the used discount on the residual calculated value is now -5%.

Will have to try and haggle next time, but taking the measurements and reading the codes takes a while. Might be more practical IF I could find a scrappie that'd let me wander around, as in days of yore in the yook.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - Bolt

as in days of yore in the yook.

No good talking medieval language, no idea what you mean. or on't nyet its called the internet last time I looked assuming thats what you meant, but could be wrong ;)

are there many scrap yards out there or only a few?

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - Avant

I think he means the UK.

Or possibly Prince Andrew - the Yook of Dork.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - galileo

as in days of yore in the yook.

No good talking medieval language, no idea what you mean. or on't nyet its called the internet last time I looked assuming thats what you meant, but could be wrong ;)

are there many scrap yards out there or only a few?

Most scrapyards now have parts stacked on racks/shelves, not many let you wander around looking for what you want.

I suspect this is a result of 'elf and safety' rules and fear of lawsuits if you were to break a fingernail (or worse) taking parts off.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

as in days of yore in the yook.

No good talking medieval language, no idea what you mean. or on't nyet its called the internet last time I looked assuming thats what you meant, but could be wrong ;)

are there many scrap yards out there or only a few?

Most scrapyards now have parts stacked on racks/shelves, not many let you wander around looking for what you want.

I suspect this is a result of 'elf and safety' rules and fear of lawsuits if you were to break a fingernail (or worse) taking parts off.

That was my impression, and was probably the case before I left about 15 years ago. It probably increases profit margins too, since I'd guess its more expensive than pick n pull.

I spent quite a few days of yore in scrapyards in The Yook (should really be capitalised if we are being picky) but those days of yore were probably about 30 years ago, mostly in Yorkshire.

Here HnS is likely not much of a concern for scrappies as a rule, but they will never deal with the public directly, there being absolutely no direct public demand for parts, since there is absolutely no DIY, apart from me.

So they probably wouldnt be willing to allow it.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - galileo

I spent quite a few days of yore in scrapyards in The Yook (should really be capitalised if we are being picky) but those days of yore were probably about 30 years ago, mostly in Yorkshire.

Ed, It seems the traditional Yorkshire philosophy of "HOW much?" when buying has stayed with you after all these years.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

I spent quite a few days of yore in scrapyards in The Yook (should really be capitalised if we are being picky) but those days of yore were probably about 30 years ago, mostly in Yorkshire.

Ed, It seems the traditional Yorkshire philosophy of "HOW much?" when buying has stayed with you after all these years.

Think that should be "Ow much!?"", partly because of the accent, but mostly because of the pain.

I remember saying exactly that to a scrappy near Leeds who had quoted us a price for a Triump 1300 tranny (which also formed the sump bottom for the engine, a heavy combo) then more than doubled it when we got them separated. If we'd have walked away I suppose he'd have then had a more saleable unit, so he wasn't bothered.

We paid up.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - Bolt

as in days of yore in the yook.

No good talking medieval language, no idea what you mean. or on't nyet its called the internet last time I looked assuming thats what you meant, but could be wrong ;)

are there many scrap yards out there or only a few?

Most scrapyards now have parts stacked on racks/shelves, not many let you wander around looking for what you want.

I suspect this is a result of 'elf and safety' rules and fear of lawsuits if you were to break a fingernail (or worse) taking parts off.

yes taking parts was the norm for some, and probably why they stripped the car themselves, most did a good job, one advantage was, because they stripped and tested parts you got a 14day warranty on parts but paid for the labour on top, though included in parts price

Kept a few in work though, not many left around my way now, all sold and built on now after ground cleanups

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - edlithgow

as in days of yore in the yook.

No good talking medieval language, no idea what you mean. or on't nyet its called the internet last time I looked assuming thats what you meant, but could be wrong ;)

are there many scrap yards out there or only a few?

Most scrapyards now have parts stacked on racks/shelves, not many let you wander around looking for what you want.

I suspect this is a result of 'elf and safety' rules and fear of lawsuits if you were to break a fingernail (or worse) taking parts off.

yes taking parts was the norm for some, and probably why they stripped the car themselves, most did a good job, one advantage was, because they stripped and tested parts you got a 14day warranty on parts but paid for the labour on top, though included in parts price

Kept a few in work though, not many left around my way now, all sold and built on now after ground cleanups

So what happens to scrapped cars? They can't just go straight to the smelter, surely?

IF this was the case it'd imply low demand for parts, which would in turn imply/confirm that cars aren't fixed so much now, which would be bad environmentally..

This tended to be the case with low-demand cars even in those days of yore. LADA's were more fixable than most, but also more despised than most, so it was quite hard to find one (especially a Mk1) in a scrappy, though they were being scrapped on a large scale.

Edited by edlithgow on 10/12/2019 at 06:03

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - Bolt

So what happens to scrapped cars? They can't just go straight to the smelter, surely?

No they have to be totally stripped at large dismantlers yards around London, just another name for scrapyards really, not many left, everything is stripped to the shell and sent for crushing, then sent to port where a large hammer machine breaks the lot into small pieces which are then loaded onto large ships and taken abroad for smelting

parts are sold by the dismantlers after testing usually....at least they used to no idea now though!

the fluid is sold for recycling

as for fuel you can probably guess

WBAC are good at buying near scrap cars, often pay more than scrappys pay, or used to?

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - galileo

There is a big dismantlers at Doncaster where I went for a part for a son's car, they have a huge warehouse with 3-high racking full of engines/gearboxes, a yard full of cars awaiting stripping, you place your order at the counter and in due course an order picker turns up in a little electric truck with your part and others for waiting customers.

A far cry from the old days of climbing among precariously balanced cars with your toolbox in hand.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - Bolt

There is a big dismantlers at Doncaster where I went for a part for a son's car, they have a huge warehouse with 3-high racking full of engines/gearboxes, a yard full of cars awaiting stripping, you place your order at the counter and in due course an order picker turns up in a little electric truck with your part and others for waiting customers.

A far cry from the old days of climbing among precariously balanced cars with your toolbox in hand.

You can order parts from these dismantlers and they have been doing this for years, (Just Google it)order what you want and they search for the parts you need, if they find it they quote a price including shipping and send to you or the garage you want to do the work

personally I found them to be almost as expensive as buying the parts new, but others could find them cheaper and find a part quicker that way than ebay can. (sometimes)

Only one reason for taking toolbox in and it wasn't to hold tools ;)

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - corax

A far cry from the old days of climbing among precariously balanced cars with your toolbox in hand.

With some nutter driving too fast on a forklift passing within inches of the stack and hasn't noticed you. Ah, the old days.

ANY - Fair Price for Part-Worn Tyres? - gordonbennet

Spent many a happy if mucky hour rooting about in scrap yards, found some gems of parts for my cars, ie a near enough brand new set of self levelling rear shocks for my Volvo 9 series estate, these were a staggering cost at the Volvo dealer and no cheaper via factors being Boge were the only supplier anyway.

Son had an E28 5 Series for a while, found a gem of one in the local scappy so got an armful of useful parts as well as what he needed, charged me about £20 the lot for what would easily have been well into 4 figures at the dealer, sadly that superb scrappy is now yet another industrial estate with its own set of traffic lights which will cause even more misery on the already walking pace if you're lucky 2 lane A43 in mid Northants.

Ebay is your friend now for used parts, just keep a regular eye open on the ads when you know something needs replacing, i recently managed to smash a rear light casing on the Forester, didn't even bother asking the dealer parts desk, lots of scrappers trying to charge £50 or more, after a couple of weeks a scrapper in Dumfries had a Foz in, complete lamp unit for £23 incl postage there in two days flat, you need to shop about and not be in a hurry.

I've tried those request online forms before for used parts which are supposed to go out to all scrappers, or rather presumably those who subscribe, never had any joy whatsoever so won't bother again.