Hi All,
I'd like a bit of advice on tyre safety.
My wife's company car has just had a front tyre replaced. As a result it now has a pair of 2 year old Dunlops on the back and 1 band new Dunlop on the front alongside a 7 year old Goodyear. All are 185/60R14.
I was astounded that the lease company would not fork out for a matching pair on the front for obvious reasons of safety.
I have complained about this but am simply told that its legal, which I don't think is good enough.
The lease company is Zenith and the tyre was fitted by Kwik-Fit.
Regards
Tom
PS.
The reason the Goodyear at the front was replaced was due to a sidewall hernia - probably due to its age.
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Surely the Goodyear has recently been damaged by a pothole or some such problem with our bad road surfaces >nudge nudge>
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Alyn Beattie wrote:
>
> Surely the Goodyear has recently been damaged by a pothole or
> some such problem with our bad road surfaces >nudge nudge>
>
Beat me to it!
The roads this time of year are notorious....
...and what about all the little punks that keep putting nails and stuff under your wheels?
;-)
Mark.
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I would insist they replace the 7 year old tyre, it's too old to be safe. If they refuse I would replace it at my own cost and then get yor wife to fiddle her expenses to make up the cost.
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ajp wrote:
>
> I would insist they replace the 7 year old tyre, it's too old
> to be safe. If they refuse I would replace it at my own cost
> and then get yor wife to fiddle her expenses to make up the
> cost.
Why am I not surprised, considering the domain it was posted from?
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Tom,
I'm amazed a lease company is still running a car that old.
185/60x14 is a popular and cheap size. If they really won't budge I'd buy a matching tyre myself (and not fiddle it from anywhere) because it is a good safety investment for SWMBO.
I hate a car with the mixture you mention, mixing pairs is bad enough.
David
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ALL lease companiess are the same,,,, they expect to replace tyres based on their averaged fleet examples, so if car X shows it gets 15000 miles from front tyres then the lease price is based accordingly, on say replacing 3 time over a 60000 mile lease. provided they are legal then they really dont care. Black , round and legal. though they do tend to steer clear of the low cost, far east tyres.
like others i am surprised that the car is still on the fleet, it must be costing a fortune by now, unless mileage is very low. even so the residuals will be next to nothing by now.
i have never had a lease company replace like with like they are on massive discounts from the tyre companies, and rebates, based upon using 100,000's of tyres a year. my vectra had two new front recently and they were over £100 each, and that is not unusual now with cars going to bigger sizes and lower profiles.
but you can bet the lease company didn'y pay that. incidentally on this occasion the two "in stock" tyres at Kwik Fit were Pirelli and Dunlop, Dunlop being more expensive, i almost fell down when they said fit Dunlops. goes to show that the rebates must be higher at the mooment from Dunlop.....or Pirellis wear out quicker
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Hi All,
"Buying" a tyre is certainly an option but its the gall of the lease company that really gets my goat. This motley crew is paid to keep the car in good running order, something which I would dispute at the moment.
I wonder how many of the directors of Zenith are driving cars with odd tyres? Any car I've owned has never been thus equipped. Different pairs is one thing, but odds and sods, not likely.
They say its not illegal, neither is steering with your elbows, but I wouldn't want to do it.
Cheers
Tom
A quote from www.bridgestone-usa.com/carcare/t_adinfo.htm
>Don't Mix and Match
>If you have to replace a single tire, make sure it's the same size and construction (radial or bias) as the other tire on that axle. (Tire manufacturers do use different materials and methods of construction, so mixing brands may cause irregular wear and handling problems.)
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Michelin have allegedly priced themselves out of the fleet market.
I agree that all lease companies are the same. I got so sick of them doing poor maintenance and the rubbish service from main dealers that I took the cash alternative.
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It may not be such an issue with this size tyre, but I've always been told never to mix tyres across an axle. You may find one tyre has significantly different grip characteristics, especially in the wet. If one grips more than the other under heavy braking, you'll find the car beginning to drift to one side.
Andy
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My twopence worth - what Andy P says here is spot on and the best argument so far.
If you can afford to bluff (not just monetary but company politics and all that), you could threaten the lease company with legal action? Or perhaps ask for a written guarantee of safety?
In the end, I would also personally pay for another tyre if I couldn't get the lease company to pay.
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Tom,
there are a few things that you can do.
Firstly, check the vehicle handbook. You will find the usual advice about not mixing radial and crossply tyres, but you may also find something to the effect of "..it is recommended that tyres on the same axle be replaced in pairs...tyres with different tread-patterns/tread-depth/wear-characteristics can cause..blah blah blah".
If this is in the handbook you should check the smallprint in the vehicle insurance policy. I'm not sure if UK insurance companies are as devious as US ones, but some US vehicle insurers include a clause in the policy which invalidates the policy if the vehicle is "being operated outside the manufacturers recommendations".
By driving the vehicle when the above applies, your wife could be committing an offence since I would guess that she is uninsured technically speaking.
Secondly, your wife could get her company Fleet Manager to contact the lease company. They might change their mind as an act of goodwill if they think they might lose business.
Third, get a quote for replacement of the old tyre and get your wife to approach her manager and express her worries about driving a car in this condition. They may agree to cover the cost of a new tyre on expenses as a health and safety issue.
Lastly, if none of the above achieves the desired result and the spare is also unsuitable, bite the bullet and replace it yourself. I, sure as hell wouldn't drive a car with one new tyre and one 7-year old tyre on the same axle, so there's no way I would expect my SO to do so. Especially not in winter conditions.
Good luck,
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Thanks Kevin,
My wife will try to get them on the invalidated insurance point, as the handbook certainly states that tyres should be changed in sets of 4 and proceeds to say (more realistically) that tyres should be identical on the same axle.
Tom
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> I'm not sure if UK insurance companies are as devious as US ones, but some US vehicle insurers include a clause in the policy which invalidates the
> policy if the vehicle is "being operated outside the
> manufacturers recommendations". By driving the vehicle when the above applies, your wife
> could be committing an offence since I would guess that she is uninsured technically speaking.
Usually not "safe and roadworthy". i.e. it is quite possible that having no MOT will not invalidate part of your insurance.
Her "legally required" insurance is not invalidated. AD maybe, but that would be her company's problem, not her's.
As an aside, UK Insurers had the word "devious" added to the OED especially for their own use.
> Secondly, your wife could get her company Fleet Manager to contact the lease company. They might change their mind as an act of goodwill if they think they might lose business.
Careful. 10 to 1 this is not the lease company's decision. It is a very good chance that this was negotiated with, and agreed by, your wife's company in order to reduce leasing costs.
Whilst your approach is right, the correct people to deal with are almost certainly her company's fleet manager, not the lease company. If they have agreed something putting her in a position of danger or risk, they could get cremated.
I think that what you will find is that they cannot refuse to have that tyre replaced, although the lease company can pass the cost to her company and in turn, depending on contract, they can pass it to her. You'd need to dig out her employment contract or company car agreement to be sure.
Are you sure there is no perishing or bulging on the offending tyre which would make a tyre dealer say it should be replaced in its own right ?
Of course, if in the course of normal driving she drove over a nail and punctured the tyre, then it would be replaced without question. Not that I would in any way suggest that this was done on purpose.
M.
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I don't wish to be cynical, but I find it very hard to believe that Zenith are running a SEVEN year old car and the car is still on one of the original tyres.
Kind regards
David
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Hi David,
I have better things to do than tell fibs.
The car was inherited by Zenith when my wife's company contracted-out management of their fleet.
50K + miles with one original tyre remaining.
Tom
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