Duff tyres or duff car???

[Ben_L]

Right, I'll start the story just before Christmas 2011...

I bought two new 195/55/15v tyres for my Astra wheels attached to my Cavalier 1.6. They were Enduro Runway budget tyres which looked the dogs bits, but I soon realised otherwise. They wouldn't grip in the wet at all, and compared to my old 13" wheels, I didn't see the improvement. Anyway, I carried on using them, MOT time came and went without issue in February.

Beginning of May, I parked with my wheels on the lock at a petrol station and saw that there was a 2"x2" patch with no tread on the drivers side tyre. I almost immediately had them replaced and found 3 buldges on the same tyre!!!

The new front tyres were Riken Maystorm II units (Made by Michelin, sold by ATS as a mid/low range tyre). These improved things immensely, the wheels ran straight, didn't pull from side to side randomly and 0-110mph was completely shake and shudder free!!! Soon after the tyres were changed, the OSF wheel bearing had gone so that was changed. The vehicle had the work done at Vauxhall Murketts of Cambridge and came back with a relatively good health check report.

About a fortnight ago, soon after the wheel bearing was replaced, the shaking started, so I returned the vehicle to ATS for wheel balancing (Free of Charge) and was told that my wheels were badly buckled. I was told if it carried on, I'd be expected to put the rear wheels to the front and vice versa. However, the shaking continued, so I took the vehicle into ATS Cambridge, who lifted the car up and found a bulge on the NSF tyre and that the tread was peeling away down the middle all around.

The technician said my steering rack was shot, and that the rear wheel bearings were screwed (A lil' play but no roughness) and that this was almost certainly the cause for the wear. Almost instantly, I returned the car to Vauxhall, fuming about the news and asking why the health check hadn't been carried out properly. Up she went, in Murketts and a new health check report produced. Same as before, minus the Reverse Light advice which was rectified. No suspension, steering or bearing issues.

ATS are telling me I have to buy a new tyre in order to possibly get a refund on the offending tyre, but imho, that is not good enough. I have demanded a tyre, free of charge, save for 10% which I will happily pay due to the 3000 miles I've done on the tyre already (It's only fair that I should pay for the use I've had).

They're sticking to their guns, despite the sale of goods act stating otherwise.

Where do I go from here? Are they trying to screw me over or do I genuinely have to gamble another £55.33 on possibly getting whats right?

Thanks,

Ben.


For information, the centre that fitted the tyre was Mildenhall, the centre that tried to drum up business from me is Cambridge - Histon Road, and the main dealer who've given me excellent service even now, is Murketts of Stapleford.

[A-J]

The rear wheel bearings are designed to have some free play in them, taper roller bearings do that haha

On the subject of your tyres, first port would be your local trading standards to solve the replacement issue.

Beyond that, if the wheels are buckled then I agree, put the worst on the rear, you will notice the shake less but it may cause some uneven tyre wear depending on how bad the buckle is. If your rack was completely shot it should have been picked up on the MOT, it is basically a safety check after all and anything that adversely affects brakes, suspension and steering is usually a straight fail, or at least an advise (unless it's an in n out MOT centre, I've seen some of their horror stories...)

Side note, buckled wheels should have been reported on the MOT


Hope this helps in some way

[planetc]

If the tread was peeling away from the carcass then that suggests that the tyre may be faulty. It's notoriously difficult to prove a faulty tyre. I would start by making the car safe and legal by whatever means you have to, and then request that the tyre is inspected by a representative of the manufacturer in your presence. The bulge in the sidewall could be an issue, it depends if it is damage, or a failure of the carcass.

[bigmitch]

Get in contact with trading standards and explain what happen and the 0 to 110mph was not on public road if I was you

[Ben_L]

Tyre replaced.

I contacted consumer helpline who directed me to a complaints letter writing tool on the direct.gov website. This really took the wind out of ats's sails and got me a new tyre for £4.50. Less than I was expecting.

It just goes to show how not knowing about cars can do, I knew my rear bearings were fine. As is the steering rack, of course it's heavy to turn lock to lock on the ground, it's got no pas.

Moral of the story is stick to your guns. I was lucky, I just hate to think how many old dears have parted with their cash tlfor no reason.

And yes, the tyre was sent to michelin for inspection. I believe it was a duff one, so we'll see if I get my refund.

[northern lad]

a badly buckled wheel will have strange effects on the tread too - doing as you described with bald patches etc. i'd get them checked out first before you do anything else