Tyre fitter recommendations

[BeeBee]

Been informed at yesterdays MOT that our van passed its MOT however
“Tyres (all 4 and presumably spare too) are :
‘Edges showing cracking and perishing’ and advised to monitor and consider.
Only done 11000 miles but age is seemingly the issue. We’ve had the van from new , now 5 years in May..
From subsequent advise on this forum I checked the 4 digit number on tyres and ‘3118’ would suggest the tyres are indeed 6 years old. In 53 years driving never experienced this so somewhat perplexing.
My question is has anyone used a ‘Kwikfit’ in Glasgow Southside area that they would recommend as we are now in a quandry as to ‘if and when’ we change the tyres.

 

[Georgeo]

I have used Pitstop at Silverburn they are very good. You buy the tyres on line at black circle.com the price includes fitting you choose a fitter (Pitstop) and a time.Tyres are delivered to Pitstop. Over the years and different vehicles I have had three sets fitted. All fine no damage to alloys and a pleasant fitter.

 

[BeeBee]

I have used Pitstop at Silverburn they are very good. You buy the tyres on line at black circle.com the price includes fitting you choose a fitter (Pitstop) and a time.Tyres are delivered to Pitstop. Over the years and different vehicles I have had three sets fitted. All fine no damage to alloys and a pleasant fitter.

Thanks, have they fitted tyres to your van or was it cars ?

 

[Georgeo]

They did the Cali last October. They get 4.9/5 from over 5000 Reviews

 

[BeeBee]

Good to know, we have a Sparesafe on spare wheel, did they need to do your spare ie we’re concerned re ‘reattaching’ as we originally had a bit of a faff fitting it !

 

[Georgeo]

No the spare is the original. Can’t remember ever replacing a spare on any vehicle in 50 years of driving.

 

[WelshGas]

Been informed at yesterdays MOT that our van passed its MOT however
“Tyres (all 4 and presumably spare too) are :
‘Edges showing cracking and perishing’ and advised to monitor and consider.
Only done 11000 miles but age is seemingly the issue. We’ve had the van from new , now 5 years in May..
From subsequent advise on this forum I checked the 4 digit number on tyres and ‘3118’ would suggest the tyres are indeed 6 years old. In 53 years driving never experienced this so somewhat perplexing.
My question is has anyone used a ‘Kwikfit’ in Glasgow Southside area that they would recommend as we are now in a quandry as to ‘if and when’ we change the tyres.

The spare is less likely to be affected so early as its basically kept in the dark, less exposed to UV.

 

[BeeBee]

The spare is less likely to be affected so early as its basically kept in the dark, less exposed to UV.

Yes I believe that UV is part of the issue. It’s gaulling as when I look at the tyres they look AOK but obviously the VW garage is indicating an issue, but not saying it’s a ‘Fail’ , just saying needs considering and definitely before next years MOT … a bit vague for my liking.
It makes you wary under these circumstances, should we change now and if we go for ‘all season’ that means 5 tyres as opposed to 4, if we stick with the originals, as you say “spare not as immediate an issue’
I’m a bit of a procrastinator .lol.

 

[WelshGas]

Yes I believe that UV is part of the issue. It’s gaulling as when I look at the tyres they look AOK but obviously the VW garage is indicating an issue, but not saying it’s a ‘Fail’ , just saying needs considering and definitely before next years MOT … a bit vague for my liking.
It makes you wary under these circumstances, should we change now and if we go for ‘all season’ that means 5 tyres as opposed to 4, if we stick with the originals, as you say “spare not as immediate an issue’
I’m a bit of a procrastinator .lol.

You don’t need to change the spare if you treat it as a “ Space Saver “ get you out of trouble. That’s what I do as my spare is a non- rotational tyre. I will limit speed and distance if I have to use it.

 

[BeeBee]

Thanks, good advise.
Thinking we’ll go with 4
Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6
235/55 17V (103)
( It’s Bridgestone Turanza that are the original tyres)
And keep the in darkness spare, treated like a space saver.

 

[TripleBee]

No the spare is the original. Can’t remember ever replacing a spare on any vehicle in 50 years of driving.

When my front tyres were gone, I ordered 1 new tyre. Put on the spare tyre, and one new tyre, and took the best tyre for spare. Saves you 1 tyre, but you will have to change it soon enough, before the spare tyre gets too old.

 

[JohnCalifornia]

My 2019 Cali failed it’s MOT last year due to 1 tyre with severe cracking. This was done at Leeds VW centre as part of my All in policy. They couldn’t get me the same make tire (I like all my cars tyres to be the same make) and offered me a cheap alternative brand to pass the MOT. I declined their offer and told them I’ll source my own and get it fitted. They advised me the car had now failed it’s MOT and shouldn’t be driven even though it still had 3 weeks of a valid MOT left………Anyway I picked the Cali back up, sourced a local tyre fitter 2 miles away , got it fitted and returned the Cali within the hour so they could issue a pass certificate. My gripe was that the tyre fitting garage I took it to couldn’t determine which tyre had failed the MOT as it wasn’t stated on any paperwork so I had to call VW Leeds to find out which took them 10 mins while I was on hold to find out. My tyre fitter couldn’t find anything wrong to determine an MOT fail with the tyre and would have replaced one of the front tyres instead of the rears which I had to do to obtain a pass certificate Anyway when I returned to VW to get the pass certificate I questioned this and the fact that the Cali had been in for work 2 weeks before and had a complimentary health check and the tyre wasn’t mentioned then. They put it down to an over zelus MOT inspector and there was nothing they could do about it. This year I’m taking my Cali to my local MOT centre which I use for my other vehicles and not using the free MOT on the All in policy . The new tyre I got fitted was £140 and I had to finish work early to get it fitted so I was not happy that day………I’m wondering if MOT inspectors are checking the Tyre date stamps and looking for the slightest issue if they are around the 5 year old mark. Our other car is a RRS which has an advisory on all 4 tyres for cracking even though I can’t see any cracks anywhere. The age of these are 2016 and unfortunately the MOT was not done at my local MOT centre although it will be this year. (Sorry for the long post)

 

[BeeBee]

Thanks for taking the time to give me all the ‘nuts & bolts’ of your experience.
It’s made me think that a wee trip to the local Kwikfit ( fairly well liked locally) and an ask for a once over of the tyres would be well advised.
Given our tyres indicate 3118, so 6 years old (even though van 2019) it may very well be a case similar to yours ie ‘a read of the dates’, so a second opinion is definately needed.
I’ll be telling them that in the case of any future tyre purchases I’ll use them so hopefully they won’t be too over zealous.
It was the Bridgestone Turanza All Season 6 I was considering and I’m a wee bit confused as they are recommended for the VW California but are classed as 4x4 … I thought the vans needed XL class tyres… maybe you could clarify that for me, is there a difference in loading ?
Thanks again

 

[BeeBee]

My 2019 Cali failed it’s MOT last year due to 1 tyre with severe cracking. This was done at Leeds VW centre as part of my All in policy. They couldn’t get me the same make tire (I like all my cars tyres to be the same make) and offered me a cheap alternative brand to pass the MOT. I declined their offer and told them I’ll source my own and get it fitted. They advised me the car had now failed it’s MOT and shouldn’t be driven even though it still had 3 weeks of a valid MOT left………Anyway I picked the Cali back up, sourced a local tyre fitter 2 miles away , got it fitted and returned the Cali within the hour so they could issue a pass certificate. My gripe was that the tyre fitting garage I took it to couldn’t determine which tyre had failed the MOT as it wasn’t stated on any paperwork so I had to call VW Leeds to find out which took them 10 mins while I was on hold to find out. My tyre fitter couldn’t find anything wrong to determine an MOT fail with the tyre and would have replaced one of the front tyres instead of the rears which I had to do to obtain a pass certificate Anyway when I returned to VW to get the pass certificate I questioned this and the fact that the Cali had been in for work 2 weeks before and had a complimentary health check and the tyre wasn’t mentioned then. They put it down to an over zelus MOT inspector and there was nothing they could do about it. This year I’m taking my Cali to my local MOT centre which I use for my other vehicles and not using the free MOT on the All in policy . The new tyre I got fitted was £140 and I had to finish work early to get it fitted so I was not happy that day………I’m wondering if MOT inspectors are checking the Tyre date stamps and looking for the slightest issue if they are around the 5 year old mark. Our other car is a RRS which has an advisory on all 4 tyres for cracking even though I can’t see any cracks anywhere. The age of these are 2016 and unfortunately the MOT was not done at my local MOT centre although it will be this year. (Sorry for the long post)

Forgot to link my reply post to your response.
And now also considering the Goodyear Vector 4 …. if indeed I need to purchase !

 

[JohnCalifornia]

I have the Goodyear Vector 4s on mine so a ball park figure for 1 is £140 each

 

[BeeBee]

I have the Goodyear Vector 4s on mine so a ball park figure for 1 is £140 each

Thanks, issue at the moment is Kwikfit have them online however when I enter my reg , postcode and sizing (235/55/17 103V) it comes up with the Goodyears icons indicating ‘4 x 4’ , no mention of XL and a telephone call later the comment was “they should do” , doesn’t fill me with confidence or am I misinterpreting something ?

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Thanks, issue at the moment is Kwikfit have them online however when I enter my reg , postcode and sizing (235/55/17 103V) it comes up with the Goodyears icons indicating ‘4 x 4’ , no mention of XL and a telephone call later the comment was “they should do” , doesn’t fill me with confidence or am I misinterpreting something ?

Below explains XL marking - replaces the old reinforced marking; tyres have max axle weights printed in them, just get ones that are suited to a Cali.

When to use reinforced tyres ? | MICHELIN

What are reinforced tyres and when should they be used? Are they necessary for your vehicle? Read our article to find out.

www.michelin.co.uk

 

[BeeBee]

Below explains XL marking - replaces the old reinforced marking; tyres have max axle weights printed in them, just get ones that are suited to a Cali.

When to use reinforced tyres ? | MICHELIN

What are reinforced tyres and when should they be used? Are they necessary for your vehicle? Read our article to find out.

www.michelin.co.uk

Thanks, so those on line that have a 4 x 4 icon AND Reinforced icon ( although maybe they should have been changed to XL.)

 

[BeeBee]

I have the Goodyear Vector 4s on mine so a ball park figure for 1 is £140 each

Which speed rating are your Goodyear Vector 4’s . I can only find H rated or Y rated, given ours are V, is the Y the choice ?

 

[JohnCalifornia]

Not too sure. I’m assuming it’s on the tyre somewhere? I’ll take a look tomorrow in the daylight

 

[BeeBee]

Not too sure. I’m assuming it’s on the tyre somewhere? I’ll take a look tomorrow in the daylight

Thanks, appreciated

 

[JohnCalifornia]

So my tyres are Goodyear Vector 4 seasons, they say extra load on them and are 235/55R17 then it says 103 H. I’m assuming H is the speed rating

 

[colintfcolintf]

So my tyres are Goodyear Vector 4 seasons, they say extra load on them and are 235/55R17 then it says 103 H. I’m assuming H is the speed rating

Yes

 

[flying banana]

I'd have left it for a few more thousand miles. They didn't fail it. So they're ok

 

[TripleBee]

So my tyres are Goodyear Vector 4 seasons, they say extra load on them and are 235/55R17 then it says 103 H. I’m assuming H is the speed rating

H = 210

You would have enough with less. At least I have enough, as on paper it states my van only goes 170km/h. So my tyres can be R.