I'd pop in to a tyre shop and get them to have a look. Sidewall damage can be pretty serious, or it may be nothing at all. I wouldn't leave it to the WOF inspector.
nakedmolerat: Even IF it passes WOF, I will change that tyre.
Sidewall damage is a time bomb.
What car is it?
Oh yeah, I'll get it changed. It's just it's not a good time to splash out $200 on a tyre right now. It's a Mazda MPV 2008.
Fair enough.
I have had experience with sidewall damage and ignoring it. Always a little bit concerned. Did you see the cord when you pull the flap?
I saw this on AA site - not entirely sure what it means as apparently cut more than 25mm make it illegal.
Sidewall bulges cannot be repaired. They show that the tyre is unsafe, so must be replaced as soon as possible. Tyres are illegal to use if they have a cut of longer than 25mm, deep enough to reach the plies/cords, or a cut that actually exposes the cords.
Something similar happened to me the other week - and I discovered it a couple of days before my WOF was due. I called into the only store that stocks the current tyre on the car, and they checked it out and said it would be fine and would pass the WOF without issue. In my case, only rubber was visible under the 'gash', so you may face a different outcome. But I'd totally recommend just calling into a tyre place to have them check it out - but perhaps one that you trust, rather than one of those that appear to do anything to increase the chance of a sale...
And, yes, my car passed the WOF without issue, which I was damn glad about given I got a quote for new tyres at the same time: $1600 (or thereabouts) for four tyres (at that point they were doing 4 for the price of three, so the full price was something like $500 each!).
Best to check when you get a WOF so see if they will pass it. But is that caused by damage, or is it a manufacturing defect in the tyre. It looks like it is sliced, can you trim it off, and whats under it? I dont think people can say it is safe, as you can't tell from a photo.
Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly
to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.
Trusted
Vocus
