Question on tires

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christherider

56 posts

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#195242 12-Apr-2016 09:16

I recently foolishly bought a car sight-unseen from an Auckland dealer (I'm in Tauranga, had a friend pick it up and drive it to me, I did NOT instruct him to inspect the car as he was doing me a favour). Anyway, among the other issues that the lying prick of a dealer didn't disclose, three of the tires are right on the wear bars. The front right tires obviously didn't pass the WOF, so was replaced with a new one. So I have three heavily worn tires and one new tire. I've always understood that it's a safety hazard to have mismatching tires like this, particularly on the same axle.

Should the dealer not have replaced both front tires, at the very least? I mean, really he should have replaced them all because the car really isn't fit for purpose with barely-WOF-able tires, but that's another point.

old3eyes

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#1530467 12-Apr-2016 09:27

I suspect by my experience last moth that miss matched tire won't get you a WOF. Last year i bought a 2008 Ford Mondeo with 34000Km on the clock . I noticed after a week or two that there was a bit of a shimmy on the front wheels so took it back for a wheel balance. They said that the right front had been curbed by the previous owner so they put it on the back. Still a slight noise but no worry. Last moth it went in for a service and I asked them to put the spare on the left rear. No can do they said as the tread pattern was different from the ones on the vehicle. All 4 tires and the spare are original. The only way to put the spare on as a permanent tire is to change it so that the tread is the same as the rest of the vehicle. One reason never to buy a European vehicle that comes into the country without a spare tire and local ford NZ just put any old tire on as a spare and put a sticker on it saying it can't go faster than 80KPH.. The spare is exactly the same size and the other four tires and not a space saver..

Regards,

Old3eyes

timmmay

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#1530476 12-Apr-2016 09:38

Isn't there a requirement for a dealer to have a recent WOF? Is there some kind of small claims or decision making body for cars? If the dealer doesn't immediately put things right don't mess around, go straight to whatever authority applies.

venomio

178 posts

Master Geek

#1530483 12-Apr-2016 09:41

If the patterns on the tyres don't match, it definitely a WOF fail. But if they're the same pattern and have different treads, it's not really a reason to fail a WOF as long as the treads are within legal requirements.

A section from AA:

Match your tyres

Driving with mismatched tyres is dangerous. Among other warrant of fitness requirements, tyres on the same axle must be of the same tread pattern. However, there is no legal requirement for tyres on all axles to be the same tread, even though NZTA agrees that fitting four identical tyres (preferably summer) provides the best grip.

Snow tyres are made with a softer rubber compound and deeper treads, designed to maintain grip in ice and snow. They can be distinguished by their deep square-patterned tread blocks with numerous fine blades. Newer snow tyres are also marked with a 'mountain snowflake' symbol on the sidewall. They might be found on used cars imported from colder parts of Japan. In Japan, such tyres must have at least 50% tread depth to be legal, yet many below this will still comply with NZ's minimum tread depth of 1.5mm and thus can be used here.

NZTA says the majority of Kiwi motorists have no need to use snow tyres - those who do drive in ice or snow should have them fitted to all four wheels and change them at the end of winter.

However, snow tyres must not be confused with all-season 'mud and snow' tyres (often marked with the letters 'M+S' on the sidewall), which are designed to perform safely in a wide range of summer and winter conditions and are commonly fitted to 4WD vehicles.

Check the tread pattern on all four wheels, and if any appear to be specialist snow tyres, arrange for these to be replaced with ordinary summer tyres. Have your car inspected immediately if you've ever experienced any loss of control, particularly if it's a Japanese import.

If the dealer sold the car to you under the pretence the vehicle was road-worthy, then you can take it up with them legally.

NonprayingMantis

6434 posts

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#1530514 12-Apr-2016 09:52

christherider:

I recently foolishly bought a car sight-unseen from an Auckland dealer (I'm in Tauranga, had a friend pick it up and drive it to me, I did NOT instruct him to inspect the car as he was doing me a favour).

I'm curious. why did you do that.

was it a particularly rare model that couldn't be acquired locally?

or just such a "good deal" on the price that you decided to take the risk?

Bung

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#1530519 12-Apr-2016 10:08

venomio:
If the patterns on the tyres don't match, it definitely a WOF fail. But if they're the same pattern and have different treads, it's not really a reason to fail a WOF as long as the treads are within legal requirements.

I take it that you mean pattern type.

From WOF inspection manual
Tyres on the same axle are not of the same:

a) size designation (see Table 10-1-3), or

b) carcass type (ie mixed steel ply, fabric radial ply, bias/cross ply, run-flat), or

c) tread pattern type (mixed asymmetric, directional, normal highway, traction , winter tyre tread.

Boeingflyer

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#1530696 12-Apr-2016 12:39

Would not be surprise if they got the WOF and then put some old tyres on it since you hadn't seen it.

Batman

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#1530719 12-Apr-2016 12:59

Bung:
venomio:
If the patterns on the tyres don't match, it definitely a WOF fail. But if they're the same pattern and have different treads, it's not really a reason to fail a WOF as long as the treads are within legal requirements.

I take it that you mean pattern type.

From WOF inspection manual
Tyres on the same axle are not of the same:

a) size designation (see Table 10-1-3), or

b) carcass type (ie mixed steel ply, fabric radial ply, bias/cross ply, run-flat), or

c) tread pattern type (mixed asymmetric, directional, normal highway, traction , winter tyre tread.

Ah that makes much more sense