Firstly it would be appropriate for me to explain what a part worn tyre is. A part worn tyre is a tyre that has been previously fitted and removed from another vehicle. It could have been removed for a number of reasons; the vehicle could have been scrapped and the tyres removed, another reason would be that the tyre has reached the legal tread depth limit in a country with a different limit to that of the UK. This is the most common source of part worn tyres. As an example the legal tread depth limit in Germany is 3mm (UK is 1.6mm), when the tyre is removed in Germany it will be transported to the UK and sold as a part worn tyre, with 1.4mm of 'useable' tread left.
Now I could approach this topic in one of 2 ways. The first being that part worn tyres are dangerous, damaged, past their 'best before date', or poorly fitted. However for a number of reasons I won't. Not all part worn tyres are bad and there are a number of suppliers who are very good at what they do. You could argue that the tyres on my car are part worn, and I would agree. I do however know the history and age of the tyres on my car.
What I will do is demonstrate that it is more cost effective to fit a brand new tyre than it is to fit a part worn. I have used a very common size; 195/65/15 and have used the following information:
SAVA Intensa HP - £58.96 fitted – 8.3mm of new tread less the 1.6mm legal limit leaves 6.7mm of useable tread.
Part worn tyre - £15 fitted – 3mm of ‘new’ tread less the 1.6mm legal limit leaves 1.4mm of useable tread.
From this information we can calculate that you would need 4.8 part worn tyres to match the amount of tread on a new tyre. At £15 per part worn, this means that it would cost £71.79 in part worn tyres to get the same amount of tread as a new tyre! This is for every tyre and it doesn’t include the inconvenience factor of return visits to the part worn dealer every time the tyre needs changing.
Mission accomplished! New tyres are cheaper than part worns, fact! I have used a mid range tyre, but you could actually use the same calculations and buy a premium brand tyre cheaper than a part worn. It's also worth noting that tyre performance drops of at around 3 mm. Braking distances increase, etc. If you use part worns you will never have a tyre performing at its best.
It’s your call, your money, your safety so it would be wrong of me to tell you not to purchase part worn tyres. What I would say is ‘do your research’ and carry out the checks as described above. The best option is always a new tyre that has been designed for your car, you will find the recommendation in the owners manual.
If you choose to fit part worn tyres please ensure that you check the following:
1. Check the tyre for any cuts or bulges. Both would suggest damage to the internal structure of the tyre.
2. Check the tread way around the whole circumference of the tyre. The minimum (i.e. 100% worn) tread depth a part worn tyre can be sold with is 2mm across the FULL width of the tread and around the whole circumference.
3. Make sure the size and speed rating of the replacement tyre are suitable for the vehicle. Cross axle sizes must be the same and all speed ratings should be adequate for the vehicle.
4. Ensure all puncture repairs are in accordance with the British Standard (BS AU 159)
5. If your tyre has the words 'direction', 'rotation', or 'outside' written on it, it must be fitted accordingly.
6. All part worn tyres must be labelled as such. They must have the words 'PART WORN' marked in capital letters. This must be permanent and legible. (I think this is to give other road users the chance to get out of the way! (Sorry, I said I wouldn't))
Some people will disagree with everything I have just said! But please leave a comment and we can explore your thoughts.
All the best
Stuart
Very interesting blog.......... TY
ReplyDeleteNot all part worns come with 3mm of tread though
ReplyDeleteThanks Trish. Hi Andrew, I agree. Some part worns come with more tread and some new tyres come with less. Anywhere between 3 and 4 mm is common for a part worn, they cannot be sold with less than 2mm. I had to pick some figures to make the point, and like I said not all are bad. There are however more bad in circulation than good.
ReplyDeleteThe only part worns I won't sell are run flats and any with major repairs ! But price is per mm and on your size for comparison I would sell a 6mm for £20 !
ReplyDeleteHi Rich, thanks for your comments. It must be low margin business suppling and fitting at £20, does that include valve, balance, casing disposal and vat? Out of interest, why don't you supply run on flat?
ReplyDeleteWe get pw tyres direct from Europe and import ourselves by the container! So we can be very competitive ! £20 includes valve disposal balance etc . Run flats are a very hard to detect damage, due to the strength of sidewalls and plys
ReplyDeleteHi Rich, thanks again for taking the time to respond. I find this very interesting, hopefully other readers are too?
ReplyDeleteWhat sort of technology are you using to inspect tyres? As I understand the only difference between a run flat and 'normal' tyre is the additional rubber on the inside shoulders.
Hi, the technology is very simply,an obvious visual check inside and out ,then the tyre is mounted and put on a balancer and a adapted dti gauge on a flex head reads lateral & Radial runout, very simple and accurate!
ReplyDeleteRegarding run flats ,because manufacturers don't recommend repairing them and if they have been run flat even for a short distance ,you can't tell that the sidewall armouring has been damaged.
We had a run flat x rayed a few years ago just to see if damage could be detected, and yes you could see side wall and ply damage due to it being run flat but it wasn't detectable by eye or by the dti method .
After that we decided it was not in our interests to supply run flat. This should be a warning to any tyre company that thinks repairing a run flat is ok !
I always just get cheap tyres fitted at my local salvage yard. For me it's just another way to cut the ridiculous costs associated nowadays with owning a vehicle. Even though it would seem like a foolish way of cutting costs, driving has just been made to be far too expensive.
ReplyDeleteHi This is a great post and as a member of tyresafe i am with you all the way thanks eric roberts www.pellonautocentre.com/blog
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