Going for used or new tyres depends what your plans are for the car. Do you use your car daily? What’s your average yearly mileage? What do you mostly use your car for?
But buying used tyres is kind of like buying a used car. The previous owner did not get rid of them because they were in perfect shape, did they? And safety on the road should be your main concern when buying tyres.
Sure, if you’re not using your car very much and don’t really want to spend money on it then yeah, used or part worn tyres seems like a good idea but there are a few facts you should take into consideration:
- The legal tyre tread depth is 1.6mm and tyres should be replaced when the tread depth approaches 2mm. This is because in wet conditions (of which we have plenty) the grip of your tyres can be severely affected as the water on the road can’t be ejected from under your tyre efficiently, causing skids and lose of steering ability.
- The tyre could have been driven underinflated, overloaded or at excessively high speeds, any one, or a combination of these factors could lead to internal damage not visible from the outside or to the naked eye. In short, a used tire could be unsafe and further use by you could increase the chances of a blow out.
- Used tyres wear faster than new ones – a bit of common sense that, but really, here’s a study done by an independent tyre expert in the UK (courtesy of autoexpress.co.uk) that shows you how they are not really cheaper as you’d be buying a new set well ahead in comparison to if you’d bought new ones in the first place.
Average part-worn versus new tyre costs
(From independent tyre expert Ted Foreman – UK, hence the prices in Sterling, study done of 50 randomly bought used tyres around the UK)
| Part-worn | New | ||||
| Tyre size | Tread | Price | Cost per mm* | Price | Cost per mm** |
| 165/70 R14 | 3.84mm | £20.00 | £8.93 | £30.60 | £3.99 |
| 165/65 R14 | 5.17mm | £40.00 | £11.20 | £30.31 | £4.12 |
| 175/65 R14 | 4.90mm | £24.67 | £7.47 | £30.22 | £4.29 |
| 195/50 R15 | 5.17mm | £25.00 | £7.00 | £32.69 | £4.72 |
| 175/65 R15 | 4.25mm | £22.50 | £8.48 | £37.37 | £7.74 |
| 205/50 R16 | 3.95mm | £18.33 | £7.81 | £41.36 | £4.78 |
| 205/55 R16 | 4.00mm | £43.10 | £17.96 | £37.72 | £4.81 |
| 195/55 R15 | 5.42mm | £23.00 | £6.02 | £39.82 | £4.99 |
| 185/60 R14 | 5.17mm | £14.75 | £4.13 | £31.96 | £5.11 |
| 175/65 R16 | 4.50mm | £20.00 | £6.90 | £95.52 | £5.84 |
| 155/70 R13 | 5.06mm | £9.14 | £2.64 | £26.36 | £5.89 |
| 165/80 R13 | 5.00mm | £13.75 | £4.04 | £27.44 | £6.22 |
| 165/65 R13 | 4.50mm | £10.99 | £3.79 | £25.54 | £6.46 |
*To legal limit. **To legal limit, based on tread depth of 8mm.
(Scource: http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/35532/used-tyre-scandal#ixzz2NzFuEQdL)
- And lastly, all new tyres since November last year now legally have to have safety rating stickers on them. So when you come to us for advice on getting the best value for money and safety, you can see what you’re getting fuel efficiency and wet grip wise.