Illegal Tyres

[Dragonfly29]

Hi,

purchased a car from a large dealership 3 weeks ago today,

had the car serviced on today

 

it has come to light that I have been driving with 2 illegal rear Tyres.

I have spoken to the dealership and produced an invoice and covering letter with the required proof of Tyre depth etc

the dealership have now back tracked and said they only are responsible for electrical or mechanical faults not Tyres.

 

Any advice please would be great.

[dx100uk]

really .....they sold a car that was not road legal.?

so wheres the MOT they had done and the 151 point checks [most claim to do] results that prove they were legal.

 

 

[Dragonfly29]

MOT done in March said near the legal limit which is fine

I was going to replace the 2 anyway

but for the garage to find they were below the 1.6mm limit seems wrong on the dealership part.

 

I have given them both invoice and letter stating they were below the legal limit

they say they are only responsible for electrical and mechanical faults.

[dx100uk]

well no

what they are saying is they are not responsible for fair wear and tear I expect.

 

in 3 weeks how many miles have you done is p'haps the relevant issue. then?

 

they are not duty bound no if they WERE legal upon sale, though rather cheeky not to change them.

 

[scaniaman]

Can you prove to dealer that they are the tyres that were on car at time of sale ?????:

Many dealer warranties exclude glass & rubber.

[Dragonfly29]

Less than 100 miles not enough miles or time to wear the Tyres enough according to the garage. I’m more angry I could have got up to a £5000 fine and 6 points, what would the dealership responsibilities be then? 

[Dragonfly29]

I only got the car 3 weeks ago, had the car serviced as it was coming up to the service date and was advised by the garage that the Tyres were illegal so I think it’s cut and dry really. The fact is I was allowed to drive a car off the forecourt with 2 bald tyres and I was told by dealer the car had been checked and surely Tyres should have been part of the check.

[king12345]

3 weeks later...

I could burn 2 brand new rear tyres in 1 hour using the handbrake in any car park.

Most likely you won't get anything from them.

[Dragonfly29]

What do you drive? An F1 car....the point is they were bald when I purchased the car. I trust the garages judgment and experience and if they say they were illegal when I got the car then that’s good enough for me, after all driven less than 100 miles.....blimey you must have a heavy foot and over use the hand break to burn out 2 new Tyres in under an hour!!!

[AndyOrch]

I think the dealer would have taken ownership of the car which would have had a current MOT at the time of purchase.Because they didn't carry out a fresh MOT(which I don't suppose they are required to)..they would have no requirement to check the tyres.Now if they sold the car to you and stated it had recently been serviced by themselves..that would be a different matter and they would be liable.

 

Possibly an oversight of the dealer..and subject to age and value of the car could have possibly pointed it out at the time of purchase and offered to part pay for replacements or in full subject to the value of vehicle.. 

 

just my opinion

 

Andy

[Dragonfly29]

Thanks Andy, sound thinking but still bloody frustrating after spending 13k with them now arguing over £170 bill for Tyres.

[king12345]

Sorry to upset you with blunt truth, but as said, maybe this is an oversight from the dealer and they didn't know the condition of the tyres. 

So if you were the dealer, would you trust someone after a week to say the tyres were illegal at point of sale?

Sorry to say, but even the most clueless car buyer looks at the tyres (tyre kickers springs to mind).

However,  as you paid 13k for the car, the dealer might just give you 2 new tyres and forget about it. (But I would be surprised)

[ReasonableRon]

8 minutes ago, Dragonfly29 said:

Thanks Andy, sound thinking but still bloody frustrating after spending 13k with them now arguing over £170 bill for Tyres.

But you said in Post#3 that you were going to replace them anyway?  It seems that you bought the car knowing that they were 'near' the legal limit and clearly had made a mental note that this bill was therefore imminent.  

[AndyOrch]

19 minutes ago, Dragonfly29 said:

Thanks Andy, sound thinking but still bloody frustrating after spending 13k with them now arguing over £170 bill for Tyres.

 

 

It is when you spent that much......I had a very similar experience...mine went back to the dealer for its first MOT (7 months after Purchase) and it failed on a brake caliper.The dealer replaced the caliper and stated that because i had only had the car several months it was free of charge and should have been picked up previously.

 

How long they had the vehicle up to selling me unknown and if they had done a pre sale service is also unknown ..suppose its down to the Dealer and service reputation

[Dragonfly29]

21 minutes ago, ReasonableRon said:

But you said in Post#3 that you were going to replace them anyway?  It seems that you bought the car knowing that they were 'near' the legal limit and clearly had made a mental note that this bill was therefore imminent.  

Yes Ron, I did know that in the MOT it said near the limit and yes I was going to replace but........as I keep saying the garage that did the service said there was no way that in 2 weeks and 2 days to be precise and not being driven for around 90 miles could they possible so far under the legal limit. When you buy a car and keep it in good mechanical order yes you know that bills are “imminent” but not when it should have been picked up by the dealership if they had done all the checks that they said they did.

[Dragonfly29]

28 minutes ago, king12345 said:

Sorry to upset you with blunt truth, but as said, maybe this is an oversight from the dealer and they didn't know the condition of the tyres. 

So if you were the dealer, would you trust someone after a week to say the tyres were illegal at point of sale?

Sorry to say, but even the most clueless car buyer looks at the tyres (tyre kickers springs to mind).

However,  as you paid 13k for the car, the dealer might just give you 2 new tyres and forget about it. (But I would be surprised)

Considering the wear was on the inside tyre wall and not having a ramp or lift in my back pocket I unfortunately did not want to crawl under a car in a showroom. By the way no tyre kicker here, I did my research on the car I wanted and price I wanted to pay, found a dealer with good customer feedback and took the car for a test drive. All I did wrong was trust a car dealership and as you say maybe if they valued a customer they would offer to pay for the tyres, but I suppose we can put dealerships in the same boat as estate agents....blunt truth!

[ericsbrother]

problem with tyres is that you are responsible for their condition the moment you get on to the public highway.

Sorry to say that dealership cant be held responsible for them now, if you had spotted they were illegal the moment you went to dive off then not only would they have to replace they woudl likely be prosecuted for selling an unroadworthy vehicle rather than just having to swallow a small added expense.

you know what you can do- leave appropriate comment on all social media and review sites.

you might get an offer os new tyres then

[scaniaman]

I'm confused here. One comment says tread below 1.6 mm and other comment says fault is on inner side wall---which is it??

Also, any half decent dealer should not be selling a 13K car with tyres remotely near end of life.

Had I seen an MOT advisory prior to purchase, it would have been a condition of sale that advisories be rectified.

[stinky-pants]

Interesting. 

 

What was the mileage recorded on the MOT & what was the mileage on your purchased invoice. 

 

One MOT tester might advise at their discretion, another might fail a car. It depends on their stats.

 

Tyres will fail if they are presented as dangerous on that day and that day only. 

 

When tyres are low on tread they can wear out very very quickly, just as KING has advised you.