Poor tyre wear?

[nta16]

3 hours ago, JohnBob said:

Everything pretty much equal apart from the car.  40k was when all 4 tyres were swapped having been rotated front to back.  

40k on all four tyres is even better.  The cars being different is a big difference as the wheels and tyre sizes were different too, so as I put before, same make and model of tyre can vary even within the size range and one set of tyres was presumably (always dangerous) made at a different time to the other set so compounds or manufacture may have varied or even changed in the intervening time.  And in the last couple of years there's been a few factors that might affect a production even more so than usual.

 

But well done again on getting that 40k.  👍

 

[numskull]

On 28/10/2021 at 22:16, Danoid said:

Mine is still on the originals from factory in 2016 with coming up to 37K miles.

 

Pirelli P7’s do seem to last a while it seems, but the outside is perishing a bit from lack of use in my ownership

Same as our P7’s at 32k. Still have 6mm on the front (they were on the back) and 5mm on the rear. And yep, there’s cracking on the tread edges too. 

[KeteCantek]

On 28/10/2021 at 22:16, Danoid said:

Mine is still on the originals from factory in 2016 with coming up to 37K miles.

 

Pirelli P7’s do seem to last a while it seems, but the outside is perishing a bit from lack of use in my ownership

Same here but I only have 25k on the clock. Can see micro cracks on the outside edges. Otherwise about 4mm all round still. 

[nta16]

These high mileages are good but do take into account that although the legal limit is 1.6mm across 3/4 many consider 3mm a good minimum tread to cover weather and road conditions, remember the tyres are the vehicle's only contact with the road and all the manufacturer's electronic aids will not overcome real world physics.

 

Slick tyres are OK for dry sunny times but as we live in the UK we know that there will be wet weather along, perhaps a matters of days but often minutes, sunny here now, showers this afternoon.

 

[Black263]

6 hours ago, nta16 said:

These high mileages are good but do take into account that although the legal limit is 1.6mm across 3/4 many consider 3mm a good minimum tread to cover weather and road conditions, remember the tyres are the vehicle's only contact with the road and all the manufacturer's electronic aids will not overcome real world physics.

 

Slick tyres are OK for dry sunny times but as we live in the UK we know that there will be wet weather along, perhaps a matters of days but often minutes, sunny here now, showers this afternoon.

 

That's why I was concerned at the low mileage achieved.  I normally change at 3mm and after only 8900 miles we're nearly there.  Fortunately, I got an offer of 15% discount on 4 tyres, so will be swapping them for Crossclimate 2 in a few days.

[nta16]

1 hour ago, Black263 said:

That's why I was concerned at the low mileage achieved.  I normally change at 3mm and after only 8900 miles we're nearly there.  Fortunately, I got an offer of 15% discount on 4 tyres, so will be swapping them for Crossclimate 2 in a few days.

Well you have unusual wear, very unusual if not over-inflation, so that could be a big factor in the wear.

 

If allowed, have you rotated the tyres in that 8,900 miles?

 

Be interesting to see how you get on with different tyres but obviously if there's a problem with the car it will need sorting first.

 

[Black263]

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

Well you have unusual wear, very unusual if not over-inflation, so that could be a big factor in the wear.

 

If allowed, have you rotated the tyres in that 8,900 miles?

 

Be interesting to see how you get on with different tyres but obviously if there's a problem with the car it will need sorting first.

 

Only had the car since end of August, so no rotation.

[KenONeill]

1 hour ago, Black263 said:

Only had the car since end of August, so no rotation.

So you do ~5_000 miles per month, and don't check tyre wear patterns about every week!?

[Black263]

5 minutes ago, KenONeill said:

So you do ~5_000 miles per month, and don't check tyre wear patterns about every week!?

Sorry.  Didn't explain.  It was a Skoda manager's company car.  I bought it with 7800 on the clock.  I've only added 1100 miles in the time I've had it.

[J.R.]

29 minutes ago, Black263 said:

Sorry.  Didn't explain.  It was a Skoda manager's company car.

 

Of course it was, every one of them that is pre-registered and sold under the tax scam with low mileage are.

 

And Santa Claus is real.

[nta16]

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

Of course it was, every one of them that is pre-registered and sold under the tax scam with low mileage are.

Given the very unusual wear I'd think that it might have been used by the Dealership personnel, perhaps even as a Manager's company car and possibly lent out to the rest of his family.  This might explain the uneven wear.

 

And why, if it's the same Dealership, the dealer thinks this wear is quite reasonable.

 

[Black263]

6 hours ago, nta16 said:

Given the very unusual wear I'd think that it might have been used by the Dealership personnel, perhaps even as a Manager's company car and possibly lent out to the rest of his family.  This might explain the uneven wear.

 

And why, if it's the same Dealership, the dealer thinks this wear is quite reasonable.

 

Bought from Marshalls, Northampton who said it was the Finance Manager's car.  Marshalls in Bedford did the service.  May be a tax scam, but list was £42k (I'm hit by the "luxury" rate of VED) and I  paid £29.5k.

[nta16]

1 hour ago, Black263 said:

Bought from Marshalls, Northampton who said it was the Finance Manager's car.  Marshalls in Bedford did the service.  May be a tax scam, but list was £42k (I'm hit by the "luxury" rate of VED) and I  paid £29.5k.

My wife's car is serviced and MoT'd at Marshall's, Bedford Road, since it's been at that site (2019, Progress was there before that) and I can't say I'm over impressed with Marshall but it's my wife's car.

 

I actually actually put in for a job as a Finance Manager with the local VW dealership (I think the job title was confusingly Business Manager) I'm very glad I didn't get passed the initial interview (which was actually the second after the agency interview for a vague and unspecified job with an unspecified employer) I'm glad I got no further as I'd have totally unsuitable for the job as I like to help people not get paid at all costs.  A number of years later I actually worked at a different small dealership for a couple of weeks to be a salesman there but I quit as I couldn't accept the Service Manager's attitude and actions to customers, like something he'd just trod in.

 

A mate had a Superb years back and it was certainly a luxury car then, it replaced or was replaced by (I forget which now) a loaded Jaguar XF (diesel) in very dark grey, very powerful car but so boring reminded me of a Funeral Director's car.  We were supposed to be checking a route for a classic car run in his TVR Chim, I had to tell him if he ever turned up in the Jag again he'd go by himself, I lost a fortnight of my life that afternoon in the Jag.

 

[J.R.]

The majority of new car sales are sold nominally to VAG group themselves who then give them away like Smarties to anyone with the slightest connection to the manufacturer or dealers, 18 year old University students with a family member working for the group get 3 or 4 new cars a year to put a limited mileage on.

 

All the hire companies, any national operator get to lease them short term at unbeatable rates under the same deal, have you ever wondered why national chains of alarm installers or Fire alarm engineers all drive new estate cars and not vans?

 

The VAT is reclaimed by VAG and there is no VAT to pay on a second hand vehicle, after 3 or 6 months they all go to a closed auction where only VAG dealers can bid on them, when they resell them they are always the sales or finance managers vehicle.

 

It's been going on for decades, all of the manufacturers do it, without it they would simply go bust, I can't argue with the savings, I would do the same if I wanted a new car but I would not swallow the BS.

 

In 1971 my parents bought a 6 month old Capri from the Ford dealer, that was also (not) the sales managers car.

[KenONeill]

My father did once buy the "Fleet Manager's car" from a Citroen dealership. The punchline is that he was our next door neighbour, and it really was his company car for 3 months.

[nta16]

I know decades back Ford workers got very good deals on cars and would sell them on to family and friends, IIRC family members could get the deals direct, there was a limit within a certain time period, I forget the details now.  I know a couple of decades back when I went to a group interview at the local Ford dealer (which was then on the Bedford Rd.) we were told x% of regular sales were still like this and to get on with these 'employee' buyers.  The massive Ford Parts distribution centre is (was?) in Daventry which is nearby.

 

Some dealer cars are actually used by the staff, obviously some will take more care than others and some of the cars are only with them for a short time and have to be lent out to others.

 

We had The Car Shop early on in Northampton and they had a higher turnover of staff than even usual and the 'stories' of the activities there probably accelerated where we are today but certainly from the very little I know the way some mechanics were trained in the '70s promoted the attitude of ripping people off and customers being the lowest of low.

 

[nta16]

Just remembered a Citroen story, in the 80s I knew someone that did casual cash in hand work and could do mechanics (untrained), one time he worked for a place, next to a scrap dealer down a rough road near the railway tracks, they done some servicing work for the local Citroen dealership.

 

[KenONeill]

14 minutes ago, nta16 said:

I know decades back Ford workers got very good deals on cars and would sell them on to family and friends, IIRC family members could get the deals direct

Same with V@*xh@11s, at least until the mid-1990s.

[Black263]

My previous Superb was a "Director's personal car" which had been used "only for commuting".  I negotiated an extra discount when I showed them the Youtube video of the car being tested by a journalist with "Press Office" on the number plate.

[j caff]

Well this thread has taken a dive....

[NJRJ]

6 hours ago, KenONeill said:

Same with V@*xh@11s, at least until the mid-1990s.

Still the same to this day, the staff  discounts aren't as good as they have been as they used to be just a fixed percentage (~25%), but changed to vary on model (Pre C19 anyway) of between 10-25% depending on size and availability.

I had a new Astra through my brother ONCE - way too much hassle and a broker price was fairly close anyway(!?) but a 'managers car' is always way, way cheaper.

Most employees/family/retired staff now seem to lease cars now and at very good rates for limited periods, 6 -12 months pre C19, but the cars have to go back in perfect nick or big penalties applied, local body shops/DPR places here near the Ellesmere Port plant fix chips for a fraction of the lease penalties (but still over the odds!).

The employee/staff/retired discount cars are generally always sold on privately as the dealers offer very low trade-ins as they check the discount database, all the discounted lease cars obviously turn up as 'managers cars' or ex demonstrators.