MOT Advisory for all 4 tyres

[SurreyJohn]

2 hours ago, J.R. said:

"Summer tyres"again 🤣

Ignoring the marketing name baloney for a minute, which I kind of get, the world was simpler place when less complicated compounds existed.

 

We all know that manufacturers are obsessed with good numbers for mileage at warm day WLTP tests (and to be fair EU levies penalties if average CO2 of cars exceeds limits), but that doesn't make for cars coming from factories with ideal tyres for average UK temperatures.  
 

What you get is tyres optimised for testing at nearer 22c, not everyday use in a country where average high temperature is nearer 13-16c and average low is 5-7c or overall roughly 12c below test temperature 

[nta16]

On 09/12/2023 at 11:29, ApertureS said:

My Pirelli P7's after 3 years were cracked to pieces and from a MOT point of view, unless cords are exposed, its not a fail.

Fairly recently replaced two Avon ZT7 as they were MoT (and personal) failure on the inside face, cracking following the circle of tyre just up from the wheel edge, three years old from manufacture and use on the car, 23k-miles of use on the car.

 

BTW I know they started out at 6.5mm tread new as before I bought them I read all the whinging from those that assumed all tyres start out with 8mm tread new.

 

[Smokeyjoe]

No response to my email with photos to Bridgestone, so I went to my local tyre fitter for his evaluation of the cracks. His view is they are pretty typical of a 4 year old tyre with a low mileage driver. Had I been doing 10,000 miles a year, I would be replacing them now (or before) because of tread wear. He suggested carrying on using them until they get worse (or fail the next MOT)

 

Thank you for all your comments. They were very helpful. Its just a shame that the tyres are not made of better quality rubber!

[gregoir]

Me too this year. Cracks on the sidewalls of my Vredestein Quatrac 5. 4 years old. I got new tyres as the tread depth on the front was getting low.

[J.R.]

On 08/12/2023 at 18:17, Smokeyjoe said:

The process involves visiting a local tyre dealer who will manage your complaint for you. You will be asked to complete a Standard Application Form (SAF), which a copy can be found on the web link above. Once completed, the tyre dealer will contact Bridgestone and a FOC collection will be organised. Bridgestone will then inspect the tyre at their Technical Laboratory and will either issue a credit note in the form of cash (ref: based on remaining tread depth) or issue a reject letter explaining the reason for rejection. This process takes approximately 14 days.

Any questions, please contact our technical team on [email protected] (01926 488 579, 01926 488 580) - please use this email address if you would like to send photos for visual examination.

 

As you followed their advice to send them the photos the next thing you could/should do is to download and fill out the form, scan it and E-mail it to them with perhaps another copy by recorded delivery post, it might just elicit a response and it is after all pretty much what they asked you to do.

 

There is no logical reason why a local dealer should have to handle the claim when they have recieved the photos, well of course there is the obvious reason, going through the dealer means you will have already shelled out for new tyres before they reject the claim.

[Smokeyjoe]

I had a telephone call today from Tom Moulding who is the Head Technical Co-ordinator at Bridgestone. Nice chap and he has agreed to credit the remaining tread on the tyres which have to be returned to them to be destroyed so they don't reappear in the part worn market. So, I can get any make tyres I like and the credit will come back to me in the form of cash to my bank account. Not sure what tyres to get as I do a very low mileage and live in the sunny south. Having a motorhome as well means holidays / longer distance travelling is very infrequent in the car. I may just replace like for like as I have been very happy with the tyres up until now and it would seem that all new tyres are likely to suffer with cracking due to the newer rubber mixes now being used.

[Breezy_Pete]

 I once read that recently tyres are increasingly made with rubber grown domestically in China, as opposed to previous sources of 'Indian' rubber. 

The snag being that its physical properties aren't as good, allegedly, due to climatic differences.

 

I haven't since found much online to  support  that, but it sounded like it might have a grain of truth in it.

 

Not that much actual natural rubber is used in car tyres, according to this it's about 15% What are tyres made from (natural rubber) - The British Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (BTMA) (btmauk.com)

 

Odd to think that in 2023 tyres do still grow on(in) trees.

Edited 15 December, 2023 by Breezy_Pete
Rogue apostrophe

[J.R.]

On the other hand if you look at say a door seal, windscreen rubber or radiator hose from a 2001 Octavia it will likely be as good as the day it left the factory, a decade or two before that these components had a very very short life.

 

On the other other hand, if you buy new replacement door seals, windscreen rubbers or radiator hoses for the classic car you are restoring they are likely to have decomposed by the time you are ready to fit them.

 

I carried 3 tonne yesterday on 35 year old trailer tyres that had cracking all around the sidewalls without incident, I stood back when the guy tipped from the bucket loader half expecting them to expire but they were fine, the cracking did not open up.

[J.R.]

Looks like both China and India are relatively minor players in the rubber production, I was surprised to see that Thailand is by far the biggest, I thought it would be Malaysia but they turn out to be the smallest.

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/275397/caoutchouc-production-in-leading-countries/

[Breezy_Pete]

But China probably make a very high proportion of the world's tyres, and using their own homegrown rubber is likely to be cheaper,  one might imagine.

[@Lee]

Henry Ford built a whole plant in South America (Fordlândia) in the early 1900s but it closed in the 1930s as the rubber plantation for the tyres failed and it would have been too costly to get tyres from elsewhere (or something like that). 

[Smokeyjoe]

Update today. I have had no success trying to find a local Bridgestone dealer who was interested in handling a warranty claim and passing back a refund to me, so I emailed Tom and explained my predicament. I had another phone call from him today, and he has offered to supply 2 x brand new Turanza 6 tyres to my local garage. I will buy 2 x new ones and they will collect the old tyres with no further compensation. Seems like a good deal to me which I am willing to accept. The tyres should be at my local garage in early January.

[Breezy_Pete]

Good to hear, well done.