I do a very low mileage, under 5k a year and have owned car from new in 12/03. It came with Continental tyres fitted. SiL quite by chance looked down at front wheels and spotted a line in the rubber running circumferentially in one of the grooves and finds same in the other front wheel. He finds there are splits developing and suggests that they may be perishing and despite low mileage may need replacing. Tyre depot say they do and would be dangerous:eek:, so a big bill is due:(. Are Continental tyres bad for this sort of thing (perishing) and should the deterioration have been noticed at the car's very recent MOT?

What make would be your recommended replacement?

Yes , it probably should have been spotted.

4 years isn't all that long for tyres to start perishing though.

I'd expect them to have lasted longer than that.

It doesn't sound like you'll be that demanding a user of the tyres , so I'd just go for relatively cheap name branded ones.

What size are they?

It'll probably be not much more than £200 for a set of 4 at the most , but your spare is almost certainly on it's way out too

My car still has 2 (plus spare) original Conti Eco contacts fitted , no splits or perishing visible in mine , and they will be 8 yrs old in February , only done 37600 miles though.

My car still has 2 (plus spare) original Conti Eco contacts fitted , no splits or perishing visible in mine , and they will be 8 yrs old in February , only done 37600 miles though.

Eco Contacts!!! And you haven't left the road, bought the farm, nor had an express waltzer style trip back end first exiting the roundabout experience yet?

Horrible, horrible, nasty, yucky, uch-a-fi, no grip, ditchfinders.

J.

yes , some Contis are prone to splitting and cracking of the tyre tread , seen it quite often on Ford Fiestas with 195/50hr15s fitted , but not heard of any problems with the tyre falling apart completely though

IMO Contis are carp

What make would be your recommended replacement?

Tyre test | Total Tyre Guide | Products | Auto Express

Might be of use to you - lots of info in general + some example prices too.

i think it was conti's on the wheels that i bought for the mazda and they were all split and perished. even good tyres can be quite cheap depending on the tyre size.

i just bought a set of goodyear eagle F1 GSD3's for £215 fitted including alignment my tyres are 195/50/15

Not sure if there was a law passed, but there was talk of date stamping tyres and making sure they were replaced within x years (4 or 5 rings a bell) - maybe some manufacturers are relying on this to cut quality?

Chris