What's the Deal with Tyre Kickers?

Armin_Tamzarian

What's the deal with tyre kickers?

I know that the expression refers to prospective car buyers
who generally make a nuisance of themselves and usually
have no intention of actually buying.

Has anyone actually witnessed a prospective buyer kicking a tyre?
Is it a purely metaphorical expression or do tyre kickers really exist?

What exactly would one hope to achieve by kicking a tyre?
Is it a test to see if the car falls off it's axles upon impact of the kick?
What should one look out for when executing a 'tyre kick'?

Confused

Graham_B18C

You see its all in the ankle, a good Tyre Kicker will be able to feel if anything is wrong with the car through the tyre!

Laughed my ass off towards the end of your post!

mikemac

It's not a science, it's a art. :cool:

Any decent tyre kicker could tell the psi of your tyres and the state of your suspension instantly from a good kick at the right spot and the right amount of force

What, you mean you can't do this OP??

Hotwheels

No its all actually in the big Toe! A proper Tyre kicker can tell from the vibration resonating through their Big Toe all manner of faults, for example; Wear on camshaft, alternator inconsistency, low oil pressure, etc.

You’ll also notice the professional Tyre Kicker grab their chin or scratch their head, as they attempt to summarize the list of faults their left or right Toe has detected. And will usually grunt all manner of technically incoherent terminology before exiting.

Forget the AA inspection etc, get yourself a good Tyre Kicker, they’ll find faults everytime.

fryup

yes tyre kicking is an ancient art on these shores....

what you do is..

• you look away from the seller,
• look down to the ground,
• have your arms folded,
• snort a few times (to look hard),
• whilst occasionally kicking the tyres........during this time you are haggling the price with the seller making outrageous low offers just to size him up.

go to any forecourt in the country and you see it happening all the time esp in culchie areas

leitrim lad

bluffers

i currently have 2 jeeps 2 cars and a transit for sale ,and im not trying to advertise here mods, and nothen but kickers calling

but i can tell you tire kickers will travel far and wide making up stories about what they have/had, and what they want, with no intention of buying, i have ran a good many of them out of my yard over the years.

they simply have nothing else to do with their time so they annoy me,

i also had a bloke who let on he was from dublin, found out after he wasnt , but he came to look at a subaru impreza i had a few years ago ,with no intention of even bidding me let alone buy it, his plan was to came back that night and clean out my yard of its contents, which included alot of machinery ,tools and cars and so on ,but unlucky for him i was attending a cow calving in a nearby shed, with my brother and 2 neighbors, and the alleged dub tire kicker wasnt fit to kick for a good few months after that episode

Graham_B18C

leitrim lad wrote: »

bluffers
the alleged dub tire kicker wasnt fit to kick for a good few months after that episode

Oh my god... so you broke his big toe?!

biko

Manly men kicks tyres - it's handed down through the generations. And kicking the door upsets the owner.

Sleipnir

I want to see just one ad which says "Tyre kickers welcome". Otherwise, can we just assume that you don't want them?
I mean who reads these ads and says "ooh nice car. Aw, it says no tyre kickers; that's me out"

leninbenjamin

it's a psychological thing. Have a read of an environmental psychology book as to why potential buyers do some of the daft things they do.

Armin_Tamzarian

fryup wrote: »

• you look away from the seller,
• look down to the ground,
• have your arms folded,
• snort a few times (to look hard),
• whilst occasionally kicking the tyres........during this time you are haggling the price with the seller making outrageous low offers just to size him up.

Thank you Yoda.
With your help I'll one day master this fine art.

peasant

I have actually been known to kick the tyres of my own car

You know, depending on where you park sometimes, one tyre may appear to have less air in it than the others/ looks to be a bit more deflated.

Well in the absence of a filling station or a tyre guage, a quick kick against the offending tyre and the opposite one may or may not confirm that they are in equal state of pressurisation.

NiSmO

This post has been deleted.

L-M

LOL! Hilarious...

I think I've seen one or two people do it, not many!

BostonB

peasant wrote: »

I have actually been known to kick the tyres of my own car

You know, depending on where you park sometimes, one tyre may appear to have less air in it than the others/ looks to be a bit more deflated.

Well in the absence of a filling station or a tyre guage, a quick kick against the offending tyre and the opposite one may or may not confirm that they are in equal state of pressurisation.

Well I don't kick it. Just lean on the tyre with my foot. You can tell the difference between soft and really soft. I assume if you find a car for sale if they haven't bothered pump the tyres that says a lot really.

some people are indecisive and take ages to make up their mind about a car, or anything for that matter.

Thoie

fryup wrote: »

yes tyre kicking is an ancient art on these shores....

what you do is..

• you look away from the seller,
• look down to the ground,
• have your arms folded,
• snort a few times (to look hard),
• whilst occasionally kicking the tyres........during this time you are haggling the price with the seller making outrageous low offers just to size him up.

go to any forecourt in the country and you see it happening all the time esp in culchie areas

Being a culchie, that was always the definition of tyre kicking I was used to - as a bargaining technique, not time wasting. The time wasting definition is new to me.

Traditionally unless you were a man in your 60s, you brought a tyrekicker with you when you went to buy a car. The idea was that potential buyer would be so overawed with the magnificence of the vehicle on offer, that they would pay too much. The tyrekicker was the voice of reason, and would point out things like "is the oil supposed to be that gritty", "jaysus, the smell of that - did you have a scutterin' calf in the boot?" and "sure an' the bumper's only held on with baler twine, you'd want to knock a few bob off for that".

60 year old men were exempt from bringing someone with them.

When I bought my first car, my parents weren't available at the time, so an uncle was dispatched to surprise me during negotiations. With the exception of the time I ended up topless in Dunnes, I've never been more embarrassed in my life.

bobbbb

peasant wrote: »

I have actually been known to kick the tyres of my own car

So do i. I have no idea why though.

L-M

Strange, I was talking to the sister about my car, and unknowing to myself I started kicking the back tyre:eek:

Ye've a bad effect boardsies...

townale

Thoie wrote: »

Being a culchie, that was always the definition of tyre kicking I was used to - as a bargaining technique, not time wasting. The time wasting definition is new to me.

Traditionally unless you were a man in your 60s, you brought a tyrekicker with you when you went to buy a car. The idea was that potential buyer would be so overawed with the magnificence of the vehicle on offer, that they would pay too much. The tyrekicker was the voice of reason, and would point out things like "is the oil supposed to be that gritty", "jaysus, the smell of that - did you have a scutterin' calf in the boot?" and "sure an' the bumper's only held on with baler twine, you'd want to knock a few bob off for that".

60 year old men were exempt from bringing someone with them.

When I bought my first car, my parents weren't available at the time, so an uncle was dispatched to surprise me during negotiations. With the exception of the time I ended up topless in Dunnes, I've never been more embarrassed in my life.

LOL

"jaysus, the smell of that - did you have a scutterin' calf in the boot?"
Brilliant

fryup

Sleipnir wrote: »

I want to see just one ad which says "Tyre kickers welcome". Otherwise, can we just assume that you don't want them?
I mean who reads these ads and says "ooh nice car. Aw, it says no tyre kickers; that's me out"

or when they say no text messages and private numbers, always seems to me like they're cranky f&ckers

BlackWizard

I remember someone said before that it's actually a misprint and in fact prospective buyers have to use the "Tyre Licking" method.

Voodoomelon

When I just got my car, a mate was admiring it and said " shes some machine alright..." and gave the freshly dressed front tyre a kick. So I kicked him.

fryup

Voodoomelon wrote: »

When I just got my car, a mate was admiring it and said " shes some machine alright..." and gave the freshly dressed front tyre a kick. So I kicked him.

but its tradition in this country to tyrekick.......i take it you're not a native

Armin_Tamzarian

BostonB wrote: »

Well I don't kick it. Just lean on the tyre with my foot. You can tell the difference between soft and really soft. I assume if you find a car for sale if they haven't bothered pump the tyres that says a lot really.

Looks like we've got a live one...

Bazzy

Lads lets not also forger how to impres the tyre kicker by pulling the throttle cable so the engine revs, did this once when i was selling a car and mr tyre kicker was as excited as a child on christmas morning.

Bet ya he went to the next car he had no intention of buying and pulled the cable!!! post kicking the tyre of course

Thoie

BostonB wrote: »

Well I don't kick it. Just lean on the tyre with my foot. You can tell the difference between soft and really soft.

Actually to be fair I do that with my own tyres sometimes. I usually put my heel on the tyre. Need to remember not to do it wearing stilettos though.

Voodoomelon

fryup wrote: »

but its tradition in this country to tyrekick.......i take it you're not a native

Not a native bogger no! :pac:

Elessar

If a seller wants my money I'll bloody well kick what I feckin' like on the car.

KICK!

Mailman

tyre kicking is the best way to figure out if a low profile tyre is soft or not.
if in doubt kick it. if you dont' kick it be prepared to pay for a repair to the rim at much expense.