Issue with tyres

blindside88

Hi guys,

Looking for a bit of a steer as I’m not sure what to think. I dropped my E class off to have the diamond cut alloys repaired. They have Pirelli tyres which were in good condition (2 with approx 90% thread left and 2 with approx 60% thread left), car passed the NCT 3 months ago with no issues.

The repaired called me yesterday to say that one of the tyres had a bulge on the inside tyre wall and needed to be changed, I agreed to this. Then he called today to saw that when the other 3 tyres were refitted and pumped they also had bulges on the inside tyre wall and would need to be changed. This is obviously a lot more expensive than the original job I had planned for. It seems odd to me that this would happen to all 4 tyres which seemingly had no issues before this.

The guy is a family friend and someone that I would trust, he has done body work for me in the past with no issues so am reluctant to say that it’s his fault. He has only recently started the wheel repair and I am wondering however could it have been caused by him incorrectly removing the tyres. He is of the opinion that it would have been caused by the tyres being driven when low on pressure (I’ve only had the car 3 months and tyres would have always been at the correct pressure).

Looking for opinions, I’m due to go over on Monday to sort out payment with him. Would I be out of line to ask for him to meet me part of the way on the tyres? Should I go back to the garage I bought the car from in relation to the tyres (I’ve had it 3 months but covered very little miles due to Covid), I know tyres aren’t a warranty item.

Any thoughts appreciated

VeVeX

Bulges are usually caused by an impact damaging the internal structure of the tyre, low pressure can also cause bulging but its different in appearance. Either way it would not be possible to inflict this type of damage during removal or refitting of the tyre.

I'd thank him for noticing that your tyres were damaged, pay for new ones yourself and move on.

blindside88

VeVeX wrote: »

Bulges are usually caused by an impact damaging the internal structure of the tyre, low pressure can also cause bulging but its different in appearance. Either way it would not be possible to inflict this type of damage during removal or refitting of the tyre.

I'd thank him for noticing that your tyres were damaged, pay for new ones yourself and move on.

That was my initial thinking but a few people have said to me that it seems odd there was no bulge on the tyres when the wheels were taken off the car and the bulges only appeared after the tyres were refitted

Guy:Incognito

blindside88 wrote: »

That was my initial thinking but a few people have said to me that it seems odd there was no bulge on the tyres when the wheels were taken off the car and the bulges only appeared after the tyres were refitted

They may well have had bulges when they were taken off but he wouldnt have been looking for them. Tyre off and valve released , then only gave them a look over once they were fitted again.

VeVeX

blindside88 wrote: »

That was my initial thinking but a few people have said to me that it seems odd there was no bulge on the tyres when the wheels were taken off the car and the bulges only appeared after the tyres were refitted

The likelihood is the damage was already there, it may not have been as apparent or may not have been noticed but the reality is you cannot cause a bulge in a tyre by removing and refitting it. I work in a very busy tyre centre for the last 15 years and trust me if it were possible I'd have seen it done.

blindside88

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

They may well have had bulges when they were taken off but he wouldnt have been looking for them. Tyre off and valve released , then only gave them a look over once they were fitted again.

You could well be right. He spotted a bulge on one of them when he took the wheels off initially and he was the one that told me about the remaining thread so I’d imagine he inspected them a bit. I’ll know more when I talk to him Monday anyway. Should any bulges not have thrown out the handling though?

colm_mcm

Was he taking them off with a crowbar or what?

The story seems very unlikely. I certainly wouldn’t be buying any tyres off him anyway.

blindside88

colm_mcm wrote: »

Was he taking them off with a crowbar or what?

The story seems very unlikely. I certainly wouldn’t be buying any tyres off him anyway.

He doesn’t actually sell tyres himself. He’s a panel beater and would be well regarded locally and does most of the insurance work around. He recently started doing wheel refurbs and have seen some of the wheels he has done, he went to a well known national tyre centre for the tyres and saws he is giving them to me at what they cost him.

What be your thinking on a bulge on the inside off all 4 tyres. I assume you’d feel this or it’d be noticed by NCT

colm_mcm

It’s an NCT fail.

The odds of having a bulge on the inside are small, the odds of having one on all 4 are minuscule.

The odds of having one each and not say more than one on one tyre are even smaller etc.

I’d be seriously asking for the first tyre back. Sounds like someone’s pulling a stroke.

Rodin

Buy reinforced sidewalls next time

blindside88

colm_mcm wrote: »

It’s an NCT fail.

The odds of having a bulge on the inside are small, the odds of having one on all 4 are minuscule.

The odds of having one each and not say more than one on one tyre are even smaller etc.

I’d be seriously asking for the first tyre back. Sounds like someone’s pulling a stroke.

Thanks for that. He has sent me pictures of the tyres but I’ll be asking for the tyres. This is what he text me about the first one “ There's a bulge on the inside of one of the tyre and is splitting when we take off.
Will i get a new tyre for you?”

I can see the bulge on the pictures, could it be clauses by taking the tyres off or is that very unlikely.

Appreciate the input

bazz26

He could be sending you a photo of the same tyre 4 times for all you know. The photo may not even be of the tyre from your car.

Get a second opinion. As said, all the planets need to be aligned to have 4 wheels with a bulge on the inside of each all at once.

blindside88

bazz26 wrote: »

He could be sending you a photo of the same tyre 4 times for all you know. The photo may not even be of the tyre from your car.

Get a second opinion. As said, all the planets need to be aligned to have 4 wheels with a bulge on the inside of each all at once.

Could the bulge be caused by The sidewalk being damaged by the car being driven on low tyre pressure for a period of time and then the tires inflated to the correct pressure as being suggested by the tyre place? I know it’s hard to tell without seeing them, just wondering if that’s at all likely. I’ll be getting the tyres off him and having them looked at

challengemaster

blindside88 wrote: »

Could the bulge be caused by The sidewalk being damaged by the car being driven on low tyre pressure for a period of time and then the tires inflated to the correct pressure as being suggested by the tyre place?

I've read this 16 times and I still haven't a fúcking notion what it's trying to say

blindside88

challengemaster wrote: »

I've read this 16 times and I still haven't a fúcking notion what it's trying to say

The tyre place have apparently said that the sidewalls of the tyres may have been damaged by the car being driven while the tyres were under inflated. When the tyres were then refitted after the wheels were detailed and the tyres re-inflated the bulge appeared. I may have taken that up wrong but I think that’s what he said

Edit: I see Autocorrect seems to have corrected Sidewall to Sidewalk in the original post you quoted. That may be where the confusion is coming from

Del2005

colm_mcm wrote: »

It’s an NCT fail.

The odds of having a bulge on the inside are small, the odds of having one on all 4 are minuscule.

The odds of having one each and not say more than one on one tyre are even smaller etc.

I’d be seriously asking for the first tyre back. Sounds like someone’s pulling a stroke.

The car is 2nd hand and the OP has only had it a few months where they haven't driven it much, so no one has any idea what happened to the tyres before they had it. The tyres could have been damaged before the OP bought the car, as its 4 bulges it could have been driven too fast up a big kerb, and its not unknown for garages to swap damaged tyres with good ones from another sales car, the selling garage could have put 4 bad tyres on it.

blindside88

Just spoke to a mechanic friend of mine and he reckons that the tyres must have been damaged when taking them off or putting them back on. I’ll have a word with the guy doing the job tomorrow. Not expecting much satisfaction but a reduction in overall cost even would make the whole thing more palatable

kirving

What size alloys are they?

The W212 is notoriously hard on inner tyre shoulders. So much so that after I got mine, my neighbor who had one in the past, called over to remind me to check them regularly as his car tended to were them out extremely fast. Very difficult to spot too, as the car is low and the tyres are wide.

If you were driving for an extended period on low pressure, the inside of the tyre would be clearly eroded which he could show you.

Still, IMO it's so incredibly unlikely that all four tyres were damage during driving. All with the same failure mode? I don't buy it at all.

blindside88

Kevin Irving wrote: »

What size alloys are they?

The W212 is notoriously hard on inner tyre shoulders. So much so that after I got mine, my neighbor who had one in the past, called over to remind me to check them regularly as his car tended to were them out extremely fast. Very difficult to spot too, as the car is low and the tyres are wide.

If you were driving for an extended period on low pressure, the inside of the tyre would be clearly eroded which he could show you.

Still, IMO it's so incredibly unlikely that all four tyres were damage during driving. All with the same failure mode? I don't buy it at all.

17 inch alloys

9935452

colm_mcm wrote: »

It’s an NCT fail.

The odds of having a bulge on the inside are small, the odds of having one on all 4 are minuscule.

The odds of having one each and not say more than one on one tyre are even smaller etc.

I’d be seriously asking for the first tyre back. Sounds like someone’s pulling a stroke.

If the op gets all 4 tyres changed i would definately get the old tyres back.
My first thought is the tyres would end up on another car. 2 nearly new tyres and 2 part worns . I dont believe you would get all 4 tyres with bulges at the same time unless they were somehow damaged taking them off and putting them on again