Tyre purchasing culture

wingnut

Always find it strange Tyres are an expensive outlay but so few tyre places have information on stock / online booking etc. A decent set of tyres for most cars will run to €500/600 and normally when speding that people will do a bit of research on products. Yet when you ring most tyre places and ask they they will just tell you the have like a '€75' euro or '€120' option. When you ask what tyre they might give you a make and most seem annoyed if you ask for the specific tyre model. Haven't come across any in my province that actually tells you what they have in stock online.

I guess most people who are after speific tyres just have a regular supplier and do a special order. I just think its funny that most people must be happy choosing based on the price and no idea of the specs/rating/model of tyre. Given the true cliche that they are the only thing keeping you on the road I would think people would care more.

Atlantic Dawn

I think there's certainly a market for more professional outfits particularly in major cities.

whippet

my local 'go to' tyre place are quite the opposite. Carry a huge range and will order just about anything you want. Each any every time i've gone in I get presented with the options and the staff are quite capable of answer any questions on them.

I suppose it is down to what people actually want - a significant number of people just want the cheapest option or like ordering wine in a restaurant when they know nothing about wine will order the second cheapest on the list.

I spend a lot of money on my cars, cover a fair amount of milage all year round and live rurally - so I tend to do a bit of research before buying tyres and will order them in advance of needing them (punctures aside). Last year I had to take a car off the road for a week while waiting on a particualar tyre to be ordered

893bet

A significant proportion of people (likely the majority) are purely price driven and happy to use the cheapest, remolds, second hand etc and might be only changing them as the NCT identified they are fully bald.

tikka16751

I buy my tyres online. I purchased a used tyre machine and balancer a few years back and it’s slowly paying for its self.

patmahe

My local tyre fitter will price/order anything I want (latest was Michelin Pilot Sports), but I'd imagine so few people care or know anything about it they just wait for someone to ask, I'd imagine 99% of the time people just buy tyres if their car just failed the NCT or something. Its an odd thing to be complacent about though as its the only part of your car that actually touches the road.

Del2005

The vast majority of car drivers have no clue about their car or how dangerous they are. A large amount of cars are going around during the night or bad weather on DRLs or if they know how to use the light switch have a bulb blown. They rarely do any checks of their oil or tyres and when buying 2nd hand never get it checked. When they do eventually get it serviced, after its failed the NCT for the blown bulb, they go for the cheapest option. I've often been in traffic and looking at other cars they are either completely fogged up or I can see how dirty their windscreen is.

And then you expect them to get expensive tyres! Sure doesn't the 20" low profile tyre made by XDDEFE that I got for €50 have an E mark so it's legal.

User1998

Most people don’t care about the brand or the rating and would rather just be told two or three different options and how much its going to cost them.

oinkely

This is an interesting topic. As has been said above, most people just don't care. Some just want a legal tyre, some just want a cheap tyre. I would say that for a lot of drivers it doesn't make a difference whether they have a lingling tyre or a michelin tyre as they don't drive to the limits at which having the michelin will make a difference. And that is a good thing, cause the more people who think that tyres are the limiting factor in their safety the more accidents we will see on our roads. In the past i would have pushed on a bit when driving, maybe pushing the limits of cheaper tyres, but now i take it easy all the time in the car and can count on no hands the amount of times i have had to do an emergency stop, or taken a corner hard enough that the tyre grip was going to be an issue.

I generally buy online now and have a local guy fit them for me. I get to choose based on reviews etc, rather than going blindly in to a tyre place andhavingno idea what i am getting. I don't buy top spec as i just don't need them, nor does anyone who drives my vehicles.

[Steve]

I just go on TyreReviews and look up best rated tyres for my car. Used to just go with whatever the local tyre place recommended but ended up with rubbish tyres. I've had the experience of cheap chinese tyres (Imperial) in wet weather and will never go back to those again.

Average person wouldn't know if Nexen, Rockblade, Kumho, Pirelli, or Bridgestone is any better than the other. Usually just a matter of price. I'm actually getting all 4 replaced in 2 weeks myself - definitely worth the €540 for set of decent tyres and alignment (Goodyear EfficientGrip Perf2).

GavPJ

The majority of Irish people don't care about maintaining their cars. A good amount

of people will only bring a car to a garage when there is something wrong and "possibly"

get a service done when it is there.

Service intervals/NCT are a complete inconvenience to them and a tyre

is a tyre to them at the end of the day. They see a black round thing that will eventually

wear out and don't see the point in buying high end tyres. I would buy Michelin every time

if I could afford to. But our roads are so poor that you are gambling on buying a high end

tyre and a pot hole destroying it the next day.

I think the Tyreland service has a good bit of scope as a good business if all can be priced

and booked online.

tikka16751

My last car was a e60 and at the time I was doing big mileage for work. 60,000km a year average.

I put on cheap ilink tyres, ditch finders people were calling them, they did 50,000 on the rear and front two did 70,000km.

I had several close calls with deer on the road and stopping ability wasn’t an issue nor standing water. The previous tyres were Michelin and being very honest I didn’t notice any difference between the two.

Im not saying premium brands are a waste of money and buy ditch finders I’m just giving my own opinion based on experience.

L1011

You've given the reason this happens in your opening post - those who want specific tyres will go to a specific place; the bulk of drivers just want either "the cheapest" or "the best" depending on their budget and would be confused by being asked about specs

I need a very obscure size which the big chains generally don't have and probably won't even get; albeit Advance did once rescue me two days before Christmas with some random Asian brand (GITI) that I used til my local guy could get Goodyear. My sister insists on Michelin when pretty much everyone else offers Hankook only in that size.

We both go to a local place who has no trouble ordering a full set without even asking for a deposit

Minor annoyance is he can't do alignment; and neither does my mechanic (has the gear, but has never got it reinstalled since he moved, about eight years ago!); so I occasionally darken the door of the chains for that alone

hoodie6029

Tyres are a grudge purchase the world over. No great culture of car maintenance here so tyres places are profit driven.

The know a price people will pay and suggest the tyre with the biggest mark up.

I’m fussy about my tyres and have always found tyres places sound when they realise you’re buying because you want to and are looking for quality rather than by grudge.

Don’t see it changing OP. 99% of people will just roll up and get whatever is in stock fitted. No point building a service for it when there is no market.

Kaybaykwah

Winter t(i/y)res in the province of Quebec are mandatory from 15 December to 15 March. I just bought some a month ago for 1300$Can with a mail in rebate of a 100$.

They are Michelin snow and ice for SUVs. Can’t wait to try them out on ice, that is the clincher for me.

So the wheels have to be changed twice yearly. Then, clearing the driveway of snow done by a contractor and/or your own snowblower. These are some of the added costs of winter driving for us, and yes, t(i/y)res are a big obligatory expense.

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121400808#Comment_121400808

Would you get multiple seasons from the winter tyres or would they 'go off' after 1 or 2 years?

L1011

I fixed the typo in the title cause it was annoying me greatly

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121401122#Comment_121401122

They will last if stored correctly. The rubber is softer so will be destroyed in the summer if you don't take them off. A lot of people in countries that mandate winter tyres have 2 sets of wheels

All Seasons are the best compromise for Ireland. Summer tyres aren't as effective below 8C.

creedp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121401272#Comment_121401272

A number of years back I invested in a set of winters on steelies as I lived on a high rural road. They did very little mileage but by year 4 they were like skis. Didnt be bothered replacing them for the few days each winter they were useful.

Kaybaykwah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121401122#Comment_121401122

They last three or four years per season if your mileage is substantial, more if you’re less on the road. The gum on the winter ones is softer, they add silica to keep them from hardening up in freezing weather and keep their grip. If you use them in warm weather, they get used faster.

Casati

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121401272#Comment_121401272

How should you properly store wheels that are not in use?

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121415699#Comment_121415699

Preferably between 10 and 20 degrees celsius, standing upright and not stacked

Casati

Should they be covered ideally too or maybe it does matter? Was going to buy wheel bags for them

Lewis_Benson

As already stated, the average irish motorist will only ever buy the cheapest pile of crap tyres, or anything for that matter when it comes to cars, spending money on maintenance is not a thing.

Only when it comes time and they have failed the NCT on several different defects, will they go to their mechanic to get them fixed, and give out about how it costs to remedy, and that "d'NCT is only a scam, sure there's nothing wrong with my car"

_ptashek_

I buy my tyres online, and get them fitted locally. The garage I use sells tyres, but in the past decade they were never able to match the price or selection. I was in a bind once, and had to buy one off them, turned out to be 3 years old at that point. The value for money factor simply isn't there.

They stock what people who know nothing about cars, and couldn't care less, are willing to buy - and I'll hazard a guess that's the vast majority of people. You could sell them anything, as long as it's black, round, and fits on the rim.

The J Stands for Jay

I bought a used car with 4 shiny new tyres on it, all Chinese. I thought I'd get them replaced, but never got round to it for 6 months. I got used to the driving characteristics of the car on those tyres, but understeering on a dry roundabout atlow speed was the final straw. Changed them for Hankooks and it was like driving a different car. I was kicking myself for not getting rid of the ditch finders sooner.

zg3409

Tyre places don't want tyre prices on their website as they don't want to compete on price, and not show what's out if stock. They prefer to get a raw driver in with an NCT fail sheet or a puncture and try upsell them on whatever tyre makes them most profit. This way they can shift whatever is in stock and not selling and when buying in bulk they can switch brands and buy no brand ditch finders and sell them at high prices. They don't want buyers asking for specific brands or haggling over the phone. I believe the mark up on tyres is quite high especially if you pay staff very little and you are the go to local place. It's high profit compared to say a back street mechanic.

I buy online and most places want 20/25 a corner to fit and balance, basically 100 euro for 20 minutes work. Often they put on wheels with air guns and I have to go around myself afterwards and loosen and torque them to spec or I won't have a hope of removing them on the side of the road. Often I have to use an extension bar to loosen the nuts.

Buyers are typically clueless and they use that fact to maximise profit.

mickdw

It's all well and good servicing the market at hand and so stocking mostly cheap stuff but I find most of them take the piss if looking for anything on the expensive side.

It's the only business I can think of where the cheaper product is pushed. The mark up must be crazy on the Chinese stuff.

It typically goes like this in the tyre shop. I've nankang for 110, firestone for 150 and then the Bridgestone are 350.

Basically they price the premium brand way up versus what it should be considering online pricing. Strange.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121416277#Comment_121416277

You can get wholesale Chinese tyres on Alibaba for around €10 or less. Obviously there are other costs involved like freight and customs duty but still great margins all the same. Even budget tyres can be close to €100 these days in tyre shops.

wingnut

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121416232#Comment_121416232

Luckily my neighbour is a tyre guy charges €15 a wheel to fit and balance. I think thats very reasonable.

GavPJ

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121415824#Comment_121415824

And call the car they have a pile of cr@p that gave them nothing but trouble even though they didn't look after it.

Lewis_Benson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121423035#Comment_121423035

Exactly.

tibia

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121423035#Comment_121423035

Reminds me of car ads which say "4 new injectors" then a few lines later "never a moment's trouble" 🤷

blackbox

What always amazes me is people who spend a lot of money on a new "performance" car like a BMW and the first time they have to replace the tyres the buy some cheap rubbish.

rdhma

There's a pretty substantial difference between tyres here.

Are Budget Tyres Finally Good Enough 8 Cheap Tyres VS 1 Premium Tyre - Tyre Reviews and Tests