Insignia's in for 2nd service at main dealer. Asked them to quote for two new front tyres as they're down to 2mm. Armed with Black Circles quote of £155/tyre fitted I was expecting to pay a 15-20% premium.
Dealer: "So that's £276 fitted..."
Me: *Impressed gasp*
Dealer: "Each".
So Black Circles got the money instead. Booked in for Thursday AM and I found a 5% discount code on Google.
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I'm not familiar with the Insignia, were they an unusual size? Either way, sounds a lot of money for a family hack.
On a related topic, we have recently returned from a visit to the UK. On our way to the Channel Tunnel, got to Reading services on a flat tyre. It had been driven on for 10 miles so obviously needed replacing. Son calls the RAC who pumped it up, rang round all the tyre dealers in Reading and located just one tyre in the size I needed, but unfortunately in a standard (91) instead of an XL (94) rating. Had to buy it at £105, being the only one in Reading! Unfortunately, having driven only 1500km on it I need to buy another in the correct load rating now I'm home, at €125 so broadly similar price. Unfortunately, only available in a V rating, not the H to match the others, but that doesn't really worry me.
Anyway, the RAC chap was telling me of a mundane and common hatch that had tyres in an unusual size (he didn't elaborate as to what car it was). He was called out to assist the owner following damage to one of the tyres, and the local tyre dealer insisted that he must be mistaken about the size, as they weren't made in that size and therefore not available in the UK. He was gobsmacked when presented with the evidence.....
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>> I'm not familiar with the Insignia, were they an unusual size? Either way, sounds a
>> lot of money for a family hack.
Its not a family hatch, its repmobile so its fitted with bling wheels designed to attract the laser printer salesmen.
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>> >> I'm not familiar with the Insignia, were they an unusual size? Either way, sounds
>> a
>> >> lot of money for a family hack.
>>
>> Its not a family hatch, its repmobile so its fitted with bling wheels designed to
>> attract the laser printer salesmen.
>>
I'll have you know I do fax machines as well.
245/45 R18. Standard on a pimp-mobile.
Last edited by: Fursty Ferret on Tue 6 Jan 15 at 11:16
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>> 245/45 R18. Standard on a pimp-mobile.
Are the alternate sizes mentioned in the handbook any cheaper?
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>> >> 245/45 R18. Standard on a pimp-mobile.
>>
>> Are the alternate sizes mentioned in the handbook any cheaper?
>>
You can put different sized tyres on it?
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>> You can put different sized tyres on it?
Like I said in my post further down - If it's anything like my Vectra, there are 2 different sizes of 17" tyre that can be fitted. 215/50/17 or 225/45/17. The latter is considerably cheaper as it's a more common size.
I haven't looked through an Insignia handbook to see if there are alternate 18" sizes. I must admit I didn't for my Vectra either. I found out the info through a Vauxhall forum.
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Same make of tyre?
If you've got a Tesco Clubcard, don't forget to hand it over for some clubcard points.
www.blackcircles.com/tescoclubcard
>> were they an unusual size?
If it's anything like my Vectra, there are 2 different sizes of 17" tyre that can be fitted. 215/50/17 or 225/45/17. The latter is considerably cheaper as it's a more common size.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 6 Jan 15 at 10:33
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My dealer tried to con me in April 2013 saying my two fronts are near the legal limit (they were 3-5mm) and had just passed the MOT a few weeks before at my local MOT only place.
They wanted £80 per tyre for a cheap no brand or £100 for the Continentals I told them top politely stuff it up their......
June 2014 and the tyres were down to 2mm and I had noticed poor breaking in wet so changed them to so UniRoyal Rainexperts (recommended on the Panda forum). Cost me £45 each fitted with a discount and are brilliant tyres.
I vowed to never take my Panda any where near a robbing dealer again.
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>> Me: *Impressed gasp*
>>
>> Dealer: "Each".
>>
I had exactly the same conversation with the Merc dealer I use. Told him the Costco price and he said they can't buy them for that, which seems bonkers / unlikely.
VW dealer we use keeps calling and asking if we need to change the tyres on the Golf as they noted that, at 4mm, they were close to the legal limit. When I queried that, they said "EU legal limit"!
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Being a pedant, I always check the price of replacement tyres before I buy a car.. Amazing how people realise after the event that the nice upmarket model they have bought costs a fortune to retyre...
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>>Amazing how people realise after the event that the nice upmarket model they have
>> bought costs a fortune to retyre...
Yep, found that with the Almera I bought ten years ago. 195/55x16. First time I bought tyres, they had to order them in with the comment 'last time we fitted them was to a Morgan'. I saw them on a Clio recently!
I recall being astounded by the cost (and weight) of 185/70x14 on my first landcrab, after being used to 155x13!
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I was in Germany last year with a colleague in his Merc ML350. Got an unrepairable puncture and spent nearly 40 minutes ringing round Merc dealers and tyre suppliers. Finally located the only one in North Rhine-Westpahlia, at a main dealer 50 miles away in Dortmund. Crawled there at 50mph on the spacesaver and all was well. Just surprised that such a common vehicle has such rare tyres.
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I'm the same, Madf. I liked the seats in the Sport-model LECs we looked at, but not the 245 and 265x18 tyres, or more exactly the cost of replacing them. £250 each for Michelins, with no rotate option. That's before you consider the increased risk of pothole damage.
Incidentally, as I've noted before, a 190hp E280 CDI Sport has the same wheel-tyre combination as a 500hp E63 - which seems much the same as Fursty's repwagen. They can't all be right, can they?
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>> Incidentally, as I've noted before, a 190hp E280 CDI Sport has the same wheel-tyre
>> combination as a 500hp E63 - which seems much the same as Fursty's repwagen. They can't
>> all be right, can they?
No doubt tyre/wheels on the E280 CDI Sport are there for aesthetic purposes. They aren't needed because of performance.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Tue 6 Jan 15 at 17:49
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No idea what actual tyres are on the 18" wheels of my A3 in S-Line trim. Not that I'll pay for them. If I do similar miles in this that I did in the Passat CC, it will get a set of front tyres and that'll be it for the time I have it (3 years). I doubt I get through two sets of front tyres. This car is petrol too so not as heavy a front end.
Still glad I opted for this. I could have saved more with a Mazda6 or a Seat Leon but this is a really nice car. Like having the DSG and a petrol too. But in 2017 there won't be a 3% BIK penalty for a diesel so no doubt I'll go back to a diesel. Or a plugin hybrid Passat GTE.
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>> Just surprised that
>> such a common vehicle has such rare tyres.
>>
There's a story on PistonHeads of a guy flown home from somewhere in mainland Europe by BMW Assist as they couldn't get tyres for his X5.
I was dismayed that our current model Jazz has a fairly rare tyre size - 185/55R16 - and a relatively high price. When we got it in 2009 there were only 2 recognised brands available, although more have appeared since.
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>>
>> I was dismayed that our current model Jazz has a fairly rare tyre size -
>> 185/55R16 - and a relatively high price. When we got it in 2009 there were
>> only 2 recognised brands available, although more have appeared since.
>>
That was one of many reasons I decided not to go for the Jazz EX model..
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>> Just surprised that such a common vehicle has such rare tyres.
IIRC, the Metro and Montego also had expensive tyres because they were metric sizes.
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And I thought my tyres at £120 (all in) were expensive (Continental SportContact 5's).
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Checked and my 18" wheels are 225/40. Different to the Passat CC which were 235/40. So tyres a bit cheaper for this car.
I remember when I thought the wheels on my Golf GTI mark IV were large at 16". In fact the ride on that was very firm and the car would tramline.
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>> And I thought my tyres at £120 (all in) were expensive (Continental SportContact 5's).
>>
Those are the ones I bought.
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Black Circles vs dealer prices - Mike H
