Which would you choose?
I ask, as I have just noticed that my car has come back from being serviced with some unwanted, and un-ordered (and un-paid-for!!!) brand new Achilles ATR Sport tyres on the front wheels. These replacing some half-decent tyres (I think they were Continentals) which were under four years old and had about 4mm.
The Achilles are rated 'E' for fuel consumption, 'C' for wet-weather performance and 73dB.
The tyres I have at the other end of the vehicle (Goodyear Efficient Grip) are rated 'B' 'A' and 67dB respectively.
Do I go back to the garage and make him put some decent tyres on, or is the reality that new budget is better than worn 'proper'? Though I had been wondering why the car seemed noisier than before.
Oh yes, and the wheels have been balanced with ugly weights on the outside rather than stick-ons. And they are nearly 10 year-old wheels which are not in the first flush of youth, but even so... (This the same car as I had to have a row with them to get them to suck about a litre of oil out until it was only at the maximum level on the dipstick.)
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As you haven't ordered them, I would suggest you should insist that the vehicle is returned to the condition it should be and at the garage's expense.
I have Continental S2s and S3s on my Jetta `70 Sports (just two new ones in four years, the old ones having covered 30k) and they just never seem to wear at any great rate, no matter how hard the car is driven!
If you have had problems with the garage in the past, is there any particular reason you don't find a more suitable alternative?
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They must have made some sort of money on this swap over if you've not paid for it. I wouldn't want such tyres on my car even if they are newer.
Sounds like you shouldn't have gone back to them to service it this time after the previous row over an oil change.
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That seems extraordinarily cheeky to me. No doubt the tyres that were on there have been moved on already, one way or another.
I've been using the Goodyears all round for the past 18 months, with satisfaction and would/will buy them again. They are the first make I've been happy with overall since I was no longer able to source the right size Uniroyals.
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Achille seems an extraordinary name to choose for a brand of tyre?
:)
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Cliff - I think Achilles was quite a heroic chap, apart from his famous weak spot, although that is, of course, what everyone remembers him for. Which was your point, no doubt.. :-)
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>> Cliff - I think Achilles was quite a heroic chap, apart from his famous weak
>> spot, although that is, of course, what everyone remembers him for. Which was your point,
>> no doubt.. :-)
>>
I blame his mother.
It's always the woman's fault?
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>> Which was your point,
>> no doubt.. :-)
>>
Like advertising timing belts as the Weakest Link.
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This happened whilst the car was being serviced, i.e. when it was being over-filled with oil. I have used them for several years, without problem until last year when they bust my sump (and eventually paid for it, and gave me a free service and MOT this year, else I'd not have gone back). I shall not go back.
I have no doubt that the tyres were intended for somebody else's car, and that they will already be out of pocket on them, rather than that - as somebody suggested - they have 'made money' out of the deal by selling on some second hand £75 tyres after putting on brand new £50 tyres.
I am inclined to suspect he will say that the tyres were beginning to crack and I am therefore better off than I was. I am underwhelmed by his choice of tyre, and wonder whether I am indeed better off than before. Who knows!
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>> I am inclined to suspect he will say that the tyres were beginning to crack
>> and I am therefore better off than I was. I am underwhelmed by his choice
>> of tyre, and wonder whether I am indeed better off than before. Who knows!
I know one thing, I would never have any contact with him again. You have been opting a catalogue of ineptitude, lies and poor customer service, and after the sump debacle I am surprised you went back.
Thats one way you will be better off.
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Id agree Im not sure why you went back especially after last year.
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I went back for over £100 of free work (oil change and MOT).
Plus my free new tyres... :o
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Sounds like the free service and MOT were part funded by your tyres! After the problems you had last year, I am surprised a free service plus MOT was worth the risk.
I wonder how much those tyres really cost on somewhere like mytyres.co.uk.
If these tyres are so poor for energy rating then that suggests high rolling resistance so the tyre walls must be flexible. Anyway the poor fuel economy and noise will be a penalty if the safety isn't in question (e.g. wet weather performance).
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 1 Sep 14 at 12:20
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>>I wonder how much those tyres really cost on somewhere like mytyres.co.uk.
£49.20, plus he'd have to get a man in to balance the wheels as I know he doesn't have a balancing machine, plus time for fitting etc.
I cannot for the life of me conceive how putting £100 of new rubber onto a car and selling on the 75% worn tyres could make money. It's pure stupidity on his part, not a criminal act.
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Are they your original wheels?
Has he had another car in the same as yours and swapped them?
Has the mechanic got a mate with the same car as yours and swapped them when the garage owner wasn't looking?
has it maybe been a genuine mistake and they are currently fighting with a supplier over 2 new tyres that they claim weren't supplied?
I would be asking the question.
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Why on earth are you still patronising that garage Mapmaker? Sounds useless to me.
Years ago I used to buy good secondhand tyres from a bunch of tyre villains round the corner in the Grove. But they stopped selling them claiming they were no longer allowed to. Not, I couldn't help feeling, that that would have stopped them if they had felt like it.
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>> I am inclined to suspect he will say that the tyres were beginning to crack
>> and I am therefore better off than I was.
I would question why he was doing work on your car that wasn't requested, nor authorised.
The garage that I use alway phone me before they commence work that wasn't negotiated beforehand when the car was booked in.
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>>The garage that I use alway phone me before they commence work that wasn't negotiated
>>beforehand when the car was booked in.
That's because they're expecting you to pay for it though....
Clearly I've been supplied with two tyres that were either ordered by mistake, or were intended for somebody else.
Here the question is, 'Am I worse off than previously on account of the change that has happened to my car?' If not, then no damage done, and in fact I am better off as I have new tyres rather than two-thirds worn tyres. If indeed so, then what is reasonable recompense?
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I can't see that you are worse off, at least financially. You weren't far off replacing the other ones, and you can now defer that replacement if you can live with the Achilles' heels for a year or so.
I'd be a bit irked by somebody banging weights on to the outside of undamaged alloy wheels if that is what they have done.
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I know there are name and shame rules here, and I know they have to be respected, but I reckon it would be considered an heroic act of public service if we knew who this shower of incompetents were. I have seldom read such an ongoing tale of incompetence and appalling service.
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>>You weren't far off replacing the other ones, and you can now defer that replacement if you can live with the Achilles' heels for a year or so.
The other tyres easily had 12 months (5000) miles in them. The Achilles' heels are noisy, though. I had wondered why the car seemed noisier.
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Maybe the clue is in the extra noise.... swapped for someone to get part worn but quieter tyres. Still sounds iffy to me.
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Why spend £50 per corner and do something 'dodgy' to get two-thirds worn tyres that are three to four years old when £70 will get you perfectly nice brand new tyres.
It's possible, of course, that the budgets had come from somewhere else, free, and the swap was made on the basis that I'd feel I'd done well out of it. But seriously, this is just stupidity. The garage aren't crooked, they're incompetent.
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>> The garage aren't crooked, they're incompetent.
They may or may not be crooked, but they are impertinent, ill-mannered, and don't have a clue how to behave.
If someone stuck noisy inferior ditchfinders on the front of my car without permission I would be extremely rude and menacing.
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Mapmaker - I'm content with two independents fairly close to me. But they may not be good for you - one is in SE22 - a 63 bus ride from the Elephant or one in SE6, next door to Bellingham BR station.
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Thanks. I was going to go to the guys who did the EGR removal for next year's service - londonremaps.co.uk - as they had a very tidy garage and spoke good sense.
Of course, all garages are fine until you have a bad experience. And the inevitability of running a business is that you will get something wrong eventually. However Millennium City Garages just seem to get things wrong too regularly and seem unable to rectify it in a polite fashion.
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>> Thanks. I was going to go to the guys who did the EGR removal for
>> next year's service - londonremaps.co.uk - as they had a very tidy garage and spoke
>> good sense.
>>
I see that they offer a DPF deletion service. How does that work? Will the car get through the next MOT?
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My diesel pump failed recently. Britannia took it to my indy but he couldn't diagnose whether it was the pump or some other problem not putting fuel into the engine. Our local injection/diesel specialist was on holiday so he got another 'specialist ' to collect it. He'd used them before a few times.
It was quickly done and they rang me to tell me how much to bring. I set off using public transport...leading to my my two rapid descents on the escalator that I posted about !
I was horrified by the garage. There was nowhere to put a vehicle off the road, let alone under cover. I assume the job was done in the street and then left there over the weekend . The whole of the floor behind the roller shutter was covered in scrap engines and parts. The narrow pathway through to ' reception ' was rough and oily and the reception area, including the counter, was covered in filthy, oily parts from scrap engines. There was no place where you could even write a cheque........not that he took them...cash only !
The greasy owner then wanted more money off me 'cos he'd worked out the bill incorrectly. He offered to take me to a cash machine ( In my car ). I declined his offer. Fortunately, he'd already given me the keys back so I told him to sue me. The job was way over-priced as it was and I don't know whether he put a new pump on or just a cleaned and polished used one.
I haven't heard from the court yet, btw. I told my indy and he said he'd never been there but he wouldn't be using him again.
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>>Will the car get through the next MOT?
Provided the DPF is still there, it appears it will; it's apparently a visual test. (All information taken from the internet so to be taken with a healthy dose of salt.)
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I've had exactly the same situation with tyres "forced" on me during a service when the originals still hade decent legal tread. I noticed looking down the invoice while collecting and made the garage put the old ones back on.
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New budget tyres, or part-worn 'proper' tyres? - Stuartli
