Used Tyres

Used tyres are a legitimate way to keep a car safely on the road for a fraction of the cost of new, and they are a large part of what we sell. They are also the category where most people get taken advantage of, because the two things that determine whether a used tyre is a bargain or a liability — remaining tread depth and manufacture date — are both easy to check and rarely volunteered.

So we state both on every used tyre we sell. Tread depth is measured and written down; the legal minimum in most jurisdictions is 1.6 mm, but grip in the wet falls away sharply below about 3 mm, and we will tell you where a given tyre sits rather than letting you assume. The DOT code on the sidewall gives the week and year of manufacture — rubber hardens with age regardless of use, and a tyre more than about six years old is approaching the end of its service life even with tread remaining. We do not sell tyres we would not fit to our own cars.

Where used makes genuine sense: replacing a single damaged tyre to match three good ones, keeping an older car running economically, or getting a vehicle roadworthy now with a plan to buy new later. Where it does not: as a way to put the cheapest possible rubber on a car that carries your family at motorway speed, or on a heavy vehicle where load rating matters. We will tell you which situation you are in. Every used tyre we sell is fitted, balanced and pressure-set, and we check it for internal damage and previous repairs before it goes on your car — a tyre that has been plugged badly is the one that fails, and those we reject rather than discount.