Tyres - What responsibility does the tyre place have??

[Yergin]

Hi guys,

wondering if you might be able to answer this, a tyre place sold me new tyres, however i got pulled up by the police and ordered off the road because the tyres DID NOT meet the load limit on my tyre placard.

so now i have nice mags, and brand new tyres gathering dust!!. while i'm rolling on stockies!.

Now do i really have any recoarse since i'm a car guy but i ain't an expert and sorta work things out as i go along, and when i give my car to experts i expect that they know what my car should have!!, surely it's their responsibility to check my tyre placard and fit only tyres that meet that, and if i request other tyres they should advise me prior and if i say so what then fit them!!.

can anyone here help empower me with a bit more knowledge before i ring them to request/demand they take the tyres back and refund me!. (tyres have literally travelled less than 50 k's, one still has those little rubber things sticking out of it!!)

Cheers

[STEALTHY™]

It depends on what was discussed. If you asked for 'the ones with the cool tread pattern' like most people, then no. If you said you want some that meet the load limits for your car, and they don't, then they should replace them for you. Not sure how the law works on such issues tho.

[Yergin]

considering that i stated i needed ones to be legal for the car since i was being roadworthied by the cops and my old ones were getting old and tread wearing thin!.

the only thing other than that i specified was the width and profile!.

[danja]

I would have thought the tyre place has a duty of care to supply tyres suitable for your vehicle, unless you instructed them specifically otherwise.

If it were me I'd talk to your local police shop, and/or consumer affairs in your state, then go back to the tyre joint and give them an earful.

[STEALTHY™]

I'd suggest ringing and asking the shop first then, since it was discussed they had to be the legal type for your car. If they say too bad, then take the police/consumer affairs route that Danja suggested.

[i'm timmy]

tyre are leagaly not alowed to sell you tyres that dont meet you cars limit!!!!! ring complain they must fix!!! i am a wheel alinger/tyre fitter have been for 11 years trust me they can be sued!!

[Yergin]

so if they are not legally allowed, how easy is it for them to check my cars specs prior to fitting the tyres??

EDit - i mean before they actually see the car to manually check?

[STEALTHY™]

so if they are not legally allowed, how easy is it for them to check my cars specs prior to fitting the tyres??

EDit - i mean before they actually see the car to manually check?

They would (should) just check the tyre placard.

[CalaisJohn]

as easy as looking at your tyre placard in the glove-box i'd imagine, and there's always the internet..

[CalaisJohn]

snaps stealthy lol

[STEALTHY™]

snaps stealthy lol

You were slighty wrong tho, later models (VP onwards) have the tyre placard under the bonnet

[CalaisJohn]

You were slighty wrong tho, later models (VP onwards) have the tyre placard under the bonnet

that's why I like this place.

[Drewie]

considering that i stated i needed ones to be legal for the car since i was being roadworthied by the cops and my old ones were getting old and tread wearing thin!.

the only thing other than that i specified was the width and profile!.

As you specified the width and profile you wanted you may have a problem, but you would think they should have advised you that the load rating was not correct.
What were the specs on the tyres they fitted?

[Yergin]

they are 235/35 19's
the load rating is 615

all i wanted was legal 235/35's as i was being roadeed by the cops on the sunday so i got it up to spec, (even then they still found problems, but they had to look hard for them!)

but even though if they advised me, mate they're under the load rating and i said so what, then stiff shit for me. but they never advised me so how can i be at fault??, i'm the consumer, i'm not meant to know,

What about lady drivers who know FA about cars?? my mum can't tell the difference between a ford and holden until she sees the badge! (yes i know, but my bro and i have tried!), do they get screwed over because they can get away with it??

plus if they surreptitiously replace tyres knowing they are under the load and i crash surely some blame would be on them!

anyway looks like the phone call will be interesting to them

[Calaber]

If the tyres were purchased from a reputable dealer, this should never have happened. When purchasing items like tyres, it's reasonable to expect that the technical aspects of the product and its operating conditions would be known by the dealer and he would provide the right advice to you prior to purchase.

This clown obviously just wanted your money and didn't give a rat's arse about the legalities. It's been stated elsewhere by a tyre fitter that the actions of the seller were wrong, so I'd be heading straight back and demanding replacement tyres or your relevant Fair Trading/Consumer Affairs department will be hearing from you.

[shiftySLE]

Just out of interest, what is the rating meant to be per your placard?

[Reaper]

Did the tyre place supply and fit the tyres to your car? Can those tyres be legally fitted to your car? If so, then I think the shop should have a duty of care to fit safe tyres to your vehicle. I'd ring them and have a chat.

Secondly, if youhave no joy and paid for the tyres via credit card, I would contact the bank's credit card department and say that the goods on your purchase were not fit for purpose and the vendor refuses to accept return of the goods. The bank will then reverse the transaction. DO NOT USE THE TYRES ANY MORE THAN YOU ALREADY HAVE! If push comes to shove and you have to show the tyres to somebody, if you rock up with them 50% worn out then you will not be likely to have a successful claim.

Reaper

[NZVK308]

Any reputable tyre shop... sales man would have firstly asked you, what sort of driving do you do? How much you want to spend...If you plan on keeping the rims you have..( over here anyways..) mostly it comes down to what the customer ask's for how ever.. if you ask'd and paid for directional tires and they were fittedwrong (oposite direction of travel ) then the tire shop can have there arse kick'd and be liable in case of a accident.. ) as for load rating to suit your vehical and rims fitted.. one would think the tire fitter's would have enough brains and pride in there work have that sorted for you...

[Yergin]

well i had round 1 with the this morning, they have agreed to replace the tyres, however the brand they have offered is a cheap chinese import!!

also i rang a good mate of my brothers (brother used to be in car industry) anyway he's a tyre fitter, and it is illegal for them to fit them when they do not meet the placard, as in case of accident they become liable to the amount that the insurance claim they are (eg: wrong tyres account for 10% of the fault of accident, then tyre fitters responsible for 10% of costs!)

and for the guy who asked my tyre placard asks for a 630KG load, or load index of 92 and speed rating above H.

with my research today, the only legal 235/35R19 tyres for probably most if not all commodores are the cheap chinese shit and the only way to get quality tyres with the load rating is to go to 245/35R19's! - all the ones i found in 235 came up 615kg, then when i went up to 245's the kg rating is 650kg

either way A: if the cops hadn't have pulled me up and forced me to make a hasty decision i would have done this research first however, i didn't and now am left with something that thankfully is not my fault and therefore very fixable.

And for those that are interested, the tyres i got were Maxxis MA-Z1 Victra, and the tyres they offered to trade me are Mayrun MR800 or MR600...

sorry for long post

[Reaper]

well i had round 1 with the this morning, they have agreed to replace the tyres, however the brand they have offered is a cheap chinese import!!

also i rang a good mate of my brothers (brother used to be in car industry) anyway he's a tyre fitter, and it is illegal for them to fit them when they do not meet the placard, as in case of accident they become liable to the amount that the insurance claim they are (eg: wrong tyres account for 10% of the fault of accident, then tyre fitters responsible for 10% of costs!)

and for the guy who asked my tyre placard asks for a 630KG load, or load index of 92 and speed rating above H.

with my research today, the only legal 235/35R19 tyres for probably most if not all commodores are the cheap chinese shit and the only way to get quality tyres with the load rating is to go to 245/35R19's! - all the ones i found in 235 came up 615kg, then when i went up to 245's the kg rating is 650kg

Sounds like a good outcome.

either way A: if the cops hadn't have pulled me up and forced me to make a hasty decision i would have done this research first however, i didn't and now am left with something that thankfully is not my fault and therefore very fixable.

Eh???

And for those that are interested, the tyres i got were Maxxis MA-Z1 Victra, and the tyres they offered to trade me are Mayrun MR800 or MR600...

Sorry but Maxxis are hardly the shining light when it comes to quality tyres. Don't know about the other brands you mentioned.

Reaper

[minux]

either way A: if the cops hadn't have pulled me up and forced me to make a hasty decision i would have done this research first however, i didn't and now am left with something that thankfully is not my fault and therefore very fixable.

What the f? Now the police are to blame? It is totally your fault, who the hell doesn't check what they are buying when purchasing an item?

The only person to blame here is you for being stupid enough to buy an item without knowing what you are buying...

[D-Man]

what's the price you paid for the right tyres mate?

[ClairBear]

What about lady drivers who know FA about cars??

The way I read this, you have 19 inch wheels, therefore they are not the stock wheels that came with the car, therefore already you are wading into the brown sticky stuff......

As for lady drivers, or any other male driver who is not into modifying their car, they would not be in your situation as they would be fitting stock tyres to stock wheels.

[Darren_L]

the tyre place is legally responsible for fitting the correct rated tyre for your vehicle. That's the reason why many tyre places will refuse to fit an incorrect tyre/wheel combos to your car even if you request it. They may agree to fitting the tyres to the wheels if you simply bring the wheels in, but won't fit the wheels on the car.

As suggested I would contact the tyre place, and explain to them what happened to you regarding the police, and request they exchange the tyres (at no cost) for the correct rated tyres. If they know the police have been involved it may just motivate them to sort it out for you....

[Calaber]

And for those that are interested, the tyres i got were Maxxis MA-Z1 Victra, and the tyres they offered to trade me are Mayrun MR800 or MR600...h:

Hmm, Mayrun...and Maygoflat too.........