Produced with the support of Trading Standards and TyreSafe, the BBC programme featured Georgina Gee, whose family car was fitted with four unroadworthy tyres by a part worn dealer.
Fake Britain’s Matt Allwright revealed the scandal of ‘fake part-worn tyres’ which the programme described as “an accident waiting to happen.”
The episode also showed the poor handling characterises of used tyres demonstrated on a test track and tyre assessments by TyreSafe’s tyre expert.
It also gave a glimpse behind-the-scenes of a Trading Standards operation.
Stuart Jackson, chairman of TyreSafe, said: “It is a massive concern for us that we have unscrupulous dealers across the country selling dangerous part worn tyres which are not roadworthy.
“The unknown, hidden dangers of a part worn, or used product, is the biggest issue.
“Has it been damaged? Has it been in an accident? We just don’t know.
“TyreSafe’s advice is simple: don’t take a risk on your vehicle’s primary safety feature – buy new tyres and avoid the risks of part worns.”
Episode seven, series six of Fake Britain can be viewed on BBC iPlayer until 30th December 2015.
Thomas Williams
Warning the public over the dangers of worn out or damaged tyres can only be a good thing. However, the presenter kept referring to ‘fake’ part-worn tyres. It’s unlikely that there are any fake tyres being produced. There are millions of part-worn tyres giving perfectly satisfactory service; it’s likely that anybody reading this has a set on their car at the moment. The only tyres that are not part-worn are brand new ones still on the rack at the tyre dealer. Obviously, tyres that have been removed from a donor vehicle are most likely to have reached the end of their life or have been accident damaged. Common sense does appear to be in short supply among purchasers of tyres of any description. Perhaps the concept of unroadworthy tyres, rather than simply part-worn, was considered too difficult to grasp by the viewers.
Graham
Exactly what I was thinking and better expressed than I would have written. We are all driving on part-worn tyres and every time we buy a used car we also buy a set.
Thomas Williams
Warning the public over the dangers of worn out or damaged tyres can only be a good thing. However, the presenter kept referring to ‘fake’ part-worn tyres. It’s unlikely that there are any fake tyres being produced. There are millions of part-worn tyres giving perfectly satisfactory service; it’s likely that anybody reading this has a set on their car at the moment. The only tyres that are not part-worn are brand new ones still on the rack at the tyre dealer. Obviously, tyres that have been removed from a donor vehicle are most likely to have reached the end of their life or have been accident damaged. Common sense does appear to be in short supply among purchasers of tyres of any description. Perhaps the concept of unroadworthy tyres, rather than simply part-worn, was considered too difficult to grasp by the viewers.
Graham
Exactly what I was thinking and better expressed than I would have written. We are all driving on part-worn tyres and every time we buy a used car we also buy a set.
Johnson
Any tyre removed from a vehicle for change should be destroyed
Johnson
Any tyre removed from a vehicle for change should be destroyed