Calls for part-worn tyre ban following trading standards sting

Six of seven samples bought from dealers had faults and the only legal one was over 18-years-old

Calls for part-worn tyre ban following trading standards sting
Chris Cooper, safety manager of Durham trading standards, said it “will not hesitate to prosecute” rogue traders.

Traders are continuing to sell potentially lethal part worn tyres to motorists, according to a Sunday Mirror investigation.

Official figures put the number of people killed or seriously injured in accident involving illegal or defective tyres to 989 in the past five years.

During the latest investigation trading standards watchdogs posed as motorists to buy used tyres from dealers in County Durham.

An inspector from charity Tyresafe found six of seven samples to have faults, with the only legal tyre being over 18-years-old.

Two were seriously damaged from under-inflation, two had damage to the bead, one had a reinforced rubber section inside the wheel and another contained water and had not been stored properly.

Illegal tyres

Five had no official part-worn stamp, making them illegal.

The National Tyre Distributors Association has called for a ban on used tyre sales, calling current practices “appalling” and a “ticking time bomb”.

A Tyresafe spokesman said: “Competence among used tyre retailers is questionable.

“The majority of used tyres are not properly inspected.

“A tyre is classed as a waste product until it’s been fully checked.”

Do you sell part worn tyres? Are you concerned about the safety risks? Share your comments below.

16 Comments

  1. We absolutely won’t sell or fit customers own part worn tyres, but unfortunately these people usually don’t have to travel very far from us to find others quite prepared to do so without question, to hell with safety, anything for a quick buck eh boys!.

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  2. We absolutely won’t sell or fit customers own part worn tyres, but unfortunately these people usually don’t have to travel very far from us to find others quite prepared to do so without question, to hell with safety, anything for a quick buck eh boys!.

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  3. Everyone i’ve had has had a puncture or badly damaged also several leaking valves as fitters don’t seem to bother to check.

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  4. Everyone i’ve had has had a puncture or badly damaged also several leaking valves as fitters don’t seem to bother to check.

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  5. Dennis right we never fit customers part worn tyres either, some were horrendous. One lady went and had some put on which were worse than the ones I had failed

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  6. Dennis is spot on, we are the same, no used tyres are ever fitted by us but if you could see what comes into our mot bay you wouldn’t drive around here! It baffles me where the government and smmt get their facts about vehicle safety, we don’t see safe vehicles here especially on tyres and lights.

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  7. all part worn tyres should be stabbed through the sidewall tom prevent the chance of being resold

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  8. all part worn tyres should be stabbed through the sidewall tom prevent the chance of being resold

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  9. Every used car has part worn tyres.

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    • The tyres you might have on your car will usually be better than a part worn sold by people who simply dont understand tyres or care about safety. Would you drive on a set of winter Tyre’s on the front that are 10 years old and a rotten set of Michelin’s say 6 or 7 years on the back??. That’s what some part worn Tyre dealers do and its VERY unsafe. Most of them simply come from the local scrap yard for a few £ss and sold for more profit per mm compared to a new Tyre.

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  10. As no tyre comes with a history, what about customers who buy and indeed invest in a set of winter tyres , either for safer U.K.motoring from say , October until March or who as a legal obligation have them fitted when traveling through Europe, can you guarantee the safety of those tyres when you come to change them back to the tyres you took off ,

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  11. I’d just like to mention that some tyres sold in the UK that people have fitted to certain makes of German cars are not fit for purpose, they make the car vertualy undrivable , and that’s new tyres not part worn !

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  12. Whilst there are a few ( and its very few ) part worn dealers who do test and inspect the Part Worns they sell , the vast majority are sold illegally in contravention of the applicable laws .We fit around 1 million tyres a year , everything that comes off is drilled in the sidewalls – we urge every tyre business to do the same, particularly the larger ones .

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  13. We see these issues on a daily basis now; many of our local part-worn garages (or car washes as they are more commonly known)are seriously putting lives at risk for the sake of a profit. Cash only, scaremongering & generally unsafe practise is dragging the tyre industry’s reputation down with it. We need a statutory licence system to govern & police the industry & to stop Joe Bloggs deciding one morning that selling tyres to the public seems like a good way to make a bit of cash & hang the consequences. We recently saw a 26 year old tyre which had been sold to a young driver a couple of weeks before & then blew out on the motorway – they were damn lucky to survive, but it looks like it will be too late for somebody before something’s finally done. We’re hearing regularly that Trading Standards will not take any action following complaints as there is no proof of purchase – seriously guys – don’t issue a receipt & you’ll literally get away with murder. Great message there. Not all part worn dealers are breaking the law but they are the exception rather than the rule in our area.

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  14. The should be some minimum qualifications and compulsory liability insurance at the moment anyone can set up a tyre shop with zero knowledge of tyres. The people selling these part worn tyres are completely ignorant with zero tyre knowledge, they just see tread on a tyre and assume it OK to sell it.

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  15. Buy a used car it has part worns on it. I am really struggling to see the difference here, do we insist dealers put new tyres on ?

    Reply

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