Tyre pricing ( you are kidding! )

Cobra

Cobra

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I needed a certain tyre to match the other on the same axle.
My ( preferred) local independent place quoted £50, "All in" sounds OK to me.

Went down there, and it was packed solid, now they are friendly and always do a good job.
BUT they can't really be classed as "Quick fit" and I knew I'd be in for a long wait, so I thought I'd try another one..
That sold "Just tyres" ;) £50 + balancing + Valve ( I thought all that adding on was a thing of the past )
Total price £59.99..
Never mind mate, I can get them for £50 "all in" down the road.

Now the best bit, He said if you go via our web site it comes out to £50 "all in"

OK so you want me to drive home, get on the web, book a tyre on line to save £9.99?
If you can do them at that price on the web, ( they had them in stock anyway) Why can't you supply and fit one now at that price?
"Because its a web only deal"
He wouldn't budge so I went and sat down the other place and claimed my free coffee while I waited ..

Seems that buying in person is about as popular as paying cash these days ..
 
Phoned up a company to enquire about delivery of a large set of aluminium ladders, after having my questions answered I said I might as well order them over the phone to which I was told the discount was online only so hung up and back to the web.
 
foggy4ever said:
Phoned up a company to enquire about delivery of a large set of aluminium ladders, after having my questions answered I said I might as well order them over the phone to which I was told the discount was online only so hung up and back to the web.
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I had something similar with my "old" energy supplier I went elsewhere and got a better deal :D
 
IanD said:
Try Blackcircles.com @Cobra - i've used them before and they are pretty decent price
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I've used them before also, but in general, my local independent actually beats them 99% of the time, and this time BC were beaten by a fiver :)
 
It’s fun at work these days, we get so few phone orders we now struggle to train staff on them, in particular the product knowledge and product codes that phone in customers need/want. Encouraging them to the website allows us to better balance the order processing workload through our team and gives the customers all the info about the product in front of them. This is especially important as customers become more cost focused, with the impact on margins that has....
 
Cobra said:
I needed a certain tyre to match the other on the same axle.
My ( preferred) local independent place quoted £50, "All in" sounds OK to me.

Went down there, and it was packed solid, now they are friendly and always do a good job.
BUT they can't really be classed as "Quick fit" and I knew I'd be in for a long wait, so I thought I'd try another one..
That sold "Just tyres" ;) £50 + balancing + Valve ( I thought all that adding on was a thing of the past )
Total price £59.99..
Never mind mate, I can get them for £50 "all in" down the road.

Now the best bit, He said if you go via our web site it comes out to £50 "all in"

OK so you want me to drive home, get on the web, book a tyre on line to save £9.99?
If you can do them at that price on the web, ( they had them in stock anyway) Why can't you supply and fit one now at that price?
"Because its a web only deal"
He wouldn't budge so I went and sat down the other place and claimed my free coffee while I waited ..

Seems that buying in person is about as popular as paying cash these days ..
Click to expand...

foggy4ever said:
Phoned up a company to enquire about delivery of a large set of aluminium ladders, after having my questions answered I said I might as well order them over the phone to which I was told the discount was online only so hung up and back to the web.
Click to expand...

Well, not knowing the supplier....................in the case of the ladders could you not have ordered online and collected???

The above of course does not necessarily work when it comes to tyres ;)

Over many year I have used a company in Surrey called Merityres, I never paid the first price they quoted and always 'got a deal' I was happy with whether it was 1 tyre or a full set of 4 off.

They recently(?) introduced a sort of loyalty card that gave 5% off to 'members'..................the terms stated you had to show the card but I have no idea where that card has gone...............so once I have had the phone quote have just called in and at the desk confired the price and if they had given me the (extra?) 5% off.

In the end I gave up shopping around as they were consistently the best prices in the area :)
 
@Box Brownie

The supplier was no where near me and the ladders are very very long, plus no roof rack.
 
Mozthecat said:
It’s fun at work these days, we get so few phone orders we now struggle to train staff on them, in particular the product knowledge and product codes that phone in customers need/want. Encouraging them to the website allows us to better balance the order processing workload through our team and gives the customers all the info about the product in front of them. This is especially important as customers become more cost focused, with the impact on margins that has....
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I can see the ( your) point, in some industries / specialised industries, but the guy had a computer on his desk in reception, and found what I wanted in about 20 seconds,. I was there, the van was there ...

Box Brownie said:
In the end I gave up shopping around as they were consistently the best prices in the area :)
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I still do a little shopping around, but like you and as out lined above, I find its generally futile :)
 
I just bought four winter tyres for £130 each at a local shop - McLelland Tyres in Edinburgh - about £10 cheaper per tyre than that quick place.to change them all)
I'll be going back there in late May to change to summer tyres.
(3 tyres were getting pretty close to the limit so it seemed like a good idea
 
Think your self lucky. I paid well over £600 for 4 tyres a few months back. :jawdrop:
 
iv'e just been through similar myself

front tyres were getting towards the end of there life so time to shop around for replacements
i have a brand new tyre on the spare so my line of thinking was to buy the same tyre to compliment the spare which didn't turn out very well at all. the spare tire is just coming up to 4 years old from manufacture date which still makes it serviceable but the manufacturers have superseded the model and now have a mk3 version which is not the same.
i managed to find one in a kwik fit garage in Conventry about a 100 miles away which was too far not to mention the price was 25 quid over the going rate ( if i could find one ) basically i was at a dead end with that idea

next idea just replace both tyres
having a good look around the web the best value for money i could find was for a pair of Avon ZV7's 60 quid each fitted etc. at your local Halfords of all places

https://www.halfordsautocentres.com/tyres/avon/zv7/205-55-r16-91v

so off i went to my local halfords , told them what i want and the price was 80 quid in store
pointed out they were only 60 quid online the reply was well we don't supply the tires that are ordered online and we are more expensive
trying to point out the tyres were being ordered directly from halfords web site didn't seem to register
so that was a dead end unless i wanted to order online and wait 4 days or so while the allocate a time slot ( which i didn't )

a friend of mine pointed me towards a tyre place in Darwin a few miles up the road from me so i gave them a ring and asked the price of the avon ZV7's fitted and balanced etc, the price they came back with was 55 quid fitted the next morning
with the garage not knowing me from Adam i decided to nip up to Darwin and pay a deposit to confirm everything and on arrival i could see a pair of uniroyal rainsport 3's staring at me
the tyre people didn't mind me changing my mind as the order for the Avons hadn't gone through yet and fitted them for the same price as the Avons

job done :)
eventually

had a similar experience at tesco with a set of rechargeable AA batteries the price difference on the shelf and on line was quite remarkable
 
kendo1 said:
£10 cheaper per tyre than that quick place
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I've had nothing but grief, from that quick ( misnomer) place..
I've used them twice, once because I had too, as the company van I had at the time was an "all in" service tyres etc.
1) I was there 2 hours while they went around each tyre checking tread depths, phoning the lease company for authorisation to replace tyres that actually didn't need replacing,
and I only went in for a puncture repair ..

2) A Sunday afternoon, double puncture on the firms van ( different company and a wholly owned van,) and the only place open.
I have a fuel & rescue card from the AA and when I phone them for help,
they came out and put air in the tyres, followed me down, I just about made the mile and a half journey.

I was then informed that the fuel card would suffice as a "credit card" also.
They accepted that as payment, ( I was there 2 hours yet again, for no f*****g reason! )
And I just expected them to add it to the fuel bill.
I told the boss what was happening and he was OK with the situation.

It then seems the AA were miss informed, it was their card FFS! And they ( sloooow fit) phoned the boss for payment a week or so later.
He offered his credit card over the phone, but they are not set up to accept payment over the phone, so he offered a cheque or bank transfer. Neither were acceptable!
They wanted him to come in person and present a bank / credit card.
He lives about 120 miles away from me. And of course he refused ..
Stale mate.. As far as I am aware, he still hasn't paid for the tyres. This has to be well over 6 months ago ...

TCR4x4 said:
Think your self lucky. I paid well over £600 for 4 tyres a few months back. :jawdrop:
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I think the boss would get the arse if I paid that for van tyres :D

Ricardodaforce said:
Someone should invent a mobile telephony device that can access the internet!
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As above, I was there, the van was there, their loss. No skin off my nose...
Plus I got free coffee at the other place, added bonus's are always welcome :)

cosmicma said:
job done :)
eventually
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Result :)
 
Yeah there's a local tyre chain around here that has rediculous walk in prices vs their online prebooked prices. Great if you can prebook, not so if you have a defect that needs immediate attention.
 
Cobra said:
Now the best bit, He said if you go via our web site it comes out to £50 "all in"

OK so you want me to drive home, get on the web, book a tyre on line to save £9.99?
If you can do them at that price on the web, ( they had them in stock anyway) Why can't you supply and fit one now at that price?
"Because its a web only deal"
He wouldn't budge so I went and sat down the other place and claimed my free coffee while I waited ..
Click to expand...

neil_g said:
Yeah there's a local tyre chain around here that has rediculous walk in prices vs their online prebooked prices. Great if you can prebook, not so if you have a defect that needs immediate attention.
Click to expand...

I had a similar experience as well, I simply walked outside, booked the job using my iPhone and walked back inside with my reference 5 minutes later...
 
My brother is a mechanic so I give him a shout when I need tyres as he can usually get them at trade price and fit them for free.... which is quite handy as I have 205/40/17's on my car and they can be a bit pricey if you want something to last a bit longer than 'budget' brands.
 
I hate this online only stuff. Twice I've been stood in shops and had to order the item online for click and collect and then wait 10 minutes for my order to be processed before I can take the item away. All the while, my item is sat right in front of me waiting to go. Real 'computer says no' stuff.
 
if you want expensive try decent motorbike tyres......sigh....

about £200 for a pair of hoops for my z750 and I will get 6k miles out of them.
 
Mr-Incy said:
which is quite handy as I have 205/40/17's on my car and they can be a bit pricey
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I have (front) 225/40R18. (rear) 255/35R19. on my RWD.
Now, as you probably know, tyres are "rated" for noise, fuel consumption and wet grip. ( A-G A being the best)
After a bit of a lively rear end on a twisty damp road ( the tyres have very little wear) I decided to check the ratings.
( I never put those on, they were there when I bought the car) They were C rated for wet, who does that to a RWD car?
And about £150 each. I found a named "A rated" wet grip tyre for £80 front £120 rear.
so £400 all round rather than £600.
So unless the "Ratings" are all [PLEASE DON'T TRY TO BYPASS THE SWEAR FILTER], ( I don't know) its gotta be worth checking these first ....

From the web

A tyre's wet grip capacity is expressed in Grades from A to G.
The difference in braking distances between each grade is roughly 3m - an average car length.
This makes average stopping distance between an A and G rated tyre 18m. That's 4 car lengths.
 
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Cobra said:
I have (front) 225/40R18. (rear) 255/35R19. on my RWD.
Now, as you probably know, tyres are "rated" for noise, fuel consumption and wet grip. ( A-G A being the best)
After a bit of a lively rear end on a twisty damp road ( the tyres have very little wear) I decided to check the ratings.
( I never put those on, they were there when I bought the car) They were C rated for wet, who does that to a RWD car?
And about £150 each. I found a named "A rated" wet grip tyre for £80 front £120 rear.
so £400 all round rather than £600.
So unless the "Ratings" are all b****x, ( I don't know) its gotta be worth checking these first ....

From the web

A tyre's wet grip capacity is expressed in Grades from A to G.
The difference in braking distances between each grade is roughly 3m - an average car length.
This makes average stopping distance between an A and G rated tyre 18m. That's 4 car lengths.
Click to expand...
I don't think C is particularly bad tbh. The trade off may be that an A rated tyre (for wet performance) is considerably worse in the dry or even damp roads (damp is not the same as wet), or uses more fuel, or is noisier.

It really depends on what the driver prioritises with respect to their tyre's characteristics.

Interesting setup you have btw. Staggered fitment aren't all that uncommon these days, but a larger diameter of wheel is. Did I read you have a TVR or similar earlier?
 
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Mr Bump said:
if you want expensive try decent motorbike tyres......sigh....

about £200 for a pair of hoops for my z750 and I will get 6k miles out of them.
Click to expand...

my cousin has a hyabussa...she went through a £300 rear tyre in less than 400 miles...right down to the thread
 
Ian W said:
I don't think C is particularly bad tbh. The trade off may be that an A rated tyre (for wet performance) is considerably worse in the dry or even damp roads (damp is not the same as wet),
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Damp was when I had the "Issue" ;)
As above , I'm not really sure if these figures can be relied up on.
I guess under test conditions, they would be totally different in the real world?


Ian W said:
or uses more fuel, or is noisier.
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Neither are an issue for me TBH.
According to the web (again) A-G "economy" is approx 6L per 625 miles saved.

I guess it comes down to, you pay's yer money and takes yer chances.

Ian W said:
Did I read you have a TVR or similar earlier?
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No they are far too unreliable :D

I have a Chrysler crossfire. And the sizes I mentioned are fitted as standard.
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
my cousin has a hyabussa...she went through a £300 rear tyre in less than 400 miles...right down to the thread
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yeah the Suzuki childabussa will eat a tyre in a weekend, a few hardcore friends of mine will budget £300 in tyres for a track weekend. 2 rears and 1 front
my z750 is pretty gentle on them and the rear usually squares off before it becomes low on tread
 
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Mr Bump said:
if you want expensive try decent motorbike tyres......sigh....

about £200 for a pair of hoops for my z750 and I will get 6k miles out of them.
Click to expand...
But how long will it take you to cover 6k miles.
No idea how long my tyres will last as I have only had the car since September, I always replace in pairs unless unfortunate enough to get a puncture that can't be repaired on a relatively new tyre. I am looking at around £450 a pair. Hopefully I should get at least 20k miles out of a pair.
 
nilagin said:
But how long will it take you to cover 6k miles.
No idea how long my tyres will last as I have only had the car since September, I always replace in pairs unless unfortunate enough to get a puncture that can't be repaired on a relatively new tyre. I am looking at around £450 a pair. Hopefully I should get at least 20k miles out of a pair.
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about 2 years at the moment with my current riding.
 
I used kack fit once, they had an offer for £30 recharge your aircon, so I took the TVR in to see if I'd fixed the leaks.

"I'll drive it in mate" said spotty oik, "I'm used to driving supercars" which later I found out he'd had 3 laps as a passenger in an old ferrari at a Thruxton experience day.
I didn't tell him how to get in, nor start it, left him to come in 10 mins later and ask me to drive it in.

They dragged the pipes over the floor, then my paintwork, knackered the schrader valve as soon as they tried to force the connector on at the wrong angle, then said it was knackered and they didn't have a shrader valve - in a tyre place and let everything vent to the atmosphere...

I should have known better
 
Oh and web prices vs in store prices - currys do the same! I just go to the collection point, point out how rediculous it is whilst going on my phone, to do the web order. It goes through quite quickly
 
I used to use e-tyres as I know the local fitter, he lives in the next close, drinks in the same pub. Unfortunately he's given it up as he wasn't making much money from it
 
Mr Bump said:
if you want expensive try decent motorbike tyres......sigh....

about £200 for a pair of hoops for my z750 and I will get 6k miles out of them.
Click to expand...


£300 and up for a pair for the Rocket. Being old and sensible, a pair should last a while.

ETA that if the weather stays like this, the tyres will last f*****g years!!!
 
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It pays to shop around every time. Last time I needed tyres replacing, for all the crap reviews they get, Kwikfit came up the cheapest. £10 cheaper per corner than anyone else including Black Circles. I rang them, they couldn't do a drive in appointment for 4 days but they could send a bloke in a van the following morning.o_O He turned up and did the job on our drive, no idea how that works out as cheap as me driving down to their depot, but hey ho, who cares?
 
Byker28i said:
I should have known better
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It does seem as though most people have issues one way or another with them, but when ever I drive past, the waiting "car park" seems pretty full.
They seem to have the concession for a lot of "multi repairs", ie mobility and quite a lot of lease companies too,
It also seems they don't know how to deal with a regular customer off the street :rolleyes:
 
Cobra said:
It does seem as though most people have issues one way or another with them, but when ever I drive past, the waiting "car park" seems pretty full.
They seem to have the concession for a lot of "multi repairs", ie mobility and quite a lot of lease companies too,
It also seems they don't know how to deal with a regular customer off the street :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

It's the price. People will always go for the cheapest even if it's just a few pounds
 
Cobra said:
I have a Chrysler crossfire. And the sizes I mentioned are fitted as standard.
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Ah yes. Am interesting set up they have then, certainly adds to the aesthetic of the car.

I'm in a similar boat re: tyre selection, only I have the added consideration of ditching BMWs standard run flat tyres (or not).
 
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