Problem with tyre on newly purchased 2nd hand car

cgc5483

Just looking for some advice. I just bought a 04 Almera from a dealer last week. I checked the tyres pretty thouroughly (or at least i thought i had) and all 4 were in good condition with the front 2 looking pretty new (only 19, 000 mls on car), however, after travelling from Galway to Dublin at w'end i noticed a bulge on the outside of the front passenger tyre (Dunlop tyre). Do i have any come back against the garage i got the car from. Been trying to contact them but the guy i was dealing with hasn't called me back.

junkyard

Did it ever occur to you that you might have driven into a pothole or over a footpath? It's highly unlikely that you'll get much satisfaction from your garage about this, if you do let us know where it is so we can blitz the poor b@stard. I'm only waiting for the day some guy comes on here wondering if punctures and petrol usage are covered under warranty.:rolleyes:

Anan1

Sorry, but junkyard is entirely correct.

cgc5483

Thanks junkyard, sarcasim noted. Of course i'm aware that it may have occurred going over a pothole but I'm not in the habit of driving or parking on footpaths. However, there is no sign of any marks on the tyre to suggest it was caused by driving over a pothole and i only had done around 100 miles when i noticed it. I kind of thought alright that I wouldn't get any satisfaction but i friend of mind told me I could because the garage was SIMI registered they would be responsible for selling a car with faulty tyre, and if they had put the tyre on I'm sure they would have a case with the manufacturer. Anyhow, your rebutes duly noted.

Seth Brundle

cgc5483 wrote:

I'm not in the habit of driving or parking on footpaths. However, there is no sign of any marks on the tyre to suggest it was caused by driving over a pothole and i only had done around 100 miles when i noticed it.

Not being in the habit doesn't mean that you didn't!
Anyhow, there doesn't have to be tell-tale marks

cgc5483 wrote:

I kind of thought alright that I wouldn't get any satisfaction but i friend of mind told me I could because the garage was SIMI registered they would be responsible for selling a car with faulty tyre, and if they had put the tyre on I'm sure they would have a case with the manufacturer. Anyhow, your rebutes duly noted.

I'll quote your first post:

cgc5483 wrote:

Just looking for some advice. I just bought a 04 Almera from a dealer last week. I checked the tyres pretty thouroughly (or at least i thought i had) and all 4 were in good condition with the front 2 looking pretty new (only 19, 000 mls on car), however, after travelling from Galway to Dublin at w'end i noticed a bulge on the outside of the front passenger tyre (Dunlop tyre). Do i have any come back against the garage i got the car from. Been trying to contact them but the guy i was dealing with hasn't called me back.

You checked it before it left the dealer!

Mr.Diagnostic

Hi,

In a case like this the Garage may look after it as a gesture of good will. If they inspected the car before you collected it then they may know that the Tyre was not damaged. If not then they could have doubts.
Tyre damage like you describe can happen easily without you even knowing. It can also be due to a faulty Tyre. Either way it is worth a phone call to the Garage.

cgc5483 wrote:

because the garage was SIMI registered they would be responsible for selling a car with faulty tyre, and if they had put the tyre on I'm sure they would have a case with the manufacturer.

The impression that a lot of people have that being SIMI registered is some kind of protection or infers some kind of status on any Garage is no more than proof that the SIMI is successful as a marketing strategy.
Does anyone know what criteria must be met before any Garage can join this scheme? Unless it has changed in the last few years, all that is required is the ability to write a cheque.
Any responsibility that any Garage has is governed by the consumer laws, SIMI registered or not.

Anan1

OP - Often, if you hit a pothole, the only sign of damage to a tyre will be a bulge in the sidewall. This is because the cords inside the tyre which provide reinforcement have been damaged, thus weakening the tyre at that point. This usually happens without any other marks on the outside of the tyre. From a legal point of view, you therefore haven't a leg to stand on. That said, as Mr Diagnostic says, it may be worth trying the garage anyway. If you're not in, you can't win.;)

fletch

Perhaps if the tyre was bald as a coot you might have some comeback (being sold a car thats not roadworthy) or conversely if they were brand new tyres you might also have some comeback as it may have been a defect with the actual tyre but I think you're wasting your time to be honest.

cgc5483

kbannon wrote:

Not being in the habit doesn't mean that you didn't!
Anyhow, there doesn't have to be tell-tale marks

Okay I what i saying was I didn't park on any kerbs, i should learn to be more precise with my words on these forms!!:eek: . I've been driving over 10 years and never had any problems like this. If i seen the bulge a couple of weeks after i got it I wouldn't be looking for anything but it was just 2 days.

I'll quote your first post:
You checked it before it left the dealer!

Actually I checked them before i paid the deposit. Only collected the car a few days later after it had been serviced and valeted and was in a rush.

Thanks Mr. Diagnostic, Anan1 and fletch for their helpful and informative replies. Got talking to the garage guy and looks like he won't do anything but as ye said if your not in you can't win. I kind of heard allright that SIMI registration didn't meant alot was actaully regulated about their operation, but thought something like the "sale of goods and consumer services Act 1980" would apply.

Pete4779

cgc5483 wrote:

Just looking for some advice. I just bought a 04 Almera from a dealer last week. I checked the tyres pretty thouroughly (or at least i thought i had) and all 4 were in good condition with the front 2 looking pretty new (only 19, 000 mls on car), however, after travelling from Galway to Dublin at w'end i noticed a bulge on the outside of the front passenger tyre (Dunlop tyre). Do i have any come back against the garage i got the car from. Been trying to contact them but the guy i was dealing with hasn't called me back.

As mentioned above, the sidewall on a tyre can be damaged very quickly and easily if going through a pothole, several of which are on the Galway side of the Galway-Dublin route as the roads are poorly maintained.

You would feel no different driving, as it would seem you have just gone over a pothole as usual.

The bulge increases over time, and usually would become apparent over a medium length drive like 100-150km as the tyre heats up and the external part of the wall weakens, thus bulges outwards.

If you inspected the tyres in advance and found nothing it's unlikely it was a defect before purchase.

However, it's exceedingly dangerous to drive with such a tyre - the structural integrity of the tyre is gone already and it could blow at any time. It will bulge more and more until it has no more strength in the weaker external wall to contain the air. I.e., as soon as you see a bulge, the tyre should be changed immediately.