Advance Pitstop, Non E rated tyres!

SoldierForce

Hi,

Fitted new tyres on my car in around August 2008 just before the NCT. Now when I have the NCT again I checked the tyres and they do not have an E rating!

I paid €120 per tyre and so inspite of not using the car and the tyres being in perfect condition with at least 6mm thread I can still fail the NCT due to the tyres!

Any advice on what I should do?

CaraFawn

SoldierForce wrote: »

Hi,

Fitted new tyres on my car in around August 2008 just before the NCT. Now when I have the NCT again I checked the tyres and they do not have an E rating!

I paid €120 per tyre and so inspite of not using the car and the tyres being in perfect condition with at least 6mm thread I can still fail the NCT due to the tyres!

Any advice on what I should do?

Swap wheels with a buddy's car (as long as they fit) temporally or get new tires I am afraid.

unkel

Tyres without the E rating don't pass the NCT. Someone selling these tyres in this country is selling goods that are unfit for purpose. Go to Advance Pitstop and request they swap the tyres for E rated ones or give you a refund. If they refuse, take them to the small claims court and look forward to the judge laughing them away

Oh and don't temp swap tyres to pass the test :rolleyes:

GTE

unkel wrote: »

Tyres without the E rating don't pass the NCT. Someone selling these tyres in this country is selling goods that are unfit for purpose. Go to Advance Pitstop and request they swap the tyres for E rated ones or give you a refund. If they refuse, take them to the small claims court and look forward to the judge laughing them away

Oh and don't temp swap tyres to pass the test :rolleyes:

Were his non E tyres bought too long ago for that to work?

Cosmo K

Have you checked on the inside of the tyre? Most tyres only have one e-mark, and sometimes its on the inside of tyre. Don't panic!

CaraFawn

unkel wrote: »

Tyres without the E rating don't pass the NCT. Someone selling these tyres in this country is selling goods that are unfit for purpose. Go to Advance Pitstop and request they swap the tyres for E rated ones or give you a refund. If they refuse, take them to the small claims court and look forward to the judge laughing them away

Oh and don't temp swap tyres to pass the test :rolleyes:

He got his tires back in 2008, when it was not mandatory I suppose.
So I doubt he could take them to court today.

As for the temp swap, quickest and cheapest solution.

GTE

Id bite the bullet and get new tyres. The E mark is there for a reason, forget how long it took our government to enforce it. Its the one area where you cant afford to skimp IMO. Next time you are in the wet and need to slam on it would probably be worth it.

JHMEG

unkel wrote: »

Tyres without the E rating don't pass the NCT.

A mate just brought in his Toyota, front tyres were bought in NI and have no E mark, and his car passed. I really don't know what this E mark thing is about.

GTE

JHMEG wrote: »

I really don't know what this E mark thing is about.

In what sense, mebbe Im reading that wrong?

In case not, Its essentially a European mark that when stamped on tyres, bulbs, glass, headlights tell you that they are meeting a standard of quality.

Magenta

SoldierForce wrote: »

Hi,

Fitted new tyres on my car in around August 2008 just before the NCT. Now when I have the NCT again I checked the tyres and they do not have an E rating!

I paid €120 per tyre and so inspite of not using the car and the tyres being in perfect condition with at least 6mm thread I can still fail the NCT due to the tyres!

Any advice on what I should do?

That sucks.
I got tyres there in April 08 and they were €50 each and they have the E-mark.
If you don't have anyone to swap tyres with, you could buy those cheap tyres for the test and then put the dearer ones back on afterwards.
Dunno how feasible that is- would definitely be expensive.

GTE

Magenta wrote: »

That sucks.
I got tyres there in April 08 and they were €50 each and they have the E-mark.
If you don't have anyone to swap tyres with, you could buy those cheap tyres for the test and then put the dearer ones back on afterwards.
Dunno how feasible that is- would definitely be expensive.

Lets not assume price = quality. Those 50 euro ones you have could be much better then the 120 euro ones for all we know.
Chances are though, if its a good brand the e mark would be there anyway for other countries wouldnt it? Just maybe a little hidden.

JHMEG

bbk wrote: »

In what sense, mebbe Im reading that wrong?

I thought the E mark on tyres was a requirement to pass the NCT... until a friend brought his car in less than a week ago, no E marks on the front tyres, and it passed. (Unless the E-marks were on the inside...)

shinikins

Failed my NCT last week due to the same issue, went back to the garage in question and asked them what they were going to do for me. They called late yesterday evening and told me there was nothing the could do because the law had only changed in April, and the tyre's have been on the car since last July, but i had already checked up on it. The laws regarding E marks on cars changed way back in 1997, but weren't enforced until 2007. NCT regulations only changed in April, and this is completely seperate to the 2007 law. I'd suggest going back to the garage and informing them that they fitted tyres that are unsuitable for the use they are intended for(your covered by consumer law on this point) and ask them what they intend to do for you!

GTE

JHMEG wrote: »

I thought the E mark on tyres was a requirement to pass the NCT... until a friend brought his car in less than a week ago, no E marks on the front tyres, and it passed. (Unless the E-marks were on the inside...)

Yes but there is more to it. Its a big EU thing thats been around for years at this stage but we have only seemed to bother enforcing it now.

Its like a minimum standard that products must meet so say:

- No **** tyres flood the market and end up in crashes because they dont work in the wet like they should
- Headlight bulbs are regulated so idiots dont stick in dodgy ones and blind other drivers
- Glass, Im not too sure but maybe so its strong enough?

The E mark is NOW a requirement to pass the NCT but it seems your friend slipped through the net. Technically his tyres are unsafe/illegal.

EDIT: Providing the e marks arent on the inside like you said.

challengemaster

CaraFawn wrote: »

He got his tires back in 2008, when it was not mandatory I suppose.
So I doubt he could take them to court today.

As for the temp swap, quickest and cheapest solution.

It's been illegal to sell non-E marked tyres since '07.

SoldierForce

I was going to speak to them first and then go the small claims court route if they don't do anything.

According to me those tyres should not have been sold in Ireland in the first place! I went to a shop and didn't buy online as I didn't want problems... Whatever the reason, I paid for the tyres and they are still in good condition but "Not fit for purpose" that is to use the car on the roads in "Ireland" the same place the tyres were purchased in.

The E rating rules are there since 1997 and the tyre shops should have known this. Being enforced now or not makes no difference... It is the tyre shops who should know about this and not the customer. If this actually goes to court it can easily be proven that the tyre shops sold goods not fit for its purpose or else that they intended to dupe the customers by offering cheaper tyres which are worthless to a road user.

snowman707

bbk wrote: »

The E mark is NOW a requirement to pass the NCT but it seems your friend slipped through the net. Technically his tyres are unsafe/illegal.
.

And in reality his tyres could be far safer

kasper

what say if your car passed the nct and one or more of your tyres didnt have the e mark , an oversight by the tester . if your car is in an accident is it insured ?

SoldierForce

Btw Thanks to all who came up with sound advice!

I can't believe that some people actually want me to forget about this and go out to buy new tyres! or swap the tyres just to pass the NCT! This law is obviously around for a reason. In case these people didn't know, it is "illegal" to sell such tyres just as it is illegal to sell drugs. The NCT or Gardai enforcing the law means nothing in this case. Illegal is illegal!

GTE

snowman707 wrote: »

And in reality his tyres could be far safer

Id find it hard to accept that until I could see what the other EU countries laws are with the E mark. If a decent brand expect to sell across Europe they would have to have the E mark unless the rest of Europe was as crap as us with enforcement.

GTE

SoldierForce wrote: »

I can't believe that some people actually want me to forget about this and go out to buy new tyres!

Less exclamation to be fair. The suggestions like mine that said to get new tyres were in the mind set that the law you could use to get your money back/replacement came in after you bought your tyres. Considering that the law has been in place since 2007 changes everything of course. You can now go back and fight your case. If it came in this year like I though given all the hubabub then I dont think anyone would entertain your case.

unkel

SoldierForce wrote: »

I was going to speak to them first and then go the small claims court route if they don't do anything.

According to me those tyres should not have been sold in Ireland in the first place! I went to a shop and didn't buy online as I didn't want problems... Whatever the reason, I paid for the tyres and they are still in good condition but "Not fit for purpose" that is to use the car on the roads in "Ireland" the same place the tyres were purchased in.

The E rating rules are there since 1997 and the tyre shops should have known this. Being enforced now or not makes no difference... It is the tyre shops who should know about this and not the customer. If this actually goes to court it can easily be proven that the tyre shops sold goods not fit for its purpose or else that they intended to dupe the customers by offering cheaper tyres which are worthless to a road user.

Fair play to ya! You will win! Did you know all this before or did the responses on your thread help you in any way?

SoldierForce

unkel wrote: »

Fair play to ya! You will win! Did you know all this before or did the responses on your thread help you in any way?

I always give credit to my fellow boardies! I saw some other thread on here and made up my mind what I wanted to do but wanted to know if someone had a similar problem and what the outcome was... this thread only strengthened my will to proceed.

SoldierForce

bbk wrote: »

Less exclamation to be fair. The suggestions like mine that said to get new tyres were in the mind set that the law you could use to get your money back/replacement came in after you bought your tyres. Considering that the law has been in place since 2007 changes everything of course. You can now go back and fight your case. If it came in this year like I though given all the hubabub then I dont think anyone would entertain your case.

My understanding is that the E rating rules came into force in 1997 by the EU. So the law will go back to what the EU says regardless of when Ireland brought this into force. Its technically the same as Airlines having to pay for cancellations etc as EU Regulations says you have to. Lets see which court in Ireland will stop a passenger being compensated because the Irish Government didn't introduce this law. That said there is room to get around this... but only the government can change that and I doubt they will want to...

Btw I think in 1997 the rule was that the tyre manufacturers should have a E rating certificate but the tyres do not need to have the E rating on them. In 2007 Ireland decided that all tyres sold in Ireland should have an E rating but it was only in 2009 that the EU made it mandatory to label the tyre with the rating. The reason being that while many known manufacturers labeled the tyres, there were some like Indian, Chinese manufacturers who had a rating certificate but didn't label the tyres to european standards as they were made for the american and canadian market which required a DOT code.

For those who don't know, the E rating isn't difficult to acquire if the tyres follow good standards. They basically want the rubber to be of a good standard etc... even chinese and indian manufacturers have E rated tyres. Those who don't have them usually sell substandard tyres which wear fast or steel belts are not up to a good standard in radial tyres. E rated tyres cost next to nothing more then the cheapest available tyres. So there is nothing to gain by buying non E rated tyres.

R.O.R

Before heading down the legal route I'd suggest taking one of your wheels off an having a look on the inside of the tyre to check there for the e mark. It's quite possible they are there, but you just can't see them.

10 minutes in the drive could save quite a few phone calls or trips to Advance.

I don't think a company the size of Advance Pitstop would have been selling non-compliant tyres as recently as 2008.

challengemaster

R.O.R wrote: »

I don't think a company the size of Advance Pitstop would have been selling non-compliant tyres as recently as 2008.

All I can say to that is - Ha! :pac:

Plug

When you go to the test just say it to the lad doing the test and throw him €20 and I guarantee you will pass;)