Nexen N8000 tires - anybody tried?

H3llR4iser

Hi folks,

I found quite a bit of recommendations for the Nexen N8000 tires around, just about anybody who used them seems to be enthusiastic about the fact they are quite good value (I even found them described as "90% as good as Michelin PS3, but only 50% the price). Did anybody try them and can confirm/deny?

Also - if anybody knows a garage that would do fitting and balancing of tires provided by the customer in Cork, please drop me a PM. Theoretically any garage should do it, but when asking around I was met with...let's say less than enthusiastic responses.

Thanks!

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Haven't tried the tires., but re the fitting of customer's own tires it is very difficult to get a garage to do it.
I'm from Kildare but living in Dublin atm and the nearest garage I could find to do it was in Kildare town , for example.

dharn

Why would they ? You turn up with what could be a rubbish tyre they fit it you get a blowout a few weeks later you sue them :eek:

The Dagda

They're cheap on Camskill and there's some good reviews online so I just bought a set of them.

I get my garage to fit them when I'm getting a service, they only charge €10 per tyre.

Curry Hanly tyres in Tipperary town is the closet place to Cork that I know will fit customer's own tyres.

I'm sure plenty of places will do it though, just do a quick ring around.

dharn

dharn wrote: »

Why would they ? You turn up with what could be a rubbish tyre they fit it you get a blowout a few weeks later you sue them :eek:

I don't think you would have grounds to sue them also the chances are the tyre you are fitting is a much better tyre than the cheap rubbish being pushed by a lot of tyre places.

I dont know why they all dont do it. Charge a 10er a corner and its 40 quid more than they get if they weren't doing it they will most likely get your business then for wheel alignment also which is another 50 quid or so in most places.

OP if you look on the eyretyres website there is a list of recommended fitters who don't have a problem fitting tyres.

djimi

Rylie Obedient Choir wrote: »

I don't think you would have grounds to sue them also the chances are the tyre you are fitting is a much better tyre than the cheap rubbish being pushed by a lot of tyre places.

I dont know why they all dont do it. Charge a 10er a corner and its 40 quid more than they get if they weren't doing it they will most likely get your business then for wheel alignment also which is another 50 quid or so in most places.

OP if you look on the eyretyres website there is a list of recommended fitters who don't have a problem fitting tyres.

Because they cant stand over what they dont sell, and legal issues aside, if Johnny gets his tires fitted at Fitter X and has a blowout that sends him into a wall, then he will go around telling everyone and anyone how Fitter X fitted defective tires on his car. Doesnt matter that its not true; reputations dont take long to damage and are very hard to mend.

Its the very same reason why most hotels/pubs dont allow you bring your own food to parties.

Its one thing having tires delivered from Camskills/Eiretyres; at least there is a good chance that they will be okay. Tires that someone pulls from their boot could come from anywhere.

djimi

djimi wrote: »

Because they cant stand over what they dont sell, and legal issues aside, if Johnny gets his tires fitted at Fitter X and has a blowout that sends him into a wall, then he will go around telling everyone and anyone how Fitter X fitted defective tires on his car. Doesnt matter that its not true; reputations dont take long to damage and are very hard to mend.

Yet a number of places have are doing it and they don't appear to be having any problem with it. Also the fact so many places are fitting terrible Chinese tyres that are no doubt leading to crashes in the wet doesn't appear to be deterring them.

I think anyone who is up on things enough to be buying tyres online wouldn't be a person to go bad mouthing a fitter if they had a blow out tbh.

djimi

Rylie Obedient Choir wrote: »

Yet a number of places have are doing it and they don't appear to be having any problem with it. Also the fact so many places are fitting terrible Chinese tyres that are no doubt leading to crashes in the wet doesn't appear to be deterring them.

I think anyone who is up on things enough to be buying tyres online wouldn't be a person to go bad mouthing a fitter if they had a blow out tbh.

More power to them. Im not saying its rational; you asked why more places dont do it and Im explaining the logic behind their decision not to. Agree or disagree all you like; many companies and many lines of industry take a similar stance over goods that they do not themselves sell. Maybe its costing them business, but all it takes is one clown with one set of tires that they bought second hand off eBay/from a scrap yard or something and their reputation is down the toilet. Some will take that risk, others wont.

djimi

djimi wrote: »

More power to them. Im not saying its rational; you asked why more places dont do it and Im explaining the logic behind their decision not to. Agree or disagree all you like; many companies and many lines of industry take a similar stance over goods that they do not themselves sell. Maybe its costing them business, but all it takes is one clown with one set of tires that they bought second hand off eBay/from a scrap yard or something and their reputation is down the toilet. Some will take that risk, others wont.

It's getting more and more popular though and there is significant price differences so more places might not have much choice and not be able to afford to turn away the fitting business.

George Dalton

Rylie Obedient Choir wrote: »

It's getting more and more popular though and there is significant price differences so more places might not have much choice and not be able to afford to turn away the fitting business.

The inevitable end result will be that prices for fitting tyres will increase, narrowing the price gap.

Charging €10 per tyre for fitting simply isn't a sustainable business model.

Tail Docker

George Dalton wrote: »

The inevitable end result will be that prices for fitting tyres will increase, narrowing the price gap.

Charging €10 per tyre for fitting simply isn't a sustainable business model.

I thought that sounded pretty good money. Better than mending a puncture for a fiver..or washing the whole car for €6 which an awful lot do..

George Dalton

Tail Docker wrote: »

I thought that sounded pretty good money. Better than mending a puncture for a fiver..or washing the whole car for €6 which an awful lot do..

I understand that it sounds like ok money. But when you break it down and consider overheads you soon realise it isn't.

First of all tyre fitting should be charged at 23% vat. So your €10 equates to €8.13. Now a lot of places will sidestep some or all of this vat by adding a separate charge for balancing and charge that out at 13.5% So even assuming that your tyre fitter of choice just puts down wheel balancing on the invoice and charges 13.5% vat on the whole labour charge (which technically is tax evasion) then they are still only getting €8.81 out of your tenner.

Now consider what they or their employee have to do to put on a tyre for you.

Bring your car into their premises.
Put your car on their 2 post lift.
Remove the wheel using their air gun.
Remove the old tyre using their tyre machine.
Replace the valve from their stock of new valves.
Refit the tyre using their tyre machine and tyre fitting paste.
Balance the wheel using their balancer and weights.
Refit the wheel and torque the wheel studs using their torque wrench.
Prepare and print an invoice for you using their computer, printer, ink and paper.
Pay for disposal of your old tyre.

How much do you reckon they will have left of your €8.81 by the time everything on that list is paid for?

George Dalton

George Dalton wrote: »

The inevitable end result will be that prices for fitting tyres will increase, narrowing the price gap.

Charging €10 per tyre for fitting simply isn't a sustainable business model.

A number of places are doing it though so it must be worth their while. Between 10 and 12 euro appears to be the common price though I know of people who got them fitted for free when they agreed to get the wheel alignment done also.

Valetta

Tyre fitting should be charged at 13.5% as it's all labour.

What would it take to fit 4 tyres.... 30 minutes max?

For a garage that's not operating at full capacity, €35 for 30 minutes is not a bad contribution to overheads.

George Dalton

Yes I understand that. It's grand for most places when they aren't crazy busy and it's only a small minority of people who are actually asking them to do it. So they get an extra few quid and everyone is happy. After all if they turn down the work some other lad down the road will do it.

But here is another way of looking at it. Consider what would happen if the majority of people started bringing their own tyres along and wanting them fitted for a tenner.

Let's say they currently make an average €20 per tyre of they supply and fit whereas they only charge €10 if you bring your own. But the work and costs involved are exactly the same regardless of who is supplying the tyre.

So if everyone starts bringing their own tyres then they are looking at a 50% drop in income.

Pretty much no business could survive that so the only logical outcome is that labour charges for fitting tyres would have to increase.

George Dalton

Valetta wrote: »

Tyre fitting should be charged at 13.5% as it's all labour.

Tyre fitting is specifically excluded from the lower rate and should be charged at 23%

Check the revenue website if you don't believe me.

Valetta

George Dalton wrote: »

Tyre fitting is specifically excluded from the lower rate and should be charged at 23%

Check the revenue website if you don't believe me.

Rate:
Standard

Click on this link for the current and historic VAT rates.
Remarks:
Paragraph 20(1)(b)(ii) of schedule 3 excludes tyres from the reduced rate. Standard rate applies even when tyres are supplied and fitted as part of a car service. Also where a separate charge is made for tyre disposal/enviromental tyre disposal/casing disposal this charge is also liable at the standard rate. However,the supply of tyre/puncture repair services is liable at the reduced rate. Paragraph 20(1)(a)of schedule 3 refers.
Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 (VATCA 2010) Ref:

This is all I could find on Revenue site. It specifies "Supply and fit " as being chargeable at 23%.
I don't see any specific exception that takes fitting only outside of the " Supply of a Services " , which is 23.5%.

I'm on a phone at the moment so it's not the easiest site to search and I may well be wrong.

I fully understand your point about it being a poor business model if there is no margin being made on the tyres themselves.

If I had a cafe I'd be extremely miffed if a customer arrived in with three eggs and asked me to make an omelette for him. -:)

George Dalton

I'm on a phone as well but I will find the relevant info for you tomorrow and post.

Valetta wrote: »

If I had a cafe I'd be extremely miffed if a customer arrived in with three eggs and asked me to make an omelette for him. -:)

No point being miffed. Just charge him accordingly

Let's say you charge a tenner for an omelette and the eggs cost you 50 cent. Then if some lad bring his own eggs how much should you charge him?

€9.50 is the obvious answer.

And if he said here are the eggs, make me an omelette and I'll give you a fiver you would tell him to eff off.

So why is it different when it comes to people bringing their own parts to a garage?

There is a bit of a change of attitude needed on the part of both garages and motorists IMO.

christy02

Op ballincollig Tyre centre fit mine no problem. Charge 15 a corner. Reasonable imo. Still saves me money.

George Dalton

I'd be very surprised if tyre fitting only would be put through the books. Different to supplying tyres as there is stock to account for etc.

George Dalton wrote: »

So why is it different when it comes to bringing their own parts to a garage..

In fairness a lot of Indy mechanics want to to supply your own parts. I know a number of places out my way that operate in this way. They much prefer if you do all the work rounding up the parts.

If it's gets more and more popular then I could see a place setting up just to fit tyres (even as say for someone to earn a few extra bob in the evenings). Costs would be very low, no need for storage etc, no need for lifts (a lot of places don't use lifts anyway for changing tyres), one man operation, take away your old tyres etc etc. 10 euro a corner would be decent money then.

George Dalton

Rylie Obedient Choir wrote: »

I'd be very surprised if tyre fitting only would be put through the books. Different to supplying tyres as there is stock to account for etc.

Ah well now you are into a whole other discussion. Black market prices are a different matter entirely.

George Dalton

George Dalton wrote: »

Ah well now you are into a whole other discussion. Black market prices are a different matter entirely.

I'm only guessing but I'd imagine with no paper trail that places would be inclined to pocket the money rather than add it in with other business.

George Dalton

Rylie Obedient Choir wrote: »

I'm only guessing but I'd imagine with no paper trail that places would be inclined to pocket the money rather than add it in with other business.

I agree entirely.

But my posts were outlining what would happen if/when the trend of buying parts online and paying just for fitting becomes more common. Hiding such labour charges from the revenue wouldn't be sustainable then.

George Dalton

George Dalton wrote: »

But my posts were outlining what would happen if/when the trend of buying parts online and paying just for fitting becomes more common. Hiding such labour charges from the revenue wouldn't be sustainable then.

Yes of course, if it was the main aspect of the business then it would have to be all above board.

George Dalton

Rylie Obedient Choir wrote: »

Yes of course, if it was the main aspect if the business then it would have to be all above board.

Which would mean the cost to the customer would have to increase.

hi5

dharn wrote: »

Why would they ? You turn up with what could be a rubbish tyre they fit it you get a blowout a few weeks later you sue them :eek:

If that was the case, they wouldn't repair punctures either.

Ardennes1944

The tyre place near top of forge hill does them for 10e a tyre. Nice guys there too.

Esel

A different business, I know, but many restaurants allow you to BYOB and charge corkage (usually €8-10). I know one restaurant that has no corkage charge. Being a 'wine is wine, as long as it is not vinegar' person, I am much happier bringing an inexpensive wine that I know I like and paying corkage than paying a 300% markup on their house wine. The corkage charge more than covers the cost of stocking the glasses (and washing them later) and opening and later disposing of the bottle.

Meal ingredients - haven't tried that yet! I might, though, in very special circumstances - very special occasion, nice piece of organic fillet of beef, pork, goat, lamb, rabbit, hare, pheasant or wild duck etc. Obviously I would ask beforehand instead of rocking up with the goods in a plastic bag, and I would be prepared to pay a reasonable price for this special service. I would offer to sign a disclaimer, of course...

I think I paid €40 a couple of years ago to a tyre place (phoned and asked first) to fit and balance two tyres which I supplied, as well as rotating the rears to the front and balancing them too. We were all happy. If the lane and the fitter is unoccupied, the overheads (disposal, valves, weights,paste, oh - and paper and ink - seriously?) are minimal. Machine wear and tear - negligible.

Regarding parts: if I know what is needed - say CV joints or regular service parts (oil, plugs filters etc.), I source my own. I have never been refused by any mechanic (always ask in advance, of course). I assume they adjust their labour cost accordingly, and I am OK with that. I also know that if a part which I supplied subsequently fails, that is on me. Or if I supplied a wrong part, any extra labour cost is also on me.



Finally, anyone have an opinion on those Nexen N8000 tyres?

George Dalton

There is a universal truth that says you get what you pay for and it is especially true when it comes to tyres.

I have no experience of this exact model of tyre but I have fitted lots of Nexen tyres and driven plenty of cars with them fitted. They are at the lower end of the mid range IMO. There is much worse out there but to expect them to be 90% as good as a Michelin PS3 would be asking too much.

commited

OP, what profile tyre are you looking at and have you looked at openeo? Prices were better on there last time I was looking.

H3llR4iser

George Dalton wrote: »

There is a universal truth that says you get what you pay for and it is especially true when it comes to tyres.

I have no experience of this exact model of tyre but I have fitted lots of Nexen tyres and driven plenty of cars with them fitted. They are at the lower end of the mid range IMO. There is much worse out there but to expect them to be 90% as good as a Michelin PS3 would be asking too much.

That is the whole point of the question; I have an Alfa 159 and there is a specific thread on an Italian forum going on about tires where a boatload of other owners claim how they tried the N8000 and were taken by surprise by its quality compared to the price; I found the same stories coming from people with other similar cars (A4, 3er etc).

One point they make is that it's not just "get Nexen tires", but specifically "get the N8000"; They do not recommend any other model - apparently Nexen got some sort of "lucky break" with the 8000s.

That's why I was looking for some first-hand experience on Irish roads.

commited wrote: »

OP, what profile tyre are you looking at and have you looked at openeo? Prices were better on there last time I was looking.

I am indeed looking on Oponeo, some really decent prices over there. The N8000s are 77 each, but there is even stuff like the PZero Rosso for 118, which is unreal considering that many tire shops I asked try to sell you stuff like WanLi or LingLong for 100-110! Looking for 225/50 R17 98W, anyway.

commited

Autobild tested them:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2012-Auto-Bild-Max-Performance-Tyre-Test.htm

They cite quick wear which could end up being a false economy. As far as a decent value tyre goes in my profile, the Hankook K115 or K120 seem to get decent reviews.

George Dalton

H3llR4iser wrote: »

One point they make is that it's not just "get Nexen tires", but specifically "get the N8000"; They do not recommend any other model - apparently Nexen got some sort of "lucky break" with the 8000s.

I would take that sort of thing with a large pinch of salt tbh.

pred racer

H3llR4iser wrote: »

That is the whole point of the question; I have an Alfa 159 and there is a specific thread on an Italian forum going on about tires where a boatload of other owners claim how they tried the N8000 and were taken by surprise by its quality compared to the price; I found the same stories coming from people with other similar cars (A4, 3er etc).

One point they make is that it's not just "get Nexen tires", but specifically "get the N8000"; They do not recommend any other model - apparently Nexen got some sort of "lucky break" with the 8000s.

That's why I was looking for some first-hand experience on Irish roads.



I am indeed looking on Oponeo, some really decent prices over there. The N8000s are 77 each, but there is even stuff like the PZero Rosso for 118, which is unreal considering that many tire shops I asked try to sell you stuff like WanLi or LingLong for 100-110! Looking for 225/50 R17 98W, anyway.

I have a 159 too and I have tried several brands of tyre which would be considered cheap but stiil good (including the accelera half of them on Alfaowners rave about)and I have to report that each time I go back to bridgestone, goodyear etc as the budget ones dont live up to expectations, having said that I have never tried that specific tyre! I may be a sweeping generalisation but I find that the people who reccomend budget tyres (not talking about chinese ****e) dont actually drive that fast and dont push their tyres!

George Dalton wrote: »

I would take that sort of thing with a large pinch of salt tbh.

Does this thread mean you wont fit my new set of LingLongs next time I'm in:P

CiniO

George Dalton wrote: »

I understand that it sounds like ok money. But when you break it down and consider overheads you soon realise it isn't.

First of all tyre fitting should be charged at 23% vat. So your €10 equates to €8.13. Now a lot of places will sidestep some or all of this vat by adding a separate charge for balancing and charge that out at 13.5% So even assuming that your tyre fitter of choice just puts down wheel balancing on the invoice and charges 13.5% vat on the whole labour charge (which technically is tax evasion) then they are still only getting €8.81 out of your tenner.

Now consider what they or their employee have to do to put on a tyre for you.

Bring your car into their premises.
Put your car on their 2 post lift.
Remove the wheel using their air gun.
Remove the old tyre using their tyre machine.
Replace the valve from their stock of new valves.
Refit the tyre using their tyre machine and tyre fitting paste.
Balance the wheel using their balancer and weights.
Refit the wheel and torque the wheel studs using their torque wrench.
Prepare and print an invoice for you using their computer, printer, ink and paper.
Pay for disposal of your old tyre.

How much do you reckon they will have left of your €8.81 by the time everything on that list is paid for?

Well few years back (in 2009) I found it very problematic to find a garage to fit my own tyres. Even more some garage owners were literally rude to me when I even asked for it, with some just telling me to get lost. Some were asking for some ridiculous money (like 120 per set) just to ditch me.
I was extremally surprised, as in my home country (Poland) service of fitting tyres is norm, and there is plenty of garages which will do whole set with balancing (4 corners) for €10-€15 (prices from 2009). So even considering difference is price of services, fitting 4 tyres in Ireland shouldn't cost more then €40-€60. But I couldn't really find anyone.

I was struggling for few years, as I was swapping my winter and summer tyres twice a year, but eventually found garage happy to do it at reasonable price.

However now I don't think this problem exists much anymore in my area. Plenty of garages happy to fit (and balance) my own set of tyres for less than €50.
If garages stopped doing it, I'd be very happy to start a business of fitting someone's tyres at €10 per corner, and I'm sure this business would be very successful.

djimi

CiniO wrote: »

If garages stopped doing it, I'd be very happy to start a business of fitting someone's tyres at €10 per corner, and I'm sure this business would be very successful.

Id be very interested to see how long it would take you to break even and turn a profit when you consider overheads and things like insurance.

CiniO

djimi wrote: »

Id be very interested to see how long it would take you to break even and turn a profit when you consider overheads and things like insurance.

Well even if I could get 10 people a day to change a set of tyres, at €10 per tyre, that gives turnover of 400 per day. On average 21 working days per month gives €8400 per month.
That would be plenty to cover cost small premises, insurance, one fulltime employee, and other costs.

djimi

I think finding 10 people a day, every day, looking to just change tires is wildly optimistic in Ireland.

CiniO

djimi wrote: »

I think finding 10 people a day, every day, looking to just change tires is wildly optimistic in Ireland.

That's why I said this business would only make sense if other garages in my area cased to offer this service.

djimi

djimi wrote: »

I think finding 10 people a day, every day, looking to just change tires is wildly optimistic in Ireland.

You could do it out of your garage (at home) for minimal setup costs, no additional premises costs required and operate in the evenings doing to make a few extra bob on top of your daytime job. Doing it in the evenings would suit a lot of people too so you could drum up business from people who cant get to places during the day etc. A few people a day would see you making some extra cash (on top of your day job) operating in this way.

George Dalton

You'd be doing very well to fit 10 sets of tyres in a day!

George Dalton

pred racer wrote: »

Does this thread mean you wont fit my new set of LingLongs next time I'm in:P

You know we look after our regular customers

Tail Docker

George Dalton wrote: »

I understand that it sounds like ok money. But when you break it down and consider overheads you soon realise it isn't.

First of all tyre fitting should be charged at 23% vat. So your €10 equates to €8.13. Now a lot of places will sidestep some or all of this vat by adding a separate charge for balancing and charge that out at 13.5% So even assuming that your tyre fitter of choice just puts down wheel balancing on the invoice and charges 13.5% vat on the whole labour charge (which technically is tax evasion) then they are still only getting €8.81 out of your tenner.

Now consider what they or their employee have to do to put on a tyre for you.

Bring your car into their premises.
Put your car on their 2 post lift.
Remove the wheel using their air gun.
Remove the old tyre using their tyre machine.
Replace the valve from their stock of new valves.
Refit the tyre using their tyre machine and tyre fitting paste.
Balance the wheel using their balancer and weights.
Refit the wheel and torque the wheel studs using their torque wrench.
Prepare and print an invoice for you using their computer, printer, ink and paper.
Pay for disposal of your old tyre.

How much do you reckon they will have left of your €8.81 by the time everything on that list is paid for?

I run a service business with a fair few employees, so I understand overheads. But, that set of tyres fitted is 30-40 minutes work tops and is leaving €40 (and in my case that would be €40 + Vat at 13.5% as it is labour..). The lift is there, as are all the tools, valves cost cents, and the fitter is there anyway, as are the overheads, so better to bring in the €40 than to stand idle. That's a nice clean €40 as well, there's no outlay for the tyres, just fit them.


I think a lot of businesses turn up their noses at €40 jobs. We don't. We charge €37.50 an hour for labour, flat rate. In our industry, that's on the high side. I'd take the €40 with a big smile and hope there were 200 more queued behind ready to be done. After a week or two, I'd expect the set of tyres to be on and gone in 15 minutes tops. 10 ideally. Mo faster is mo better.

George Dalton

Tail Docker wrote: »

The lift is there, as are all the tools, valves cost cents, and the fitter is there anyway, as are the overheads, so better to bring in the €40 than to stand idle. That's a nice clean €40 as well, there's no outlay for the tyres, just fit them.

But the fact is that the reason the lift, tools, tyre machine, balancer are already there and paying their way is because of the existing business model of supplying and fitting tyres and making say €20 per tyre instead of €10.

You couldn't start up a business charging €10 per tyre and make it work without cutting some serious corners.

This is my point. It's ok when these jobs are in the minority and places aren't busy. So as you say they take the €40 rather than have a fella stand idle. So people who are willing to make the effort of sourcing their own tyres stand to save a few quid on that basis.

The logical conclusion if the current trend continues to the point where fitting only becomes the majority of the work rather than a minority then fitting prices have to increase. It stands to reason.

visual

I think the garages that refuse or quote some mad price are trying to deter customers buying on line and fitting a tyre.

There is more work in fixing a puncture and the is in 10 to 15 range

Tail Docker

visual wrote: »

I think the garages that refuse or quote some mad price are trying to deter customers buying on line and fitting a tyre.

There is more work in fixing a puncture and the is in 10 to 15 range

And believe it or not, the margins on selling tyres are a bit crap tbh. I think they're missing a trick. A car-wash opened close to us - one of a string across the country. They wash a car for €6, have the best of gear for doing it and there's two guys doing the wash. You'd change a set of tyres in the time they take to wash a car - they're making €6 in that time, you're making €40. No brainer, there's money in it.

Too many Celtic-Tiger spoilt businesses too used to ripping off their customers with the "If I'm not making €100 it's rubbish" attitude tbh. These €40 jobs would fill an idle gap at feck all cost. Personally, I'd grab them and make a big deal of advertising that we fitted your tyres with pleasure.

George Dalton

Tail Docker wrote: »

These €40 jobs would fill an idle gap at feck all cost. Personally, I'd grab them and make a big deal of advertising that we fitted your tyres with pleasure.

That's a short term view though. It will have a negative effect on the business in the long term if the trend continues. The €40 idle gap jobs over time take over your old €80 jobs and all of a sudden things aren't looking so good at the end of the month.

The way I look at it is this, if we have 2 lads working on 2 cars taking up 2 lifts doing the exact same job then we should be making the same money out of both jobs. The fact that I may have supplied the parts for one car and the customer supplied them for the other is irrelevant as far as I am concerned. If the work is the same, the income from that work should be the same.

CiniO

Well, so you are saying that garage makes €20 on tyre they sell and fit, and only €10 if they charge €10 for fitting.
But to be honest if you only wanted to fit tyre, you wouldn't need to worry about space for storage of all variety of sizes and brand, about dealing with suppliers, about returns of faulty tyres for which you'd need to take responsibility for, about possibilities of theft or damage to your stock, etc...
As I said above - if there were no garages offering fitting customers own tyres (which now plenty of garages do), it would be a great business to have a place which just purely fits customers tyres.

CiniO

There is a fairly reputable tyre place in Castlebar. I've been there few times for a quote, but never decided to buy tyres of them, as it was too dear. They indeed have professionally trained staff and top of the class equipment, but prices are high.

I remember 5 years ago I went there to fit my own tyres, and owner just laughed at me and told me he will do it for 40 quid a corner.
If he offered 40 for a set, he would have 40 quid (because he had few empty lanes and employees waiting and doing nothing) - but he didn't want to.

Recently I went there as well to check my wheel alignment. I knew he's got very good equipment for wheel alignment, as I was there once with my company vehicle.
When I went there with my own car, place was empty. Several lift waiting for customers, good few employees waiting.
Owner says 50 quid for wheel alignment.
I say it used to be 40 a while ago, and plenty of garages around offering it for 30. I propose 40 is fair price.
He tells me that his machine cost him 50 grand, and he can't afford to do wheel balancing that cheap. And 50 is the price.
I thanked him and drove off.
His 50 grand machine didn't bring him a cent, while it could have brought him 40 quid.

Unfortunately that's the way many Irish garages do business, but I suppose they won't survive long doing that.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

George Dalton wrote: »

That's a short term view though. It will have a negative effect on the business in the long term if the trend continues. The €40 idle gap jobs over time take over your old €80 jobs and all of a sudden things aren't looking so good at the end of the month.

The way I look at it is this, if we have 2 lads working on 2 cars taking up 2 lifts doing the exact same job then we should be making the same money out of both jobs. The fact that I may have supplied the parts for one car and the customer supplied them for the other is irrelevant as far as I am concerned. If the work is the same, the income from that work should be the same.

While I can see your point, surely the margin on fitting a set of tyres can't be more than €20 a corner (so that's €80 on a set of four, for approx 10-30 mins work at most).
I'd imagine that fitting the tyres is where your profit should be anyway. Customers can buy tires themselves online alot cheaper than in a tire stockist (probably can be purchased online at close to trade than RRP price). However most customers cannot fit tires themselves as they won't have access to a tyre fitting machine.

It comes down to, is it better to have a man idle for 1 hour or have him and his lift take in 80 revenue for approx 30-50% of that time?

Gmaximum

Just reading this out of interest after my experience yesterday. Happened to be driving my wife's car a noticed it wasn't gripping in corners. Got out and discovered tyres were badly worn. I took it straight to the local independent guy. Drove into his yard at 12:55 and asked for 2 new tyres. His response I will quote you but wnot fit them as we close at 1.

10 mins later I was in Atlas getting 2 new Firestones fitted. Being self employed myself I found it very surprising that the owner of a service business would turn down business like that. If he'd said he was picking up the kids or something I may have waited till Monday if the Mrs didn't need the car. It does seem a lot of these guys can turn away business

The business model has changed in the industry. The chains now offer servicing on top of traditional tyres suspension etc.

Until recently I wouldn't have consider buying tyres on line but will do when my own need replacing. I think the tyre business will change over time. Many older drivers may not have the confidence to buy car parts or tyres on line. This will change as more younger drivers start buying their own cars. This will force guys to offer fitting at a consistentla fair price or risk loosing out