Michelin in Dundee Closes

As car tyres have gotten progressively bigger with even your run of the mill hatchback now sporting 16”, 17” and even 18” wheels and the proliferation of cheap (and nasty) tyres from Asia that Mandy will take over the double the price Michelin’s on her Juke, it’s no real surprise. Sad, but not unexpected. Try going to any tyre dealers these days and ask for any decent tyre brand and they’ll tell you it’s not in stock and needs delivered next day. All they stock are cheap tyres as that’s where the demand is.
 
MissChief said:
As car tyres have gotten progressively bigger with even your run of the mill hatchback now sporting 16”, 17” and even 18” wheels and the proliferation of cheap (and nasty) tyres from Asia that Mandy will take over the double the price Michelin’s on her Juke, it’s no real surprise. Sad, but not unexpected. Try going to any tyre dealers these days and ask for any decent tyre brand and they’ll tell you it’s not in stock and needs delivered next day. All they stock are cheap tyres as that’s where the demand is.
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I had worse than that, I was speaking to a local mobile fitter the other day who was attending to a neighbor (I'm due tyres on the TT), and his attitude was that all tyres are essentially the same, and that not one single road car needs anything more than the Chinese tat he was selling exclusively. I politely declined his service.

I kind of understand only stocking the cheap guff, as that's what 99% of buyers demand, but to not cater for anything else at all, and call yourself a professional? Nope.
 
paradigm said:
I had worse than that, I was speaking to a local mobile fitter the other day who was attending to a neighbor (I'm due tyres on the TT), and his attitude was that all tyres are essentially the same, and that not one single road car needs anything more than the Chinese tat he was selling exclusively. I politely declined his service.

I kind of understand only stocking the cheap guff, as that's what 99% of buyers demand, but to not cater for anything else at all, and call yourself a professional? Nope.
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If that is the case then why do the manufacturers not save millions by fitting them to their cars? VW, Toyota, Honda and PSA produce 10 million cars a year. Think of the savings!
 
paradigm said:
I had worse than that, I was speaking to a local mobile fitter the other day who was attending to a neighbor (I'm due tyres on the TT), and his attitude was that all tyres are essentially the same, and that not one single road car needs anything more than the Chinese tat he was selling exclusively. I politely declined his service.

I kind of understand only stocking the cheap guff, as that's what 99% of buyers demand, but to not cater for anything else at all, and call yourself a professional? Nope.
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The guy is an idiot, I even had Goodyears on my old 115bhp Mondeo as the Chinese "Sagitar P307" were utter bobbins in the wet, I changed them after they tried to kill me on the M1 after someone hit the central reservation in the rain causing everyone to slam their brakes on and I ended up being outbraked by the Honda Accord in front so badly that I stopped braking & instead went round him on the hard shoulder.
 
This seems to be quite a British thing too, in parts of Europe you come across even absolute bangers fitted with 4 decent tyres.
 
MissChief said:
As car tyres have gotten progressively bigger with even your run of the mill hatchback now sporting 16”, 17” and even 18” wheels and the proliferation of cheap (and nasty) tyres from Asia that Mandy will take over the double the price Michelin’s on her Juke, it’s no real surprise. Sad, but not unexpected. Try going to any tyre dealers these days and ask for any decent tyre brand and they’ll tell you it’s not in stock and needs delivered next day. All they stock are cheap tyres as that’s where the demand is.
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The road safety brigade should be focusing on crap tyres and brakes instead of people going 2mph over the speed limit. I wonder how many of them use the cheap stuff themselves.
 
Nasher said:
The road safety brigade should be focusing on crap tyres and brakes instead of people going 2mph over the speed limit. I wonder how many of them use the cheap stuff themselves.
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Makes me wonder if there’s a gap in the market for a tyre depot with decent tyres so discerning motorists can arrive and get a decent tyre fitted there and then.
 
[TW]Fox said:
This seems to be quite a British thing too, in parts of Europe you come across even absolute bangers fitted with 4 decent tyres.
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I've noticed this too! It's incredibly sad, but I noticed this in Prague and the "least" premium tyres people seemed to have was Kumho/Vredstein tyres. I didn't see any Happy Gallop/Linglong/Wanli tyres or similar.

As I've always said, cheap Chinese tyres should be regulated, which would probably mean banning the vast majority of them. In *everything* else we have, not just automotive, but in all areas of life, we have minimum safety standards that things must reach before they can be sold - yet for tyres, as long as they're black, round and have 1.6mm tread I can fit them to my 2 tonne car and drive at 70mph. It's madness.
 
Gaygle said:
I've noticed this too! It's incredibly sad, but I noticed this in Prague and the "least" premium tyres people seemed to have was Kumho/Vredstein tyres. I didn't see any Happy Gallop/Linglong/Wanli tyres or similar.

As I've always said, cheap Chinese tyres should be regulated, which would probably mean banning the vast majority of them. In *everything* else we have, not just automotive, but in all areas of life, we have minimum safety standards that things must reach before they can be sold - yet for tyres, as long as they're black, round and have 1.6mm tread I can fit them to my 2 tonne car and drive at 70mph. It's madness.
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They are already regulated aren’t they?
 
Iamzod said:
The guy is an idiot, I even had Goodyears on my old 115bhp Mondeo as the Chinese "Sagitar P307" were utter bobbins in the wet, I changed them after they tried to kill me on the M1 after someone hit the central reservation in the rain causing everyone to slam their brakes on and I ended up being outbraked by the Honda Accord in front so badly that I stopped braking & instead went round him on the hard shoulder.
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Dealer put some cheap and nasty tyres on my truck and it was lethal in the wet - the difference to the not cheap enhanced wet grip tyres I'm using now is massive to the point it should be criminal IMO the other tyres are even sold.
 
Gaygle said:
I've noticed this too! It's incredibly sad, but I noticed this in Prague and the "least" premium tyres people seemed to have was Kumho/Vredstein tyres. I didn't see any Happy Gallop/Linglong/Wanli tyres or similar.

As I've always said, cheap Chinese tyres should be regulated, which would probably mean banning the vast majority of them. In *everything* else we have, not just automotive, but in all areas of life, we have minimum safety standards that things must reach before they can be sold - yet for tyres, as long as they're black, round and have 1.6mm tread I can fit them to my 2 tonne car and drive at 70mph. It's madness.
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Surely there must be British/European regs of some sort?
 
There are minimum standards I think, but they are pretty low.

My Fiesta ST came from a used dealer with Chinese ditchfinders and it was horrible (the ride quality and grip). They also had cracking sidewalls after only 2 months and had to be replaced, because I didnt want to die.I

Anything load bearing or important to safety, dont buy Chinese. Buy European, Japanese or American...
 
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MissChief said:
Makes me wonder if there’s a gap in the market for a tyre depot with decent tyres so discerning motorists can arrive and get a decent tyre fitted there and then.
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You mean just any tyre shop.

Usually they can get tyres from wholesalers in a few hours.
 
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