Mercedes A Class tyre horror

Hometyre Norfolk, the mobile tyre fitting service that comes to you, recently received an order via our website www.hometyre.co.uk to fit two front tyres (Yokohama AE50 ) 215/45/1791W to a Mercedes A Class in Tharston near Norwich. The customer had been advised on his MOT to have the two front tyres replaced. This was due to the age of the tyre, they were perishing.

During our free tyre safety check that Hometyre offer with every job, we looked over the car before starting the job and found that one of the back tyres was in the same poor condition, due to the age of tyre. It was also starting to perish and was unsafe.

However, on the opposite side, the customer had a fairly new budget tyre. As the customer had just purchased the vehicle, it was clear that a budget tyre had been fitted just to sell the vehicle.

The budget tyre would have been fine, however the owner of the vehicle would have preferred a premium tyre, as it would have a longer life span. Also during our free tyre check, we realised that a new valve had not been fitted with the budget tyre. Valves are made from rubber, which like tyres both age and perish over time. Perishing valves is a common cause of slow punctures , as the air is leaking from the cracks.

On a non TPMS vehicle, hometyre always change the rubber snap in valve, which is complimentary with every tyre. However, on a TPMS vehicle we can service and change parts such as the seal or valve core for a small fee (TPMS is now an MOT requirement since 2012).

This vehicle needed three new tyres, but the customer requested four, with four new valves. So we fitted the two new tyres and returned the next day with two more YOKOHAMA tyres, leaving the customer safe and happy.