New tyre? It's no big deal

NOT every motoring cost has soared in recent years. Tyres, for example, are at their cheapest, in real terms, for generations. This is because of a highstreet price war between "fast fit" tyre centres like Kwik-Fit, and a plethora of Far Eastern tyre manufacturers who are vying for the budget-minded usedcar owner's cash.

New tyres are now so competetively priced that remould sales are suffering.

Traditionally, it's the first and second owners who stick with the tyre that's fitted as standard, but on cars more than five years old, drivers usually look to cheaper midrange or budget branded replacements.

According to Japanese Toyo Tyres, claimed to be the UK's fastest growing performance-tyre supplier, market prices took a 25 per cent dive three years ago. Add high-street competition and it's not uncommon to see tyres with savings of up to 40 per cent.

Ironically, remoulds have never been better, and shouldn't be ignored. The good ones with British Standard rating are wiser bets than many obscure, new Far Eastern tyres, despite scare stories about these reconstituted "second-hand" tyres.

It's also worth remembering that remoulds are recycled, so are more environmentally friendly.

One notable spin-off in the tyre price war is that second-hand replacements now look like a false economy. Apart from the safety aspect of buying a damaged tyre that may have been in an accident, or the moral issue of buying stolen ones, partworn tyres are rarely cost- effective because you can be paying two thirds the cost of a new tyre for something that's more than half worn.

That said, even though modern tyres are relatively inexpensive for what they offer, nearly two-thirds of motorists drive around on ones that are too worn or dangerous by the time they're replaced, according to research by the Tyre Industry Council and Kwik-Fit.

Tyres are cheap but check your next replacement bill: it may carry a surcharge of 75p per tyre for proper disposal. It seems you can't even give them away.

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