Want to save money on this so want to get some advices first. It's pretty much just a piece of rubber, I mean, what can go wrong? And then my friend told me, old tyres may be regrooved or retreaded to look new. So what should I look for when inspecting the tyre?
Buying 2nd Hand Tyres Things to Check
justwii on 21/12/2023 - 03:19
Comments
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Would you say the same about reusing condoms?
OzBargainers don't need to reuse condoms as we all have lifetime supply.
I guess having 0 counts as a lifetime supply for Ozbargain
Speak for yourself mate
So much butthurt - they must be getting some
Glad wrap? Haha
I got a wife early. Saved so much.
Haha. Funny man.
I didn't know there were people that nut in their tyres…? Bad enough some use nitrogen, but this is ridiculous
OzBargain pro saving tip. Cheaper than tyre slime.
There are things to save money on in life but this isn't one of them.
Other things to not skimp on are shoes, work chairs, beds, helmets
It's pretty much just a piece of rubber
I hope this is a troll post.
Used Pacemaker
(only one owner).
How much?
Just BYO Shovel
@beach bum: The company retains ownership of any body part/s supplied. All of our organs will eventually be reclaimed by our Repo Men.
Please insure you make your payments on time.
How much?
It doesn't work. Battery went flat and can't be replaced.
brakes too. Can really tell the difference with cheap ones.
THIS 100%.
I will never use 2nd hand tyres. Never. I'd rather eat roaches for dinner to save money for my new tyres. lol
I'd rather eat tyres for dinner, than roaches.
I would disagree with everything you said:
shoes: ok, don't skimp too hard, but you don't need those Jordans
work chairs: you can buy very good work chairs second hand or at auction
beds: no one wants a second hand bed but it's been shown that if your bed is firm enough, you will be fine with a cheap one
helmets: all helmets must meet australian standards, beyond that the helmet market is just weight and fancy paint jobs and stickers. You can buy an aldi helmet if you are fine with a bit of wind noise and air leakage when the visor is downand second hand tyres are completely fine if you check a few things like pegaxs comment https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/14748293/redir. Lots of cars with quite new tyres are in accidents every day and the tyres should be used rather than chucked out
"you can buy very good work chairs second hand or at auction"
Yes, and you have to stand up and let the spring/gas expand again every 10 minutes
The chairs at my work are 500 a piece new, I haven't ever had one sink on me, when they get rid of them they are cheaper and will last ten times longer than the rubbish at officeworks and Ikea
work chairs: you can buy very good work chairs second hand or at auction
Great observation there, genius. No-one ever said you can't do that.
helmets: all helmets must meet australian standards, beyond that the helmet market is just weight and fancy paint jobs and stickers. You can buy an aldi helmet if you are fine with a bit of wind noise and air leakage when the visor is down
That's like saying "As long as a car meets the ADR standard then anything else is just bells and whistles'.
There's more safety features than just the minimum standard and other features are not just "stickers and a paint job" LOL. In addition to that, try wearing a crappy Aldi helmet for a 3 hour ride (if you don't swelter from the lack of proper ventilation) and you'll go deaf from the sound. I actually do know what I'm talking about in that regard.
I would disagree with everything you said:
Your entire premise is that "second hand products are just as good" which is not in contrary to what I said at all. I just said don't skimp on these things. If you can get a second hand top shelf mattress and you're OK with it then fine, there's nothing wrong with that, just don't buy a $50 mattress, not that difficult to understand.
Your answer to the OPs question, which paraphrased is basically "can I buy tyres second hand to save money?", basically came across as "no". I just thought I should set the record straight, and I ma glad that you actually agree with me. The answer just needed a bit more nuance. Not only that but when you went on to list all that, you basically suggested that none of those things should be bought second hand or cheaply, again you might not have meant that but that's what it sounded like, and IMO there's just too much of either snobbery and quip in most people's answers who are asking an honest question. Telling a novice they shouldn't skimp doesn't help them much, what's skimping on a helmet? You can get one for 50 bucks or pay over a thousand. I have ridden for over 20 years and probably had more helmets than you have meals on white table cloth, but either way we actually agree, we just need more nuance or people having genuine cost of living issues might be spending money unnecessarily and going without other things that might make a real difference to their life.
And for the record I am not always saying second hand is just as good, I would never buy a second hand helmet, just a cheaper new one potentially. I am just saying there always and angle to save money on these things without compromising too much on the product and it's core feature/s
Indeed, immediate my thoughts in response to
"Buying 2nd Hand Tyres Things to Check"…
Things to Check:
1. Your Sanity
2. Your Comprehensive Car Insurance Policy
3. Your Roadside Assist Policy
4. Your Life insurance policy
5. Your Funeral plan
6. Your Will
7. Your Organ Donor Preferences
8. Your Prioritiesand matteress
Also pillows
Want to save money, what can go wrong?
LOL cheapskate. Might as well dont pay any insurance and mix your E10 with water.
/$
mix your E10 with water.
oi! that's my trick! Seems to work pretty well!
Elon Musk: advertise blackmail? eff you and eff your trick… hi Bob!
This one simple trick service stations don't want you to know.
Nah don't need new tires. Tyre company just scamming you. Bald slick tyres have more grip. Just look at the F1 cars.
On the rare occasions that it rains, just stay home or take public transport.
Next Thread,
Got Defected for Bald Tyres, where to buy cheap new tyres?
Just use this one neat trick to carve in your own tread! Tyre shops hate this one trick to save hundreds!
Man… I have been living like this since about 2014, though I live with the constant dilemma of "I want to ride my bike since the weather's good, but it's the only time I can really justify driving my car."
That said, I never speed or try and cut in, I don't tailgate…and I've never lost traction once. On long trips I reduce the air pressure slightly because forza 4 taught me about pressure going up at high speed due to temp increases and I've never had a tyre explode.
Sure, one day it could all go wrong but hopefully I can pick up a set of kia alloys with good tread on the tyres off marketplace before then.
Lower tyre pressure will cause your tyres to overheat more.
This is huge. I don't think I've ever run lower than 36 psi so, after some research I'm confident I haven't ruined my rubber with sidewall warping but… do you by chance know of any good spreadsheets someone's put on a Google drive for calculating optimal air pressure?
I know with cycling it's a non-intuitivie result because slightly wider tyres at slightly lower pressure end up more efficient than 19mm tyres at 140 psi… I guess it's pretty similar with cars too now that you've broken my Forza 4 informed worldview.
@Assburg: Search for 4PSI Rule. Pretty simple really. Start with say 36PSI cold and go for a drive. Check pressure again. If it's gone to 40PSI stick with that cold pressure. If less than 40PSI hot, the reduce cold pressure. If more than 40PSI increase cold pressure.
@pegaxs: Yes but the 20% oxygen is the less inert gas that heats up the whole tyre .
What most don’t understand is water from compressed air also creates heating . Like at free servo compressors .
With a home compressor you can constantly drain water out at least but 100% nitrogen is your best bet unless your a big time 4wdr constantly playing with pressures for grip on rolling resistance .
Well that’s certainly a more polite way of saying what I was going to say…
You actually can take a soldering kit, and trace new Grooves into the slick tyres. Secret Trick. Saw it on TikTok.
that makes you have less grip in the dry.
Get new tyres and new friends.
/thread
What's wrong with 18 year old run flats?
All my friends are 30 years old and balding :(
The friends are the ones trying to talk them out of it.
I interpreted it the other way as in…
Whattup dude, buy second hand tyres because you can get them regrooved so they look brand new. Yeahhh babeeee.
That makes sense. Cheers.
Get 2nd hand tyres
/end tread
Get 2nd hand tires = end of thread
Tyres are the few things on your car you shouldn't skimp out on. What can go wrong? Well if a tyre doesn't have enough grip, you could end up in an accident, for one.
you could end up in an accident, for one.
Next 🍿 thread
But it won’t be an accident, it’ll be a crash.
What are some of the things on a car you should skimp out on to save money?
Get a BMW and you can save on Blinker Fluid.
oil
lack of tread is more likely a risk on wet roads - unless really slick (roadworthy test fail and police ticket risk) it shouldn't reduce dry road braking distance much
OTOH anyone looking to buy used tyres is likely not cashed up enough to regularly maintain the rest of the vehicle like brakes so vaya con dios to all that baby …
like the US police stop videos I see of drunk drivers stopped, who then say they can't afford to pay a ticket because they couldn't afford the insurance or registration on their car, so they got drunk to forget their trouble, then argued with the police and got thrown in jail for resisting arrest - a long way down that hole …
captain obvious
Nothing wrong with buying used tyres, but if you have to ask…
Some car owners buy a new car, install new tyres straight away (for example a 4WD owner might want to use off-road tyres instead of factory issue) and sell off their tyres.
Perfectly safe to buy those second hand tyres in that case.
Most important things to look at are (1) Amount of tread left all across every tyre (look it up, especially tread wear indicators that every tyre has) (2) Date of manufacture. This is shown on the wall of every tyre either as a number or code on the side wall. Again, look up how to tell manufacture date of tyre. If it is out of date or more than say 3 years old, walk away.If you buy 2nd hand it is at your own risk
Came here to pretty much say this. One of the ways I look to save money on car maintenance and tyres was to look for standard wheels and tyres that people would remove from their car after they buy rims for their 4wd or even normal car.
I would purchase stock rims and tyres with minimal wear, drive them until they were ready to replace and would then usually sell the stock rims for some cash back.
Most recently did this with my Hilux. Rims and tyres were almost brand new as previous owner upgraded to offroad rims/tyres. Got them for $900. Sold my previous rims with non roadworth tyres for $500. $400 for new set of tyres…
Yep my 20yo car just so happens to take the same size tyre as fitted stock to brand new dual cab utes and Prados.
Seems lots of these ute/prado buyers want different wheels/tyres right away on their shiny new wagons.
It would be rude not to reuse their perfectly good almost new tyres for cents on the dollar.
Crikey.
What 20 year old car takes 265/65/17 or 265/70/18?
W163. It came with 3 different tyre/wheel combos from the factory, and 265/65R17 fits perfectly between the 2 common factory options. But being a 4x4 you are allowed to go a bit bigger diameter than the biggest tyre, which was some kind of 18" 295 wide tyre on the AMG version.
"advices"….well, that's new.
Check manufacture date. It be moulded into the tyre in the form of WWYY (week of manufacture, followed by year. For example, 4120 would be made 41st week of 2020)
Check tread depth is road worthy. There will be wear indicators on the tyres to help.
Check for rubber cracking in the tread area and on the sidewalls. This will indicate both age and how long they have sat around in the elements.
Look inside the tyre for any puncture repairs. Patches in the center area are fine, brown or black snot colored looking slugs are not.
Look at tread wear pattern, are they basically uniformly worn across the face of the tyre and flat. No bumpy areas or excessive wear on one side or the other.
Look at the sidewalls, look for cuts, nicks, blisters, bubbles, etc.
Very detailed info, cheers! Is there a way to check the remaining thickness of the tyre, in case it has been regrooved or retreaded, how can you tell?
They won’t be re-grooved. There is not enough meat on regular car tyres to re-groove them.
Re-treads are pretty rare these days for car tyres, because it would almost cost the same to re-tread them than what it would cost to make new ones.
The easy way to tell if they are re-treads is to look at the area between where the sidewall ends and the tread begins. This shoulder area while literally like like someone stuck tread onto an old tyre.
Came here to say this, it's not possible to regroove car tyres and not sure but retreads might have been banned also, they still do them for trucks.
Totally can save money buying second hand tyres, but the silly part would be buying a new car and then putting second hand tyres on it when the new ones are worn. If you are driving an old shitbox that doesn't even drive straight go for your life, but if you are buying a newish or performance car it's not worth it. It can also be a bit of a waste of time trying to find the right pair of second hand tyres, so if you are only working part time or on the dole it could make sense, if you have a well paying job or the opportunity to do overtime then maybe it's not worth it.
just cut grooves into your existing tyres, all you need is a sharp knife and a screwdriver
And some earplugs.
Easier with a chisel and you can get different widths, a mixture 5mm and 10mm grooves work best for wet weather.
Angle grinder, so you can get the grooves on the right angle.
but it needs to be on the left angle for traction
I actually did a pair of mine with a circular saw set to 3mm. It was messy.
I wasn't trying to get more life out of them. I needed to change the tread pattern and didn't have a hot knife machine.
5 years ago I bought used tyres for my car from a wrecker. The donor car (new model of mine) was only a year old and had had light right piĺar damage (write off). That car had only done ~ 5000 kms. Tyres came with new style of rims. As well.
The near new tyres+rims were $ 550. Sold my old tyres and rims for $160.Got the new tyres balanced at the next car service .
Saved about $500 doing this
Perfect example! That's why its worth learning buying used tyres!
if this is what you meant then you perhaps should have said so in your original description.
what you said read as if you don't care what condition the tyre is in (as long as its legal enough and saves you a $)@altomic's suggestion is a great idea and is something I have personally done, however, it's not something I'd recommend for people who are mechanically uninclined (you seem to be in this category based on your comments) as the savings are not worth the potential risk.
Buying from a wrecker (most are scummy) is usually not the best unless the wheel+tyre you are sourcing is guaranteed to be effectively new (a written off new car like their example). Buying a used tyre from a mechanic in any other circumstance has a high chance of leading you to out of date tyres or no-name brands, at a price that's likely not that great hence why you see many here suggesting otherwise.The other suitable way to go, which has also been mentioned, is buying a set for about half price from new car buyers who immediately upgraded their wheel/tyre option. This again leads you to a 'new-like' tyre at cheap prices/low risk.
Follow pegaxs directions and ontop of that my 2c would be to: check the date stamp and make sure it's less than 3 years (otherwise no point as tyres have a useful life of about 6), measure tread depth (min legal is 1.5mm, and most new tyres are 6-8mm or 10-13mm for 4wd tyres) is at least 70% of factory specification (otherwise again no point).
Factor in the cost of wheel balancing (and potentially old tyre disposal as well) which would be roughly $20 a tyre for each action if you go to a regular tyre shop
Or you can avoid all this and wait for a good tyre promotion (BF is the best) and buy a set of tyres for like $100-$200 more than the hassle of a used set
Also FYI: Passenger tyres never get regrooved/re-treaded as its both uneconomical and highly illegal. That's something solely related to trucks
"If you have to ask this question, perhaps you shouldn’t be buying second hand tyres."
If you have to ask this question perhaps you shouldn't be driving.
If you have to ask this question, perhaps you shouldn’t be buying second hand tyres.
Are you talking about whatever you can pick up off markettree or gumplace? Or buying some used tyres from a tyre shop or wreckers? A business is more likely to only sell tyres that don’t have faults. A private seller may have no idea what they are selling and you end up with some duds
It’s a reasonable way to save on tyres to buy some factory spec wheels and tyres from someone who has upgraded to better/different wheels. Buy factory base model wheels that someone has hardly used.
"If you have to ask this question, perhaps you shouldn’t be buying second hand tyres."
Is no one allowed to ask questions anymore? Everyone has to start from somewhere.
Yes, you can ask questions but you probably should be starting from a bit of an internet search. Most of this type of question can be easily answered by a dozen or more reputable websites. Be a little informed before you throw out a question to the keyboard warriors.
When it comes to safety of a motor vehicle, if you really have no idea, you shouldn’t be playing with it.
remember the only thing connecting your 1.5 tonne car to the road is the 10cm2 of rubber on each tyre
Good brand and model second hand tyres are probably better than some of the new cheap import crap tyres that are being sold.
Pegaxs above has given a good outline of what to look for. I have bought second hand tyres in the past with success. I have gotten some good brand tyres still in very good condition for a lot less than the new price. Just do your due diligence and check them over before parting with your hard earned. I did make a mistake once and bought a recap for my box trailer, i thought its just for a small trailer it will be ok, it self destructed, dont buy recaps!THIS^
Also get them from a reputable place which has been in business for a long time. They have a name to protect. Cheap no name tyres are way worse, and often are not even round to start with or distort really quickly under normal driving.
I know there are risks, didn't know rubber can self destruct. What signs to look for if its a recap and they don't tell you?
What signs to look for if its a recap and they don't tell you?
It's a worry if you can't tell the difference between a recap and a cleanskin.
go to the wreckers
look for good year tyres
the tyres didnt save that car so its still good for one yearTyres are more important than brakes so I would spend on the tyres and skip the brakes
who needs brakes when you can open the door and put your foot down!
nek minnit: "I bought these bargain second hand tyres, but i couldn't stop in time, I hit a brand new mercedes in front of my, and i don't have insurance because what could go wrong?"
Fishing looks great in this pond today…. LOL
Buying 2nd Hand Tyres Things to Check
Check for loose nut behind the wheel.
I ran my Skoda on 2nd hand tyres but they were because the owners had "upgraded" their tyre and wheel package and they were barely roaded. $350-$500 for a near new set of alloys and tyres was always a sweet deal.
Unless fit & balance is included you probably won't save a lot.
Look for a minimum 6mm tread as 2mm is throw-away (legally 1.5mm but if you've ever driven in the wet on 1.5mm, it's a bit exciting) and 8mm is the average new depth (some performance tyres are 6mm, some "long life" tyres are 10mm).
Look for cuts in the sidewall and general "they look like they've been hammered" indications.
Also when you buy a second hand car it has second hand tyres on it. As if the nay sayers here, change times each time they get a second hand car.Double standards?
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Would you say the same about reusing condoms?
Your tyres popping at 100 km/h is one thing that can go wrong.
Just buy new, decent tyres don’t cost that much, especially when on sale, unless you’re going for performance or fancy ones.