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Replacing tyres on a lease car

Markw70 said:
I’ve just done exactly that, I bought a car yesterday with 3 different cheap brands of tyre, I did raise it but the dealer just said the tread was good on them all. For me it wasn’t a deal breaker in all honesty, but I will definitely get them changed ASAP. I guess it all comes down to if you are happy/can afford to be putting right someone else’s cost cutting.
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Exactly you are changing them
Tyre's aren't that much new for an A class anyway
 
Uniroyals are also a premium brand and are very well priced
 
rayaans said:
They're mid range as are hankooks in the tyre community.
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Tyres - well, always a fascinating topic.

As someone with more years in the tyre industry than I care to admit too I always enjoy reading other peoples opinions.
Originally Hankook were budget tyres and Uniroyal were premium but over the years their owners changed and re-positioned them in the market place.
As an example, Michelin & Continental wanted a cheaper tyre to sell to compete in the lower priced market. Michelin bought Hankook and used them for that purpose. Later they thought 'wait a minute'. if we only sell these through certain retailers they can become an 'in-house' brand and can be sold as a mid-range product thereby increasing our margins. Continental bought Uniroyal (Europe) and re-positioned them as a secondary line (mid-range) to their named brand. At that point these were still the same Hankook & Uniroyal products but just re-positioned in the market place. Over the years of course things have changed. As a rough guide now the 'company named brand' gets the biggest investment and latest technology in tyre construction and the secondary lines get 'last years or before' design/technology to save money. Nothing wrong with that depending on your requirements. I should add all major tyre brands work on similar lines with some having multiple brand names in their portfolio..
So ..... would I fit part worns - sorry but no, there is no guarantee where they have come from. Some European countries have laws which mean they have to be removed at a tread depth where they can still be used in this country, but someone on the forum bought one with 6 or7 mm on (sorry can't remember) - you have to ask why was this tyre removed. Could be a perfectly reasonable explanation, or there could be cord separation inside the casing after a car accident and you cannot see it, but the point is you just don't know. I do know one company, and there are probably more, that x-ray the casings before selling which should pick up any hidden damage but again there is no guarantee the tyre you are buying has been through this process, and it also increases the end cost. Personally I always fit premium brands, as the only part of the car in contact with the road I feel my life is worth the best. It always amazed me that some drivers would skimp on their tyres and yet spend £100's on a new audio system for the car - different priorities I guess.
There are many tyre comparison website (just google) where tests are conducted on all sorts of new brands and well worth looking at if you see a tyre at a bargain price somewhere. Just bear in mind that one persons requirements can vary wildly to anothers, although safety really should be on everyone's agenda.
Nothing I have written makes me right and someone else wrong, its just my opinion.
(btw. Hankook are no longer owned by Michelin)
 
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To the OP, indeed it was me who posted the cheapskate comment with a tounge and cheek lol.
No offense intended as indicative by the lol.
That said you intial post infers how to do this the cheapest way.
I would not put mixed tyres across an axle, simple because they have different charachtersitcs for sticking to the ground under specific conditions. Imagine skating on ice and having one shoe made of rubber and the other made of metal.
The pointers here are pretty conclusive insofar adivse saught.
At the end of the your call to garner all the information and do what you feel is right by you.
 
T800 said:
Has anyone had any experience in leasing companies being difficult over tyres that you’ve replaced before handing the car back?

I have a W177 A180 AMG Line on a three year lease, which is due up in january. My two front tyres are going to need replacing soon but I don’t particularly want to be spending a fortune when I’ll get less than 6 months out of them. My plan was to stick some budgets on in time for handing it back, however I’ve read that it has to be a like for like swap and that budgets won’t be accepted. Don’t want to be getting stung for two new tyres when they take the car back. The company who I’m leasing from say on their website that it should be replaced with a premium brand such as Michelin, Pirelli, etc. Which is funny considering they came out of the factory with Hankooks fitted!!

I’ve now found two decent part worns locally that will see me through. Only one is a Hankook and the other is a Goodyear (which is on their approved list). I’m happy with the price but need to check the speed rating is the same before I commit.

I’m just not sure what I’m better off doing - go for budgets or grab a few part worns and hope they aren’t bothered that it’s mix and match.

I’m just a bit weary as I’ve never had a lease car before now so wondering if anyone has had any similar experiences.
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No offense.
Hankook is a premium brand from South Korea. And just any pirelli or Michelin tire is not the same as Flagship line grade products. Every tire manufacturer has season, performance, and terrain based tires as well as economical series and touring grade, within this spec they feature a Flagship for each category. Just stick to Flagship. For your spec car continental premium contact 6 are great. And tires are not very expensive in your region. Used or mixed tires will land you in a sure collision. Depending on your driving style and climatic conditions pick a descent tire pattern. Even 6 months is good enough for you to invest in a better road contact patch then to risk heavy Insurance claims. Econ tire series will perform mediocre regardless of the brand.
 
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Aidroos said:
No offense.
Hankook is a premium brand from South Korea. And just any pirelli or Michelin tire is not the same as Flagship line grade products. Every tire manufacturer has season, performance, and terrain based tires as well as economical series and touring grade, within this spec they feature a Flagship for each category. Just stick to Flagship. For your spec car continental premium contact 6 are great. And tires are not very expensive in your region. Used or mixed tires will land you in a sure collision. Depending on your driving style and climatic conditions pick a descent tire pattern. Even 6 months is good enough for you to invest in a better road contact patch then to risk heavy Insurance claims. Econ tire series will perform mediocre regardless of the brand.
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All valid points, but I don't think that this thread is about tyre brand ranking as such.

The question is whether car leasing companies (or the OP's one, in particular) will accept Hankook tyres.

So what matters is whether a leasing company who stipulated 'premium' tyres, will accept that Hankook is now a premium brand (and regardless of what the forum members' opinions of Hankook are).
 
Although part worns are not for me one other thing i would check if going down that route aside from tread depth is age. I've just swapped out 4 x Eagle F1's on my Alfa for new versions despite them having maybe 3k miles on them. They were quite old (8 years) and the rubber was noticeably harder than the new ones, plus they had started to show signs of cracking. Interestingly they got through the MoT fine so may not be an issue if you just want to cover the car lease handover part. But for safety (and peace of mind) i swapped them out. I agree with a previous comment that nobody pushes their tyres to the limit (assume the comment relates to day to day driving) but when you need to in an emergency situation, having the best tyres you can get might make a difference to the outcome.
 
markjay said:
The question is whether car leasing companies (or the OP's one, in particular) will accept Hankook tyres.
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It would be perverse for them to not accept return of the car fitted with Hankook tyres when it was supplied by them to that user fitted with Hankook tyres as OEM equipment, just as a vast number of W177-series cars (including mine) are.

FWIW, my view of the Hankook Ventus S1's fitted to my A220 is that they are quiet and grippy but I haven't compared them with other tyres on the same car yet, and my gut feel is that the wear rate is towards the higher end of what I would expect.
 
st13phil said:
It would be perverse for them to not accept return of the car fitted with Hankook tyres when it was supplied by them to that user fitted with Hankook tyres as OEM equipment, just as a vast number of W177-series cars (including mine) are.

FWIW, my view of the Hankook Ventus S1's fitted to my A220 is that they are quiet and grippy but I haven't compared them with other tyres on the same car yet, and my gut feel is that the wear rate is towards the higher end of what I would expect.
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I've leased and returned a Q7 with these tires. I don't understand why we are asked for this. It's logical. But the OP should contact the leasing agency and confirm for clarification, obviously we are not the under writers of the said lease contract. In my case and in others various companies have accepted OE fitted tires as a norm. Any deviation can be discussed with their respective agents of the said agency.
 
ChrisHGTV said:
Although part worns are not for me one other thing i would check if going down that route aside from tread depth is age. I've just swapped out 4 x Eagle F1's on my Alfa for new versions despite them having maybe 3k miles on them. They were quite old (8 years) and the rubber was noticeably harder than the new ones, plus they had started to show signs of cracking. Interestingly they got through the MoT fine so may not be an issue if you just want to cover the car lease handover part. But for safety (and peace of mind) i swapped them out. I agree with a previous comment that nobody pushes their tyres to the limit (assume the comment relates to day to day driving) but when you need to in an emergency situation, having the best tyres you can get might make a difference to the outcome.
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Perfect answer.
 
Aidroos said:
What do you reckon is untrue about mixed pattern used tires? Please elaborate your statement further.
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Please elaborate why fitting mixed tyres will cause you to have an inevitable collision. What it a premium Michelin tyre replaced a worn out hankook or Landsail tyre?
 
geoffus said:
Please elaborate why fitting mixed tyres will cause you to have an inevitable collision. What it a premium Michelin tyre replaced a worn out hankook or Landsail tyre?
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You made the argument so you take the lead please. I'll follow up with personal cases and scientific proof from respected sources.
 
Aidroos said:
.......Used or mixed tires will land you in a sure collision.......
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That's a bit of a sweeping statement and obviously not accurate.
I'm not going to have a "sure collision" if I mix tyres on an axle of a car sitting on my driveway. ;)

To the OP, I'd never buy part worn, you just do not know what they are.
Go with whatever your leasing company agrees with new that suits your budget.
 
I've driven on a space saver spare (about as unmatched as you can get) on two different vehicles without having any collisions ...
 
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