Guest post by Monica Jones from Broadway Autocentres
Novice drivers and mechanics tend to err on the side of caution and will almost always recommend the latest advances and newest technologies – such as only ever buying premium tires for their vehicles, and for some customers, this is absolutely the right approach. However, other customers might be looking to save as much money as they can, and for these customers, a more nuanced approach is best, taking their economic status into account along with their other requirements.
Quality vs Price vs Time
The better quality a tire is, the more expensive it will be – that much seems obvious. However, it is also important to look at how long those tires will last you. If a set of premium tires costing £400 will last six years, while a set of budget tires will ‘only’ cost £220 pounds but last just three years before they begin to fail, then you would actually save money by investing in the premium set, should you have the £400 available – which not everyone does, it is important to point out. However, the equation is not always that easy to work out: the price of tires fluctuates from place to place and well-looked-after tires will last anywhere from five to ten (at the highest extreme) years, no matter whether they are premium or budget tires. A trusted local garage like Broadway Autocentres will help you choose the right type of budget tires in Buckinghamshire – similarly, if you are in another part of the UK, you can check the local tire fitters in your area.
Legal Compliance
Budget tires, no matter how cheap, must legally always meet certain criteria, which means that your car will always enjoy a degree of safety on the roads – or to rephrase it: buying cheap tires will not endanger you or your passengers. This is thanks to the EU legislation that has automatically become British law following Brexit, but do bear in mind that as of December 2023, this legislation will no longer be British law and if it is not deliberately replaced by a new British law, then it may fall aside… It may be wise to replace your tires before this deadline if they will need it, as that then gives a few years for new rulings to be enacted.
They Tend to Be Non-Brand
Budget tires have one major difference from premium tires: they tend not to be from well-known brand names. Pirelli, Goodyear, Dunlop and all the other high-quality tire manufacturers spend a lot on research and development, working with motoring experts to create tires that offer comfort, safety and efficiency. Budget tire manufacturers are often using old data to design their tires and thus will lack the latest improvements that premium tires can offer you. However, this does not mean that budget tires are bad – they are, as mentioned above, bound to be manufactured to stringent standards – merely that premium tires have had more invested into their manufacture – hence the higher price tag.
Mark-Up on Tires
A final point to consider is the mark-up on tires. Some companies put a flat rate on top of the cost of their tires, but others add a percentage mark-up. While the former means that every tire sold will achieve exactly the same amount of profit for the garage or retail establishment, the latter means that the higher the cost of the tire, the more profit can be made from upselling premium tires. Of course, no business will let you know which method of profit-making they follow (and indeed, the salesperson might not even be privy to such information) so you will have to try and read between the lines of the product they are keen for you to take and the much cheaper budget version that is perfect for your needs!
