Model Year 21/22 PCH ending soon, front tyres need replacement!

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My lease is due to end in a few months and I've no interest in extending it (same price, but will be without warranty). Typical luck, I checked yesterday and my front tyres are in desperate need of replacement! Down to the markers. I'll need to have them done before returning the car.

Now I'm loathed to chuck 2 pirellis on at 170 a corner to match what I have on the rear just to give it back for someone else, so I'm thinking of getting the cheapest budgets I can find (Autogreen Super Sport Chaser SSC5 at £145 for the pair) and seeing if they'll swap them with the rears.

Does this seem a terrible idea? I've not decided on my next car so worst case is I'd be running it for maybe 3 or 4 months if I have to go with a factory order. I do around 10k miles pa mixed motorway and town, and drive it normally.

 

[SRGTD]

I‘d check your lease agreement to see what the lease company’s requirements are with regard to replacement tyres.

In the article on Leasing.com website at the link below, the section headed ‘Do my tyres need to be the same brand as the originals?‘ suggests that most lease companies state the tyres fitted when the car is returned at the end of the lease term need to be a premium brand - not necessarily the same brand as originally fitted, but an equivalent premium brand.

https://leasing.com/guides/replacing-tyres-on-a-lease-car-who-pays/#:~:text=When%20you%20replace%20your%20lease,to%20be%20a%20premium%20option.

I’ve never had a car on lease, but presumably if any replacement tyres fitted to the vehicle when it’s returned are considered by the leasing company to be of a lesser quality than the originals, then there’d be some form of penalty charge for you to pay. If they charge you the cost of two new premium tyres (2 x £170), then if you’ve already paid £140 for two budget tyres, you’d be well out of pocket.

 

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It's with VWFS who apparently use the BVRLA guide. This is the wording - it says "to the same specification" so I think so long as I could get some with the same rating etc. as the Bridgestones which come on it, I'd be good??

 

[SRGTD]

Yes, I’d assume that if the tyres have to be of the same class as those originally on the vehicle and have the same (or better?) Fuel Efficiency rating, Vehicle Safety (wet grip) rating and External Noise rating as the Bridgestones on your car you should be OK. However, you may find budget tyres are rated lower for grip as many economy (Chinese manufactured) tyres are referred to as ‘ditchfinders’ and that’s not without good reason (Autogreen is Chinese tyre brand). So you may find you’ll need to spend more than £140 for two replacement tyres to meet VWFS tyre rating requirements.

From a personal perspective, if I was going to buy replacement tyres to see me through the next 2,500 - 3,500 miles / 3-4 months, I’d want to be confident I could rely on them performing safely and predictably in all conditions. With this in mind, I personally wouldn’t fit the cheapest tyres I could find as there may be a number of instances in the next 3-4 months when I’d need to rely on my car tyres to get me out of a tricky situation (e.g. emergency braking performance, predictable steering response).

So going back to your original question ‘does it seem a terrible idea to get the cheapest budget tyres? Purely from a cost perspective, probably not, but you‘re depending on your tyres performance to keep you and others in the car safe, so I’d say it might not be such a good idea.

 

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Yeah that's a good point - it all depends on whether I can get a new car from stock or not - if I can avoid a factory order then I'll get rid immediately. The annoying doesn't say what it means by "class" unfortunately . I'm assuming it's efficiency, grip and noise.

My other option of course is part worns, however having never done that before, I've no idea where I'd find them, how much I should be expecting to pay etc. Assuming if I can get some with 3-4mm on then I'd hope they'd be priced at least 60% off the original price?