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[Lizzie Zoom]

My company cars HAD to have their tyres changed when the depth was down to 2mm.

The difference between 1.6 and 2 is so small, and with tyre wear as it can be, this policy protected their property, and me and my precious licence!

As others have said, just take the car away from the dealer to the closest reputable tyre shop, then fit your new spring(s).  That is what I would recommend.

[Nick W]

I agree with Marks observation that you left the margins a little fine on the tyres, especially knowing that new tyres would fitted, had it passed, soon after the test, with them as you say being only 0.2mm over the legal limit. Did you actually measure absolutely all the way round each tyres circumference and across their whole width, to ensure there wasn't any area of tread that may have actually got down to 1.6mm?

I think you have this the wrong way round: James will have measured more than one spot, and thereby determined that they're barely legal. I wouldn't be surprised to find the tester only glanced at the tyres and used his calibrated eyeball to suggest that they're a failure. Then the salesman service advisor upped the ante with the dangerous to drive/illegal to return the car bullshit because tyres are an easy thing to sell and an excellent boost to his profit percentages.

[Doctor Gollum]

Unless the law has changed, you are still able to drive to/from a pre booked place of repair and/or retest.

Obviously this is all preaching to the choir as any self respecting Traffic copper will have a reasonable understanding of the legalities of such action.

Personally I would ask for a Blue Light discount when presented with the invoice

[dave the builder]

Nothing to stop you having the car recovered .
I know astra springs can be thin (even new) but I've never seen a spring " excessively damaged or corroded" ,they tend to snap long before that
Is the spring a fail or just an advisory ?
about 1 hours work to swap the rear springs as a pair I would think , never timed myself 
Tyres should have been swapped pre MOT if close to legal limit ,you would need to change them anyway .

Have you even got a price off the MOT station ? might not be that bad 

[Nick W]

I've put cars in for an MOT with tyres that I know are marginal. If that's the only failure, I get the garage to replace them before getting the car back.


But I can't imagine ever taking a car to a main dealer for an MOT, especially a 'free' one. It's cheaper to pay £35 to a tester who knows he won't be getting the remedial work.

[countrywoman]

They cant stop you driving away only advise that the tyres are illegal and you could get fined, corroded spring is a fail BUT in has to be so thin it could snap (unless they have changed regs since I retired 2 years ago, ex tester)

[dave the builder]

They cant stop you driving away only advise that the tyres are illegal and you could get fined, corroded spring is a fail BUT in has to be so thin it could snap (unless they have changed regs since I retired 2 years ago, ex tester)

BUT .... it's upto 3 points on your licence and £2500 per tyre if you did drive with the VTS device and MOT database showing "treadwear bellow legal limit" 

as for the spring , they are very thin (8 or 9 mm) on some astras and like much of the MOT guidelines ,"Open to interpretation"
and springs fail all the time ,mostly fracture ,pigtails/ends being very common ,not collapse due to being too thin due to rust IMHO

Manual : suspension#section-5-3-1

[JamesV6CDX]

It wouldn't hold up in court, not a chance

So how come, all the people I dealt with at work, for tyres less than 1.6mm (using the exact same measuring process, and type approved device) went on to be convicted / lost trials?

I measured these tyre treads applying the same process, across the entire width at multiple points around the circumference of the tyres.

These days I am out of uniform / in the Detective arena on more complex cases - but I remember enough about my days on response and traffic to know how to determine (to a court standard) whether a tyre is below, or above the limit of 1.6mm. I’ve never had a court reject my evidence around tyres.

As I said - I don’t disagree with you, in that, I wasn’t comfortable with her presenting it with tyres that were close. But, I wasn’t given time to repair it before the test - and - fact is, the tyres were not remotely illegal, and categorically don’t constitute a “dangerous” MOT failure as they said …..

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

In your position, I would go there, inform them of your job, ask to speak to whoever made the phone call and then arrest them on suspicion of theft or fraud.
Surely it must technically be one of those two offences ?
I have a real loathing for people who try and pull that kind of con trick. They make my blood boil for some reason.

[JamesV6CDX]

In your position, I would go there, inform them of your job, ask to speak to whoever made the phone call and then arrest them on suspicion of theft or fraud.
Surely it must technically be one of those two offences ?
I have a real loathing for people who try and pull that kind of con trick. They make my blood boil for some reason.

Absolutely no way I'm afraid. Experience (namely watching others get in the shit for abuse of position) has taught me to keep work / the job well out of any personal / civil dispute. The potential consequence of being deemed to be abusing your position in a personal situation, are far greater than being bent over by vauxhall dealers for a couple of tyres....

[Kevin Wood]

You could always appeal the result of the MOT but for a couple of weeks' worth of tyre wear I'd suck it up and get them to quote for a couple of tyres.

..Or buy a couple of wheels at a scrappy and fit them in their car park.

[Andy B]

How about a mobile tyre fitter? A local tyre place will come to me for £15

[JamesV6CDX]

Thanks for the replies. £96+ VAT per corner plus £300 for the springs.

They had me by the balls, so I’ve just paid up.

I’ve no issue with replacing the tyres. I would have done so already had I known sooner about the MOT.

It’s not even about the cost. All I object to is the principle of not being allowed to take it away to a repair / tyre place of my choice prior to any retest.

My main objection is being prevented from lawfully driving away over tyres which were definitely not illegal. Common sense gone out of the window!

[Andy B]

Thanks for the replies. £96+ VAT per corner plus £300 for the springs.

They had me by the balls, so I’ve just paid up.

I’ve no issue with replacing the tyres. I would have done so already had I known sooner about the MOT.

It’s not even about the cost. All I object to is the principle of not being allowed to take it away to a repair / tyre place of my choice prior to any retest.

My main objection is being prevented from lawfully driving away over tyres which were definitely not illegal. Common sense gone out of the window!

that was expensive. A few years back Vauxhall quoted c£160 to supply rear springs for an Astra G .... I bought aftermarket for about £70  - difference being that the aftermarket were not progressive rate like the OE were. An hour at the most to fit.
I don't have a badge to Top Trump with, but I think I'd have made it known that I knew how to check a tyre's tread & why I did.
Next year, take your car to a local garage. 

[johnnydog]

I agree with Marks observation that you left the margins a little fine on the tyres, especially knowing that new tyres would fitted, had it passed, soon after the test, with them as you say being only 0.2mm over the legal limit. Did you actually measure absolutely all the way round each tyres circumference and across their whole width, to ensure there wasn't any area of tread that may have actually got down to 1.6mm?

I think you have this the wrong way round: James will have measured more than one spot, and thereby determined that they're barely legal. I wouldn't be surprised to find the tester only glanced at the tyres and used his calibrated eyeball to suggest that they're a failure. Then the salesman service advisor upped the ante with the dangerous to drive/illegal to return the car bullshit because tyres are an easy thing to sell and an excellent boost to his profit percentages.

I haven't got this the wrong way round - I merely queried whether James had in fact checked religiously all the way round the circumference, rather than in several random spots - we know that once a tester at a main dealer gets a sniff of low tyre tread, then they will check the tyre in detail to find any area below the required 1.6mm to possibly get some sell up..
And yes, I should have said 1.6mm across the central 3/4's of the tread depth, not the whole width.....