What is a part worn tyre?

Part worn tyres are second hand tyres, that have already been on a vehicle. 

So why are part-worn tyres part safe?

Many of the part worn tyres used in the UK come from Europe where tyres tend to be replaced at 3mm tread depth, at which stage they lose grip fast. 

Part worn tyres can be legally sold at just 0.4mm above the legal limit of 1.6mm so you could buy tyres with just 2mm tread depth.

You will never know the history of the tyre.

There is no legal upper limit of the age of a tyre in this country for cars so you could be buying a 15-year-old tyre.

A 2017 survey by Tyresafe found that over 63% of part worn tyres they inspected were unsafe to return to the road, 22% were ten years old or older and 18% were incorrectly repaired. 

That’s not all, what about the cost?

Many people say that part worn tyres are cheaper to buy and of course that is true, but are they actually cheaper in the long run.

Depending on the quality of the tyre and your driving habits you should expect between 15,000 and 30,000 miles from a new tyre.

As part of their investigation Tyresafe also conducted a cost analysis, they found that buying new tyres is much more cost effective than buying part worn.

Recently a customer whose car failed an MOT on a tyre came back for a free re-test after replacing the tyre elsewhere. 

A new budget tyre would have cost £60.84, however she had a part worn tyre put on the car which cost her £25.00, based on miles per tyre she will have to replace that tyre at least of 3 times during the life of a new tyre.  So the part worn tyres will have cost £75.00 over the lifetime of the new tyre at £60.84.

Part worn tyres get the big thumbs down from us from both a safety and financial perspective.