Online Tyre Sites Tested

E tyres - beware their fitters try to rip you off.

I used etyres to fit four tyres to my wife's car. Tyres were fitted OK, no problem. But the fitter came out with that old classic rip-off line. He said the brake pads on all four wheels were badly worn and would be unsafe within a hundred miles. I wasn't there, he gave this line of crap to my wife. As she's small, blonde and very feminine I guess he thought she would be an easy target. Child seats in the car as well, and he lays it on about keeping the family safe. Surprise, surprise, he had a mate who could fit some new pads.

In fact the front pads had 3-4,000 miles of wear left before geting to the wear indicator, after which they have a further 1-2,000 of safe use. The rears had more than twice that. I got the front ones changed at the dealer at the next service, seven months later. I told him this story, and he said he had heard it before. He got the fitter to bring out the pads they had changed, and showed that even then they were within the wear indicators. He said that the rears wouldn't need changing in the forseeable future.

Watch out!

By jpford on 27 January, 2011, 9:30am

Thumbs up for Mytyres

I bought 4 Continental winter tyres from Mytyres and was impressed with the service.

A lot of companies might talk about the increase in safety that comes with having winter tyres fitted but few back that up by offering a decent range. Mytyres were one of the few exceptions. By December of 2010 they were the only online tyre retailer who stocked the tyres I wanted.

The tyres arrived at the fitting station on time (in perfect condition) and I also got a very good price for them.

I know their website can be a little bit confusing at first but as they are a German based company that's to be expected and from what I saw, there's no issue that can't be easily overcome.

I'll definitely be using them again the next time I need tyres.

By Chris20 on 27 January, 2011, 12:20pm

My Tyres only 3 stars ??????

Sorry AE I cannot agree with your rating for My Tyres.

Last October I bought four 195/60 15 Continental Wintercontact TS830's from My Tyres. I spent ages looking for them (The only other place I could find that had them was Setyres who wanted 80% more) - the price was a very reasonable £67 each all inclusive. I ordered them online at 11pm on Monday night, they arrived at my door 11am on Thursday, just 60 hours all the way from Germany. My local garage fitted and balanced all four for me for an extremely reasonable £25.

My rating for MY Tyres = FIVE STARS +

By becknorman1 on 27 January, 2011, 11:46pm

Event Tyres

I used Event-Tyres in 2010 following comments by "Honest John" in the Daily Telegraph Motoring Section.

Prices were about the same as I paid three years previously, at a local firm well known in the area for the lowest prices around. My order was made online and followed by a phone call from Event Tyres confirming my preferred time of fitting. No means of payment was requested.

On the day of fitting, the time was again confirmed by phone and the fitter arrived at my home at the agreed time. He took about 45 minutes for the four tyres. Only after the tyres were on my car and I had checked them was payment requested.

I understand that the company is not nationwide but it scores highly for price, service and convenience.

By rsunley on 28 January, 2011, 2:29am

Event Tyres

I used Event-Tyres in 2010 following comments by "Honest John" in the Daily Telegraph Motoring Section.

Prices were about the same as I paid three years previously, at a local firm well known in the area for the lowest prices around. My order was made online and followed by a phone call from Event Tyres confirming my preferred time of fitting. No means of payment was requested.

On the day of fitting, the time was again confirmed by phone and the fitter arrived at my home at the agreed time. He took about 45 minutes for the four tyres. Only after the tyres were on my car and I had checked them was payment requested.

I understand that the company is not nationwide but it scores highly for price, service and convenience.

By rsunley on 28 January, 2011, 2:31am

etyres rebuttal

I am a director of etyres
We do not sell any products except tyres and batteries. We do NOT sell wheel alignment, brakes, shock absorbers or any of the other extras that are frequently upsold by garages and tyre depots to unsuspecting customers. If the earlier post about our fitter upselling is genuine and we are provided with details it will be fully investigated. However as the job must have been done more that seven months ago and no complaint has been received it's authenticity is questionable. etyres definitely does NOT upsell in the manner suggested and we completely abhor this despicable practice.
l

By tbowman on 29 January, 2011, 8:57am

etyres rebuttal

etyres rebuttal
I am a director of etyres
We do not sell any products except tyres and batteries. We do NOT sell wheel alignment, brakes, shock absorbers or any of the other extras that are frequently upsold by garages and tyre depots to unsuspecting customers. If the earlier post about our fitter upselling is genuine and we are provided with details it will be fully investigated. However as the job must have been done more that seven months ago and no complaint has been received it's authenticity is questionable. etyres definitely does NOT upsell in the manner suggested and we completely abhor this despicable practice.

By tbowman on 29 January, 2011, 8:59am

my tyres- two stars max

l went on line late november to "my tyres" to check the price for Goodyear ultragrip 7 winter tyres,they were just over £54 each.
l rang to check stocks & was told there were plenty about.
l ordered them on the 1st of December (3 days later) & the price had risen to £71 odd! Yes l did look at other retailers,but none had this tyre in stock.
What made it worse was once the payment had been taken from my account,"my tyres" were now out of stock of my tyres & were awaiting delivery!
They did offer me an alternative,a far inferior tyre at the same price,but l said l 'd wait,
seven weeks later l received my tyres!!
So be very careful with this company.

By johnnyperfect on 30 January, 2011, 10:08pm

Well, etyres, you clearly don't care that your fitters try to rip off customers.

So, etyres clearly doesn't give a stuff about customer feedback.

Yes, the post was genuine, and and events were exactly as set out. No, I didn't complain at the time. I'm simply too busy to waste my prescious time making a complaint - I'll simply take my custom elsewhere. The fact that you see fit toi doubt the authenticity of the post, and the events describes, just shows you don't give a stuff about customers or customer service.

I don't know what your jargon about 'upselling' is. The fiitter who offered to have the pads changed when not needed did not claim etyres would do it - as it says quite clearly in my post, he 'has a mate who can do it'. That doesn't in any way affect the fact that your fitter tried to rip my wife off.

By jpford on 1 February, 2011, 8:25am

Porphyro

I believe you, jpford, and I also believe tbowman of etyres. It seems as if your bad experience was the result of one rogue fitter, so why did you damn the whole etyres business on the basis of one incident that has occurred. You will have a receipt so if you refer the relevant details to etyres they will be able to investigate and take appropriate action. It will take you no longer to let etyres know than it took you to post your complaint on this site.
We have a right to expect businesses to operate ethically but businesses in turn should be able to expect aggrieved customers to act reasonably.

By Porphyro1 on 1 February, 2011, 10:16am

Having just checked prices on Bridgestone 300 tyres I find that etyres are over £20 more expensive than TyreShopper or Blackcircle, both companies I know through experience give very good service.
So much for Auto Express tests

By AlanShaw on 1 February, 2011, 10:23am

tony

Where's Tesco on the list?

By MARTIN0195 on 1 February, 2011, 4:27pm

re: Tony

@MARTIN0195 Tesco has teamed up with BlackCircles, but their site was launched too late for our test which was carried out at the start of the year.

By jamiefretwell on 2 February, 2011, 4:58pm

Additional Site

Towards the end of last year, I was looking for winter tyres. I found the best range for my tyre size was at

Unfortunately the tyres got held up in the snow chaos, but their tracking system was excellent, keeping me informed of the tyres location.
5 start service and price as far as I'm concerned.

By Abrach on 16 February, 2011, 12:08pm

jp ford rude idiot

whats your problem? If there was a problem - TELL THE COMPANY, you'r time might be precious but you have enough to come here and slag people off again and again

By Teifion2 on 17 February, 2011, 8:23pm

jp ford rude idiot

whats your problem? If there was a problem - TELL THE COMPANY, you'r time might be precious but you have enough to come here and slag people off again and again

By Teifion2 on 17 February, 2011, 8:32pm

Tyre shopper - poor comms

I can only say double check your order no matter what either the fitter or order site say. I have placed an order in good time and rang both fitter and order site up to check progress. All was reported ok. So I pitch up on a Sunday morning only to be told the order has not arrived and they don't know if and when it will! So rang the order site and said they knew about it 2 days before I rang them but failed to tell me..... You can imagine what I feel like by now! I have to say the order site have been very helpful and I am hopefull of seeing some comp for this. So please -DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ORDER HAS ARRIVED before you pitch up no matter what they tell you!

By Xtyre on 8 January, 2012, 10:59am