Heading off on a family trip is one of the best moments of the whole holiday: your out-of-office message is on; the children and the dog are ensconced in the back of the car, and your playlist is bopping! But with all the excitement of having some downtime make sure you don’t neglect giving your car a once over before you set off. If you are planning a road trip from Manchester to London or even towards the scenic Scotland route, you need to make sure your car is fully prepared before you move forward with the extensive road travelling. And that especially applies to your tyres – they are the only part of your car in contact with the road, and must be in tip-top condition if you want to get there and back without any stress or inconvenience.
Let’s have a look at some dos and don’ts of tyre buying.
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Don’t Leave It Till Your Return
If your tyres are aging, it can be tempting to leave them in place until your return, so you have fresh new tyres for your return to normal activities after your holiday. The problem with this is that old tyres tend to fare poorly on unfamiliar roads, and if you end up on worse roads than you had planned, your carefree holiday could turn into a litany of punctures, blowouts and slow leaks instead.
Don’t Hurry the Purchase
Don’t rush to buy your tyres. Your tyres are a precision purchase and you must choose the right tyres for your car and this means getting many factors exactly right: width, height, load limit, speed limit (tyres come with recommended upper speed limits which should be adhered to for safety) and more. You will find the specifications for your tyres in your car-owners hand-book, on the existing tyres or online. Failing all of those, you can find out which size and spec of tyre your make and model of vehicle requires online.
Don’t Buy the Cheapest Option
It can be tempting to save money by getting the cheapest set of tyres that you find. However, this can be a error for two reasons: firstly, buying tyres for a price that seems to be too good to be true is usually a sign that something is not as it should be; and secondly, cheap tyres are often not as durable as more expensive alternatives, for reasons explored in the last ‘Do’ point below. Shop around for your tyres, ask friends and local garages, and check out various tyre sales websites to gain a ball-park idea of what a reasonable price would be for a decent set of tyres. Armed with this knowledge, you will be able to make a sensible decision about those suspiciously cheap tyres!
Do Shop Around
Speaking of shopping around, having a short list of good retailers is a great idea. This way, should one supplier be out of stock of your tyres (or have too long a waiting list for your liking with your holiday looming) you can move to your second-best choice, knowing that you will still receive a quality product, fitted properly and securely. If for example we say you have reached Scotland after a long road trip and you think your tyres have deteriorated during the long route, you can purchase quality tyres from local tyre shops near Fife, Stirling, Dundee and Dunfermline. For buying the right tyres in Dunfermline – you can seek help from Fife Autocentre. They also offer reliable tyre fitting (including mobile fitting) at their other local branches.
Do Double-check Your Specs
Tyre ratings are embossed on your tyres on the sidewall, but they can be confusing to read when you are a new car owner. Make sure you take a photo of the specs, or write them down carefully, double-checking them before you search for the right tyres. The wrong tyres can be terrible for your car, causing excessive wear and tear, or they can even not fit onto your car at all in extreme cases. It is best to check twice, buy once when it comes to tyres.
Do Save Up and Buy the Best
As mentioned above, you should always buy the best quality tyre that you can afford. Premium tyres are more expensive, but they are more durable and long-lived than budget versions, as well as being kinder to your vehicle by reducing wear and tear, vibration and noise. They can even last twice as long as budget tyres, making them the more economical option.
