Advice on tires matters

[Gantan88]

Hi all,

 

I am about to put my deposit for a used car and realise that out of the 4 tires, 3 of them are sumitomo brands and 1 is bridgestone. They are all 185/65/R15.

 

1. Is there any (safety, uneven wear & tear etc) implications when the tires are of different brands? Personally i have never heard of "Sumitomo", is it reliable?

 

2. Could the different brands of tires indicate that the car possibly have gone through an accident before and so ended up in such different combination of tire brands? Looks weird to me. (The original tire brand from TC is Toyo if i am not wrong).

 

3. Is it better to trade in the tires for new ones? I heard trading in prices are usually very low. Any indicative price for this?

 

Thanks!

[Furrynadz]

sumitomo is a group

 

goodyear, dunlop and falken are under them

 

http://www2.srigroup.co.jp/english/index.html

 

probably one diff due to unrepairable puncture

 

if u wish to play safe change all 4 rubbers as u never know the condition of the existing ones

 

check entire suspension/alignment and drivetrain components

[Friendstar]

yes change pls...

 

ur tyre sizes are rather affordable

 

i urge u to do it

 

peace of mind immediately

[Friendstar]

btw what car is it?

[Furrynadz]

185 65 15 should be latio

[Gantan88]

This is new. But if tires are not one of sumitomo mainstream product, quality of the tires manufactured by them are still questionable isn't it? Seems that Sumitomo also manufacture sports equipments.. according to the website.

 

Is STA evaluation good enuff to check for damages to suspension and drivetrain components?

There is a "20% off e-coupon" for vehicle evaluation, advertised in Sgcarmart.

[Gantan88]

It is a Latio

How much do they usually take in my existing sets of tires if i do a trade in? The threads are quite new.

[Gantan88]

And you hit it right. Why you so clever?

 

Any idea how i can check the original colour of the car online?

 

The car suppose to be white, but it looks a little yellowish, not sure if it is pearl white....

The SE told me it is "premium-white".

 

Confused.

[Furrynadz]

AA inspection is the best , STA the next (but can still be bribed by dealers), vicom ones, totally cannot be trusted at all

 

if the tyres look really new then perhaps can just change the ones on the axle where the BS tyre is

 

but regardless, alignment check is a must

 

as for trade in prices usually not much, what are the sumitotyre model on the car currently?

[Gantan88]

I just test drove the car this evening. Briefly look through, cannot remember the model though. But i touch the threads, quite deep. The other one is Bridgestone Toranza or something...

 

I suspect the tires not by prev owner. It is the dealer anyhow mix and match.

 

I think i will called up P*h h**g tmr to check on the price... Any reasonably priced tire to recommend? Comfort and wet-grip equally impt...

Edited December 14, 2008 by Gantan88

[Elfenstar]

Sumi's are good. Grip levels are good, and so are comfort levels. Only thing is that wear rates are a lil high.

[Gantan88]

I was in fact surfing oversea forums for comments on sumitomo tires and the general feedback is "cheap and good, best bang for the buck". But tires loses its grip after a few months even though the threads are still pretty visible. And the grips during wet weather isn't good enough. But i guess it is subjective sometimes. Some said road holding on snow is fantastic. Different models i guess...

[Leepee]

If it was me....to overcome this psychological fear symptom...I will just spend another $360 to get 4 fresh new tyres! Solved.

[Gantan88]

I would like to, but at this kind of climate, i am trying to be prudent in my spending.

 

I just called P*h H**g and the attitude of the uncle on the phone is really f***-up.

 

I enquire about the price of Bridgestone GR80 and he said no stock and not coming in anymore and they don't do trade in.

 

The existing tires threads are still pretty deep and it is really a waste to throw it away.

[Furrynadz]

when u have collected the car, go to either eng wah at TP lor 8 or SE tyres at kaki bukit let them give their opinion

[Newbie_driver]

better to get all four of the same make....

[Ghostrider]

Sumitomo tires are ok....dun expect much performance from them.

 

They should be HTR models....and this model has been around for the longest time that I can remember....last used them way back in 1992 !!! Can't believe that they are still selling these tires after all these years. My brother in law just change to 4 tires on his car....and year of manufacture is 2008 !!

 

If you are worried...then change all four lor....if not....not much of a problem lah. I drove a car for 6 months with 4 different tires on each wheel....and there was even a brand call Flamango !! Can't be bothered to change cos it was a ride that tide me over till the delivery of my car. Bought it close to scrap value....cos it was cheaper than to rent a car for a 2 months.

[Elfenstar]

I don't really have that issue... I wore out my G3's, g-force sports, c-drives, HTR200's (these are sumi's) within a year .

 

I loved the HTR200's except when its cold (mind you this was winter in Melb) as the grip was sucky then. These were on H rated 185/60R14's.