New research from Britain reveals that more than a fifth (22%) of drivers bought secondhand, or ‘part worn’ tyres for their car in the last year. Additional research has found that only 17% of drivers would consider buying used tyres again in the future as many said they have experienced problems as a result of opting for used rubber.

Large numbers of Irish drivers are also running their cars on part worn tyres. In many cases the level of usable tread on part worn tyres can prove to be a false economy, as some drivers who opted for second hand tyres have failed their next NCT test.

Many of the second hand tyres sold in Ireland are brought in from Europe by the container-load. Motorists considering a part worn tyre should perhaps ask why a tyre that is no longer good enough for a Dutch, German or Danish driver would be good enough for them.

One of the dangers of buying part worn tyres is that their condition may not have been properly checked. 83% of British drivers say they would not consider buying part worn tyres in the future for a number of important reasons. 48% worry that there might be hidden damage in the tyres, 47% say that new tyres perform better than those which are worn and 44% say they are a false economy and they get more for their money from a new tyre.

Over a third of motorists (36%) are concerned that they don’t know where the tyres have come from, 35% say they don’t know how they have been driven on a previous car, while one in five (19%) say they don’t trust garages which sell part worn tyres.

The further study, co-ordinated by TyreSafe and the British National Tyre Distributors Association, in conjunction with various Trading Standards offices and local councils, found that more than a third (34%) of the 817 part worn tyres bought in mystery shopper exercises across the country during the last year, contained faults or damage which meant that they should not have been offered for sale. Furthermore, a remarkable 97% had not been marked by retailers as ‘part-worn’ as is required by British law.