Part Worn Tyre Advice

[warren t claim]

I'm totally pissed off driving a truck for a living and I'm looking for a change.

 

I can get a workshop and tyre changing/balancing equipment cheaply and there's plenty of wholesalers willing to sell used tyres for between £6-8 each in popular sizes. I'm just wondering if I should take the plunge and see if I can make some sort of living out of it. Obviously I'd stock budget new tyres as well and offer discounts for taxis like all the other local outlets do.

 

Any pitfalls I need to think about? Has anyone got any relevant experience they could share?

 

I'm well aware that I'll need a range of smaller sockets to hammer over locking wheel nuts with missing keys.

 

What makes you choose your current supplier of round black squashy things?

[brickwall]

I use Tyre Traders. Good prices and tyres are here in 24hrs. There are no affiliate places nearby for fitting so I get that done locally. I wonder if you would want to sign up to these large affiliation online places that send you the tyres and the guy comes in and gets them fitted?

 

Ps...I got 205 80 on 16s for 162 quid delivered

[Wilko220]

What keeps me loyal to the tyre place I go to (which doesn't do part worns) is that every time I go there for a repair, they do it for free. It seems to be a good economy because I then feel duty bound to go back there whenever I need to spend several sheets on some new rubber.

 

There is a part-worn place fairly near me that has been there for donkeys years and seems to do a good trade - looks great as well.

 

[dollywobbler]

I think a van with a wheel balancer and tyre fitting machine in it would have potential. Then you don't just have to deal with part worns and don't need premises. I'm sure lazy folk would still rather pay a man to order some online and fit them. You could also tie up with an alloy refurbishment place perhaps?

[skattrd]

You've probably all ready thought this, but used tyre disposal would need checking out.

Blackcircles & mytyres list fitting places for the tyres they sell online. It might be worth seeing whats involved in getting listed on their sites, and whether or not it would be an earner.

[Albert Ross]

A lot of places import the part-worns from Europe, where laws are different relative to matched pairs on axles, and a deeper tread limit. Is this a possibility?

[Cavcraft]

Tyre disposal is fairly easy but probably not cheap. You HAVE to mark the tyres 'part worn' and I'd be willing to bet your insurance won't be cheap.

[Mr Lobster]

Go for it. If you can get  the premises on a lease that doesn't tie you to it for years then its worth a go. 

 

Pitfalls - I wonder how much insurance (liability rather than premises) would be if you are selling used rather than new? You'll need to carry a selection in stock I imagine and then can you order specific sizes as you need them. I reckon you might need to carry a fairly decent selection of the most popular sizes in stock though.

 

Also, how would you stand in relation to VAT? If you sell a decent number then you can find yourself over the threshold fairly quickly.

 

Personally I'd go and speak to local taxi operators and the bottom end of the used car trade that'd rather put used on than new. 

 

I reckon that premises would be better than a van - if you are going down the mobile fitting route then you'll need more spend on marketing, websites and all that it entails.

[Cavcraft]

Don't forget you'll need a balancing machine which are stupidly expensive, plus the tyre changers etc. I can put you in touch with someone who does proper (vulcanised)  if you get tyres with upper sidewall damage.

[cort16]

You could also stretch out into selling used alloys, which there seems to be a decent market for.

 

Make sure to have a stock of screen wash, 1 litre bottles of oil, wax and stuff like the you can make an extra quid on as you'd be amazed how much you'll sell when folk are thinking car.

[Station]

There's a load of competition on the Wirral, but I say go for it, but always have something to go back to incase it fails, which hopefully it won't. Don't take the first place you come across, and consider things like accessibility for customers.

I keep going back to a tyre fitter because they're friendly, cheap and you can say 'can I have one with loads of tread' and they go and get it.

I've been to one that gave me tyres that had 3mm left and went flat after a few days - I won't go back there as they offered a truly shit service, and I felt like they were trying to scam me the moment I walked in.

[warren t claim]

Good advice so far and thanks for your contributions. I must admit that the liability insurance question slipped my mind. I was thinking of trying to open long hours to get trade of people who are at work between 8am and 6 pm, maybe open 12 hours between 7am and 7pm. That way I can catch the taxi changeovers as well. Stocking hackney tyres might be a good idea too.

[Station]

That tyre fitters (next to that mysterious 'hole' in the fence) stay open til about 9pm some days, always thought that was a pretty good idea.

[Junkman]

For the liability issue you should definitely seek profecssional advice, maybe from your local chamber of commerce or sum such. You need to have some caveat emptor in your small print as well, maybe there are ready made terms and conditions available from some association of the tyre trade. I know they are available for engineers from the society of engineers, and for a lot of other professions from their organisations, so the same might apply to the garage/petrol station/tyre service trade. It's certainly no mistake to become a member of such an organisation, depending on the membership fees.

[brickwall]

I just remembered something. A couple of years back I got two fronts for the Volvo in a place in Glasgow. I was speaking to the guy and he got the industrial unit cheap off the council. Apparently councils do own smaller industrial units, so your council might be worth an enquiry. IIRC it was tapered like cheap the first year and then the price went up over three years. This place had new and part worn stock, but the new stuff is delivered within 24 hours.

 

Food for thought.

[Pillock]

I used to use a place that let me dig my own tyres out of the container.... Always felt like I'd got more of a bargain if I struggled out after twenty minutes with two 5mm Pirellis.

 

They fitted quickly, stayed open till about 6 so I didn't have to rush around at the weekend, and the one occasion I got a slow puncture they dropped everything to sort it for free.

 

It's all about service like you say. Bear in mind part-worn customers will come back more often so potentially you make more from them than selling new tyres. As long as they want to cone back.

 

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

[warren t claim]

I'm thinking of keeping a few hackney tyres on rims for a quick swap over.

 

I'm just trying to cost things out. If a tyre costs say £7.50 and most places sell them for between £15 and £18 how many I have to sell to break even. How much are balancing weights? Is tyre soap expensive? I've been offered premises for £100 on an easy in/out basis.

[Cavcraft]

Fuck buying them for £7.50, that sounds a right rob off.

[warren t claim]

What's a good price for 200 popular sizes?

[Mr Lobster]

I'm thinking of keeping a few hackney tyres on rims for a quick swap over.

 

I'm just trying to cost things out. If a tyre costs say £7.50 and most places sell them for between £15 and £18 how many I have to sell to break even. How much are balancing weights? Is tyre soap expensive? I've been offered premises for £100 on an easy in/out basis.

 

Difficult to say how many you'd need to sell to be into profit without knowing all the overheads. I've no idea how much tyre soap, weights and the like are but if you said that your other costs were £2 per tyre (and I've no idea how accurate that is) then if you made £5/tyre you'd need to be doing a hundred a week at the very least I'd have thought? If that gave you a £500 profit then by the time rent, rates, insurance, tax etc etc etc were taken out maybe you'd be left with half that?

 

Bear in mind as well that you'll be liable for business rates although you might be able to claim small business rate relief - speak to whoever is responsible at your local council. 

 

Does your £100 rent include electricity as well or is that extra?

 

If you were going for taxi business would it be worth seeing what else you can sell them - quickie valet for £5 at the same time or something

 

Would you need more than one tyre machine - if one breaks and you can't carry on until its fixed does that mean you'll lose customers who may not come back?

[Hendry]

I'll be honest I wouldn't buy part worns again, bought some before both by themselves and on second hand alloys I've bought from wheel shops and they've either been fucked, got fucked pretty quick after buying or had poor puncture repairs done or even ones that shouldn't have been repaired (too close to sidewall) etc

 

For the price of a new budget I would as I'm sure most of the general public would, rather that bit extra for peace of mind, that's not to say you don't get good part worn tyre places who sell decent tyres, just most will probably have been bitten in the past and will give them a wide berth.

 

I'm also not a fan of these car wash places which offer part worns too, some rubbish car "valeter" who doesn't have a clue what he's doing and chips your alloys (had it done when having expensive new contis/michelins fitted at tidy looking places too tbf)

 

Deffo think your clientele will be taxi drivers as they don't care what they fit as it'll be worn out next month, and pikeys/cheapskates/schemers from dodgy housing estates who's only requirement is cheap.

[Cavcraft]

(Pretty much) every time you buy a second hand car you're buying used tyres.

[makum101]

I use Tyre Traders. Good prices and tyres are here in 24hrs. There are no affiliate places nearby for fitting so I get that done locally. I wonder if you would want to sign up to these large affiliation online places that send you the tyres and the guy comes in and gets them fitted?

 

Ps...I got 205 80 on 16s for 162 quid delivered

Cheers for that. just found tyres on there for just £10 more than good part worn. Bookmarked

[Hendry]

(Pretty much) every time you buy a second hand car you're buying used tyres.

Aye and they were fucked too, Conti Sports with plenty of tread but cracked sidewalls and chewed tread

[warren t claim]

I think not getting sniffy about fitting tyres sourced by punters might be a good idea, maybe agreeing to have punters eBay bought tyres delivered to my premises as well.

[cort16]

There's got to be money in the better tyres too. I bought a couple of 19" Conti Sports off ebay for 65 quid each with loads of tread that was a right mega bargain to me as they're 250 cocking quid each new.

 

All the part worns I get tend to be wan-kings or something that's came off a farm trailer. I'd probably pay a bit extra for a brand.

Warrens Premium part worns

[skattrd]

I think not getting sniffy about fitting tyres sourced by punters might be a good idea, maybe agreeing to have punters eBay bought tyres delivered to my premises as well.

 

I think that is a good one. I'd definitely think about advertising that you'll change/fit other tyres.

 

I often buy my tyres online and get local places to fit them. I do keep changing where I get them done as most of them seem moody about fitting tyres I didn;t buy form them. They usually charge about £10 per wheel to change them.They get £40 for less than half an hours work, disposing 4 tyres a wipe of soap and a couple of weights.

I wouldn't mind but the tyres I get them to fit nowhere around here stocks, or the price they want for them is over double what I can get them for.

[explosive-cabbage]

Bald, knackered tyres with cuts and holes still have a price. Around £10/ton rings a bell. Farmers use them to weigh down silage clamps, do a bit of reasearch into this. You might not get any money if you are geting someone to collect them if you are only producing small quantities, but you might find a friendly farmer locally you can dump the tyres with rather than paying someone to dispose of them.

[Albert Ross]

We pay to dispose of tyres... the larger ones cost more. Allegedly they go to making the soft play surfaces under swings/slides etc, so Mummy's little Soldier doesn't break his fucking neck. It all goes to reducing business taxes, as it "lowers our footprint" and can be seen as recycling....

[dollywobbler]

I'd rather fit good brand part worns than brand new budget tyres. I've ruined the handling on too many cars with budget tyres.