[adisag]

Malik Tyre World:
Sector Road Welding Market ,Bristal Hotel, Sikandarpur DLF Phase-1, Gurgaon, Haryana 122002

Work Handled:
A set of Tires for My Yeti

What You'll Like:
Good competitive pricing (even without bargaining) - but its grey market stuff so proceed at your own risk
Friendly and Pleasant staff

What You won't:
Grey Market stuff (without being explicit about it)
Poor approach road and lack of parking
Extremely small setup and no customer facilities


My experience in some detail:

My yeti had 235/60 R16 Tires (Kumho - IIRC) installed by the previous owner. The tires had a decent amount of tread, but one of the tires developed a "wobble" and started swelling up due to broken steel braids.

The large bridgestone store near Garden Estate did not have 235/60 R16 in stock, so I stopped at Malik Tyre World, a smallish hole in the wall, besides the sikanderpur rapid metro station (in the midst of the welding shops). The guy had the required size available (Nankang?) and I asked him to change only one tire.

Upon examination, he declared that two of the tires were damaged (I was a little skeptical, but he showed me how the tread was bulging). He did'nt really do a hardsell and was willing to fit only the one tire I had asked for, but the seed of doubt had been planted.

I asked him to hold on while I discussed the available options with Mr Malik. So after a half an hour long discussion, we agreed it would be best to replace all four tires with 225/60 R16 (closer to the stock size) Bridgestone Tires - with 3 year warranty.

He offered me a good deal - and four Bridgestone Tires (after buyback) were only marginally more expensive than a pair of Nankang (in the larger size).

We shook hands, I paid an advance, and said I would send my driver to collect the car in the evening.

Took delivery and drove the car for maybe a week or so, including a drive to Chandigarh. The slight wobble from the previous tires was gone, though I had expected new tires to be slightly quieter, but noise levels remained similar.

Seemed like a fairly positive experience so far.

Some 15-20 days after changing the tires, on a sunday, I was cleaning out the car, when I finally decided to check out the tires.

I noticed the tires were something called Bridgestone "Regno" and were made in Japan. I was a little preturbed - though we had'nt explicitly agreed, I had assumed Bridgestone to mean Turanza/Potenza etc. (and made in India?). I called up Malik Tyre World, who reassured me that these were as good as Potenza (and had a 3 year warranty) and I could always bring them back to him incase of any issues.

Google revealed almost no information on "Regno", but I was able to find that I had paid an extremely competitive price for the tires. Though not fully convinced, I let the feel good about "money saved" overrule my emotions.

So far so good, 2 months and 4000 Km Later, on a less used road in Uttarakhand at a speed of 20kmph - this is what happened. Of course no warranty as this is sidewall damage due to driving over sharp objects.

I was a little peeved, and decided to take the car to get the tire changed from somewhere else. Took it to the T-Mart Bridgestone showroom near Garden Estate where the fitter decoded the sidewall for me - shocker - the Tire was manufactured in 2009

Of course I called up Malik Tyre World - but since I was no longer a potential customer, the sweet sales pitch was replaced by a "so what" tone. Clearly no recourse available there. Left with little choice, have replaced a single tire. (price is ~ 1.5 x what I paid for the Regno's).


Verdict:

The shop - a small hole in the wall with no real customer/waiting facilities. On the currently extremely dug up and broken section of the road right next to sikanderpur rapid metro. No parking space available, was convenient for me as I happen to live right next door, but otherwise very poorly located.

The staff/management - friendly, slick talkers, convincing salesman powers.

Products - As I realized later (to my own peril) it turns out they stock mostly grey market stuff - and the rates are aligned to that. My bad for not doing enough groundwork and just biting the bullet because the pricing was good.

My Experience - a bit like a customer used to shopping malls walking into Sarojini Nagar and just picking up stuff without bothering to check the quality and bargain on the prices . Had I known better, I would have paid the premium for the "genuine" product, but as I mentioned earlier - my bad.

Would I recommend them - Maybe for taxi owners, or drivers looking to save some cash, but for owner driven cars - no.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by adisag

the Tire was manufactured in 2009

If something seems to be too good to be true, it probably is! 5 year old tyres are awfully, terribly old. Our resident tyre expert Nikhil says that even a manufacturing date going back 1.5 years is pushing it. I'm personally comfortable with a tyre manufactured in the current year only (6 month old manufacturing date is acceptable for imported tyres due to logistical reasons).

Related Thread

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Also, tryes harden when kept outside. Most of the company godowns are completely covered and pretty cool. Not too hot or expose to the elements or anything. I would say anything upto one year is ok. Even a bit more is ok.

One and a half years is pushing it though.... However, the companies officially claim that anything upto 2 years is ok.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by adisag

I was a little peeved, and decided to take the car to get the tire changed from somewhere else. Took it to the T-Mart Bridgestone showroom near Garden Estate where the fitter decoded the sidewall for me - shocker - the Tire was manufactured in 2009

That code is actually a very simple 4 digit number.

The first two digits indicate the week of manufacture. There being 52 weeks in a year, this number would be between 01 and 52.

The last two digits are the year of manufacture.

So if your tire has the code 1013, it means it was made in the Tenth week of 2013.

There is only one 4 digit number printed on a sidewall.

Very sad that you had to learn this the hard way.

[ani_meher]

What's the code? As bblost rightfully said, it is just week of year and year digits, nothing fancy like VIN code.

[sagarpadaki]

With tyres i advice a simple thumb rule - Go for the best quality rubber you can afford for. These 4 contact patches can make a difference between life and death!

Atleast next time stay away from grey markets and go for good brands.Thank God that the blowout happened at low speed . At high speeds result could have been not so pretty

[adisag]

Originally Posted by bblost

That code is actually a very simple 4 digit number.

Very sad that you had to learn this the hard way.

Originally Posted by ani_meher

What's the code? As bblost rightfully said, it is just week of year and year digits, nothing fancy like VIN code.

You guys bet I can decipher that simple code now

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

With tyres i advice a simple thumb rule - Go for the best quality rubber you can afford for. These 4 contact patches can make a difference between life and death!

Atleast next time stay away from grey markets and go for good brands.Thank God that the blowout happened at low speed . At high speeds result could have been not so pretty

Agreed, thankfully the blowout itself was fairly non-dramatic and fuss free.

I'm hoping that the age of these tires doesn't make them a safety hazard. I'm in the mood to stick with these tires for a while, maybe changing them a couple of months before I would if they were "brand new" unless the consensus is that its a safety hazard.

I drive ~ 35-40 k (mostly urban - with a couple of long road trips every year) in a year, so I'll probably wear out the set in under 18 months anyway.

Thoughts from the guru's appreciated.

[sukiwa]

Which Bridgestone Regno tyre did you buy, is it regno 9000 or regno GR-XT?

On a sidenote, can you please post a photo of tyre sidewall?

[vipul_singh]

The concern on old tyres being sold to you is valid. But I don't think age of the tyres had much to do with the cut. That's because the object has gone through the tyre casing and the metal / fabric plies are cut and visible. Don't think a newer tyre would have survived either.

Suitability of the "Regno" tyre for Indian conditions is a valid question though and something all of us should take a lesson from

All of what I wrote above should be taken with appropriate doses of salt since I am not a expert / professional.

[svsantosh]

My erstwhile 4x4-Jeeping hobby involves a lot of tyre wear and tear and that experience make me say this --- the picture you posted; even the most expensive tyre fresh out of any factory in the world wont survive. Its a proper non-manufacturing damage and no warranty would help here.

PS - You can keep the other tyres for backup and they would last a good 10K kms more in city use. Only grey/issue area on old tyres is high speed runs failure rate and slow punctures, leaks from sidewall.

Else, post them for sale online at a fair price and you should get approx 800-1200 per used 16" tyre in good nick.

[adisag]

Originally Posted by sukiwa

Which Bridgestone Regno tyre did you buy, is it regno 9000 or regno GR-XT?

On a sidenote, can you please post a photo of tyre sidewall?

Its a Regno 9000, pictures of one of the undamaged tire attached

Originally Posted by vipul_singh

The concern on old tyres being sold to you is valid. But I don't think age of the tyres had much to do with the cut. That's because the object has gone through the tyre casing and the metal / fabric plies are cut and visible. Don't think a newer tyre would have survived either.

Suitability of the "Regno" tyre for Indian conditions is a valid question though and something all of us should take a lesson from

All of what I wrote above should be taken with appropriate doses of salt since I am not a expert / professional.

Originally Posted by svsantosh

My erstwhile 4x4-Jeeping hobby involves a lot of tyre wear and tear and that experience make me say this --- the picture you posted; even the most expensive tyre fresh out of any factory in the world wont survive. Its a proper non-manufacturing damage and no warranty would help here.

I'm glad to know that the blow out was not a direct consequence of the age of the tire.

I intend to use these tires for a few months - and discard them a few months earlier than I normally would.

[el lobo 6061]

Originally Posted by adisag

A set of Tires for My Yeti

I was a little peeved, and decided to take the car to get the tire changed from somewhere else. Took it to the T-Mart Bridgestone showroom near Garden Estate where the fitter decoded the sidewall for me - shocker - the Tire was manufactured in 2009

Adding to your peril, pardon me for being sarcastic; using such old tires on a car like Yeti, is asking for trouble. Given Indian road conditions it is advised to change tires at 6 years even though there may be as much tread left in it.

Rubber after a certain period becomes hard and on flexing develops crack. Also Yeti is capable of being driven fast at 120+ easily. I would advice you to change to new tires after a year otherwise you would be putting your life in danger.

Your tires mfg period is: Oct 2009

Link.

[vipul_singh]

Agree with el Lobo. While the age of the tyre perhaps did not contribute to the *current issue* (cut tyre), running old tyres is a no-no if you do high speeds, especially on concrete surfaces such as the Yamuna Expressway.

If you want to continue using these for a while, be doubly sure that they are inflated properly (and adjust inflation pressure appropriately if the tyre is not cold while filling in air). Also, maintain sane speeds since these tyres are both old and a bit of an unknown quantity (even if they are V rated)

[bblost]

Originally Posted by adisag

I drive ~ 35-40 k (mostly urban - with a couple of long road trips every year) in a year, so I'll probably wear out the set in under 18 months anyway.

Thoughts from the guru's appreciated.

Do you think you will be able to relax when driving with these tires?

I highly doubt it. While its definitely going to cause some heart burn discarding them, in the long run consider it as an expensive but valuable lesson.

I would suggest you use them for no more than 50% of the time you would have used a regular tire.

[dass]

Originally Posted by bblost

Do you think you will be able to relax when driving with these tires?

This pretty much sums up what I was going to write. Peace of mind is very important while driving, and if the mind of constantly thinking about the tires, then the drive itself would not be of much joy.

My suggestion - Take the tires to the good tire shop and have them evaluate the remaining life on them. Cut their analysis into two and then keep it for that shorter duration and get yourself some new set of NEW tires.

[latentpotential]

Originally Posted by GTO

...

Originally Posted by adisag

....

In the last one year, I have seen quite a few instances of cheaper tyres available at smaller shops compared to branded or authorized outlets.

One of the reasons that has been observed is that as the rate of conversion for the dollar has increased, the older tyre, having been imported at a lower rate is available for lesser compared to a fresh import tyre. (Note that this statement applies only to imports and not Made in India equipment).

The smaller dealers with older stocks, know the new stock MRP and try to make some more money by pricing their older cheaper stock strategically enough to entice even a walk in customer, and in some cases make extra money beyond the old stock MRP.

Only a customer who is educated enough about tyres can understand this scenario as it unfolds, and most never even realize it.