Team-BHP - NHC Tyre Change ! Stuck with a weird set :s

Hello all,

I (my father) have an NHC 2006. It has done 41k on ODO and the stock Bridgestone s322's are going to be over soon (stepney rarely used), so was doing my research on tyres on this forum and was thinking between Turanza ER60 and CPC2 in stock size 175/65 R14 (or 185/65 R14 to improve ground clearance a bit).

But as luck would have it. My father had a puncture and he drove on for a few KM without noticing it, when he finally came to know it was too late and the tyre had got a big cut. He changed to the stepney tyre (as good as new) and being in his age he immediately went and got an MRF Tyre (as stepney) for Rs. 3475 !!! :Frustrati (ZV2K 175/65 R14) All this happened while i had gone to delhi for a week.

Now i am stuck with:
3 Bridgestone s322's on their life's end.
1 old but unused s322
1 Brand New MRF ZV2K

Any advice on what i should do now. The MRF Tyre was bought from an MRF only Auth. Dealer. I got the quote for ER60 from a nearby dealer and was quoted Rs 4050 per Turanza ER60 175/65 R14 :Shockked: will check another dealer soon. Is this price too high? Cant find any info on Continental website about local dealers around chandigarh so have to let go of CPC2.

I would recommend to go for either 185/65 or 195/60. These are the right tyres for this car. Ride, handling & braking will improve greatly (also GC by few mm).Yoko C.drives, A.drives, Michellin XM1+, CPC/CPC2 are good options.

Since your MRF is new & unused, you must be able to return & get your amount back. The 3 S322s are due for replacement. The other S322 though unused is 4 years old and I would recommend to replace it.

Next time, do rotate your tyres with spare wheel, so that all tyres wear out equally.

Quote:

Originally Posted by humyum (Post 2081839)

Get 4 tyres of which company you want and keep the ZVTS as stepney. Also right now if you are running on ZVTS in the front and the 42000 km bridgstone on the front axle, its not really a good for the handling of the car too.

Its ZV2K an d its still unused. Lying in the boot as stepney.

Quote:

Originally Posted by f1fan (Post 2081882)

Not a big issue.
I would suggest you trade in all your existing s322 (you might get a little better price for the unused one) as your car is 4 years old and the unused s322 in the boot would have become hard by now.
Keep the new MRF as the spare and buy four new ones of your choice.

Thing is this car hardly ever gets punctured, only 3 in 4 years. And i fix and get it replaced, so stepney is unused. I was thinking of buying 4 new tyres and keep the s322 as stepney, to save on cash. How much approx. do you think i could get for each of my unused and used s322 tyres.

Quote:

Originally Posted by msdivy (Post 2081889)

I dont have a high opinion of MRF and its size is also 175/65. But i wanted 185/65. Dont want to spend 3500 for a tyre which will hardly be used.

If it was a dealer for multiple brands then i could have returned it, but i dont think i will be able to return this for full price as its been a week. Will try and am willing to loose upto Rs. 200 for return. Then i could buy 4 turanzas 185/65/R14.

I do drive on BAD roads and sometimes even NO roads. So i thought its better to stay away from Michelin and Yoko.
My s322 have done well so Bridgestone or Conti were choices, but couldnt find a conti distributor so was decided on Bridgestone 185/65 R14.

Have followed 4 tyre rotation and the wear on the 4 has been even. Will do 5 tyre rotation now if i get all 5 tyres of same size (not likely in my current situation).

Also how is price of 4050 for Turanza ER60 175/65 R14 (was quoted 3880 by the same dealer a month ago! )
I think it will increase by ~200 for 185/65 R14 ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by guptavis (Post 2082033)

I do drive on BAD roads and sometimes even NO roads. So i thought its better to stay away from Michelin and Yoko.
My s322 have done well so Bridgestone or Conti were choices, but couldnt find a conti distributor so was decided on Bridgestone 185/65 R14.

I am not sure even CPCs are an option then. Bridgestone is better in such conditions.

Quote:

Also how is price of 4050 for Turanza ER60 175/65 R14 (was quoted 3880 by the same dealer a month ago! )
I think it will increase by ~200 for 185/65 R14 ?

Last when I checked with Bridgestone dealer didn't have stock. He wasn't hopeful of getting stock and couldn't give me any date. Please check if the dealer has stock.
I don't remember the price for ER60s, but in Michellin both 175/65 & 185/65 are priced same.

Quote:

Originally Posted by msdivy (Post 2082057)

I am not sure even CPCs are an option then. Bridgestone is better in such conditions.

Last when I checked with Bridgestone dealer didn't have stock. He wasn't hopeful of getting stock and couldn't give me any date. Please check if the dealer has stock.
I don't remember the price for ER60s, but in Michellin both 175/65 & 185/65 are priced same.

Thanks, i have seen comments that the CPC2 also has tough sidewalls. If there are any issues it only makes my choice easier. I am a sedate driver and only requirement is comfortable ride. But dont want 4k to go down the drain cause i had to go over a bad patch.

I didnt go to the dealer but he said the price is 4050, he was actually not sure of the price earlier and said that he will check and asked me to call after 10 min. When i called again he said price is 4050, though he suggested i get the potenza for 4100 instead. Will go tomorrow to check out a few other places tomorrow afternoon.

Anyone know of a good place to get tyres in Chandigarh? I have heard that Bansal Tyres Sector28 is good.

Update:

After having made plans for a long time finally went to motor market to check out tyres and Shell HX5 Engine Oil.

Will post here about the tyres part. Went to a multibrand store first. Asked for Turanza ER60 in 185/65 R14 size and was shown potenza, was informed turanza is not made in that size. I said ok, show me 175/65 R14. He showed me s322 and said turanza is not made in that size either. He showed me 185/70 R14 Turanza, and said its the smallest size from which turanza starts.
I did not believe him but thought for a second about getting in that size Price: Rs 3750 each. But i noticed the tyre next to it was s322 175/65 R14.The turanza was MUCH bigger. But the shopkeeper said he's fitted lots of city ZX with this and there are no issues. Is this OK size for CityZX ?
Asked him about Michelin XM1+. He showed me size 175/65 R14 for Rs 4100 each and mobile phone offer.

Then i went to another tyre dealer, got same reply he said 185/70 R14 is smallest Turanza. Then went to third dealer, he also said 185/70 is smallest Turanza price Rs 3750. After this i was convinced its true and made up my mind to come back here and ask the expert's opinion.

Then was looking for Shell Oil in one shop and saw that he also had some tyres, so just had alook at them. He had 175/65 R14 Turanza's on display ! Asked the price and got... Rs. 4050 per tyre!! I tried to bargain but he simply refused. I asked him price for 185/70 R14 Turanza and he said its not in stock but he can get in a couple days price Rs 3800. Then i confronted him how can a bigger tyre be cheaper, he said its company rate and he cant do anything about it. He said he will give me bill and warranty card and the tyre is made in INDIA, which is better than made in Indonesia, Phillipines, etc. He was a small but an exclusive bridgestone dealer (no balancing, alignment, etc) .

Any opinions about this ? Was he speaking truth?
I am surprised to find three dealers lieing, guess they were out of stock but all of them lieing through their teeth! :Frustrati

@Guptavis, in case you have not yet been able to find the answer to what to do with your different tyres :

1. You seem to use 4 tyres at all times. THe stepney is never touched.
2. For this, Get 4 new tyres for your main usage. You are deciding on the brand (and have asked the questions, so I will not go there)
3. For the stepney, keep the newest tyre you have - the one your father bought.

Note that rubber degrades with time, even if not used. So your your original stepney will have harder rubber, and will not be as suitable for use as the recent purchase. Since you will keep one tyre as stepney, keep the one that you have bought recently- this way it will be newer than the old stepney at all times.

Quote:

Originally Posted by guptavis (Post 2084515)

I know this is the best thing to do but this means 3500 Rs sitting and rotting in the trunk and hardly ever being used (my earlier stepney is definitely used less than 500KM and the next one will also suffer the same fate). I guess ill decide about stepney after i decide on the new tyres and see what my budget dictates. Thanks for your advice.

Guptavis
You can't plan for a situation where your spare wheel would be required.
Sometimes you may never require one and sometimes it will save your day when you are stuck in the middle of nowhere with a flat tire.
Don't think its wise to compromise on anything here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpzen (Post 2085383)

Everyone is suggesting the same. Guess i will follow this advice :)
Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008 (Post 2085748)

Dont fit 185/70 R14 on your car!

And Er 60 is made in 175/65 R14. However, the dealer is right when he says it is not made in 185/65 R14.

The guy who is quoting 4050 for 175/65 R14 is taking you for a ride. He knows that 175/65 R14 ER 60 is not available anywhere else. Or, he is someone who follows a fixed price policy. Like Reliance Auto Zone, etc...

Thanks Nikhil! 185/70 did look too big, guess im sticking to stock size.
I think ill wait for a couple weeks till some other reasonable dealer gets it.
Also found that the first dealer i mentioned in my post is a bridgestone select partner! thinking of writing a mail to them about his saying 175/65 turanza does not exist.