Pressure is put back on John

Mar 7 2010 by Mr Justice, Sunday Sun

THE driver who complained about alleged premature tyre wear on his sports car has lost his fight to have all four tyres replaced free of charge.

Last week I revealed how John Hepplewhite was concerned about his Mazda5 Furano.

It was the second time he had complained about the same thing.

On the first occasion two years ago Mazda admitted there had been several reports of premature wear on the back tyres of the model.

They paid 80% of the cost of replacement at almost 9,000 miles.

John said he feared the same thing was happening again after another 16,000 miles.

I passed the complaint to Mazda who arranged a wheel alignment check.

The results were disappointing for John.

Bosses said it was acceptable to have to replace tyres on a car like John’s after 16,000 miles.

A spokesman told me: “Mr Hepplewhite’s email advises that he needs to replace all four tyres at 25,000 miles.

“Having reviewed the photos we can’t see any reason why the rear tyres need replacing at this juncture.

“The front tyres are worn on the inner and outer edges which indicates the vehicle’s tyres are under inflated for the weight it’s carrying and these tyres will need replacing soon.

“The handbook advises different pressures for the petrol and diesel models, along with different pressures depending on the load of the vehicle, so the tyre pressure requirements will vary.

“Feedback from customers shows us that the front tyres on a Mazda5 generally require replacement between about 14,000 and 18,000 miles.

“Obviously, some customers will achieve more miles than that, some won’t get that many, so 16,000 miles out of a set of front tyres on a car like a Mazda5 is, we believe, normal and acceptable.

“Therefore we will not make any further contribution to this customer’s tyres but we will cover the cost of the wheel alignment check as a gesture of goodwill but feel that the cost of replacement tyres should be met by him.”

He suggested the next step would be to get the tyres checked by the tyre manufacturer if John wanted to pursue his complaint.

I’ll give the last word to John, 68, of Coxhoe, County Durham, who describes himself as a steady driver who obsessively checks his tyre pressures.

He said: “I don’t think it is acceptable to get 16,000 miles out of a set of tyres. Do you?”