Scirocco Central

A few weeks ago I had to replace yet another expensive 19 inch Pirelli P Zero on the front of my Roc after hitting a pothole.

The guy at the tyre fitting place looked at all the other tyres, as they do, and he asked me how long I'd had the car. I told him I have had it since new in 2010. Turns out there is some cracking on the sidewalls of both the rear tyres. From the moulding he said the tyres were manufactured in 2009 and were "getting on a bit" and should be replaced which I immediately dismissed as there is loads of tread left on them since the car has only done just over 10000 miles.

Spending £500 to replace old tyres isn't going to happen unless it fails an MOT.

I might get them rotated onto the front where they are sure to be ruined by a pothole in a matter of weeks. I think the combination of the heavy diesel engine and DSG with 19's is why I get more than my fair share of ruined front tyres.

Info on how to determine the age of tyres at the link.
http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/pas ... e/age.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

With only 10k on, I'd imagine there's a fair bit of wear left on them. I just got my BT back from the 20k service (the car's just over 14 months old) and both rear tyres have an even 6mm left. If I was doing as low mileage as you, I'd probably be tempted to rotate the tyres once in their life - but then again, with your luck puncture-wise, maybe not ...

It's recommended that tyres are replaced after around 6 years, irrespective of tread left as the rubber can crack and perish.

Hi there,

I too have a 2010 scirocco with the 19" wheels fitted. About 2 months ago, I was faced with the same problem and thoughts you have, regarding quite bad sidewall cracking on the original rear tyres. The tyres were Dunlop sp maxx sports fitted with17k miles on the clock and approx 4.5-5mm of tread remaining and a date stamp of 2010.

I had slight concerns over putting the cracked tyres onto the front with cornering etc, but really didn't feel the need or will to spend £500 to replace tyres which had considerable tread remaining.

I thought I'd nothing to loose so emailed Dunlop customer services with pics of the cracking and date stamp to enquire is this considered normal and safe to put onto the front, after a few stupid replies suggesting I return them to Germany for an inspection, I finally got passed through to a local Goodyear rep ( apparently Goodyear and Dunlop are the same company!!!) who without problem looked at the photos and offered to cover the cost of one tyre if I paid for the other!!!! I snapped up the offer, he even agreed to let me fit Goodyear eagles instead of dunlops.

I never expected it to go anywhere but according to him, all tyres carry a manufacturers 5 year warrenty. So £250 for two new tyres and no worries about cracking was an amazing result. Apparently, the level of compensation is based on remaining tyre wear and life, which seems more than fair to be honest.

I got the new tyres fitted at a local center who commented on how good Dunlop/Goodyear were at dealing with problems compared to some other companies

So may be worth an email or phone call.....as I thought nothing to loose.

Cheers Paul

paul38 wrote:Hi there,

I too have a 2010 scirocco with the 19" wheels fitted. About 2 months ago, I was faced with the same problem and thoughts you have, regarding quite bad sidewall cracking on the original rear tyres. The tyres were Dunlop sp maxx sports fitted with17k miles on the clock and approx 4.5-5mm of tread remaining and a date stamp of 2010.

I had slight concerns over putting the cracked tyres onto the front with cornering etc, but really didn't feel the need or will to spend £500 to replace tyres which had considerable tread remaining.

I thought I'd nothing to loose so emailed Dunlop customer services with pics of the cracking and date stamp to enquire is this considered normal and safe to put onto the front, after a few stupid replies suggesting I return them to Germany for an inspection, I finally got passed through to a local Goodyear rep ( apparently Goodyear and Dunlop are the same company!!!) who without problem looked at the photos and offered to cover the cost of one tyre if I paid for the other!!!! I snapped up the offer, he even agreed to let me fit Goodyear eagles instead of dunlops.

I never expected it to go anywhere but according to him, all tyres carry a manufacturers 5 year warrenty. So £250 for two new tyres and no worries about cracking was an amazing result. Apparently, the level of compensation is based on remaining tyre wear and life, which seems more than fair to be honest.

I got the new tyres fitted at a local center who commented on how good Dunlop/Goodyear were at dealing with problems compared to some other companies

So may be worth an email or phone call.....as I thought nothing to loose.

Cheers Paul

If you are paying £250 for a 235/35x19 tyre then you are being robbed. I appreciate you got one tyre "free" due to goodwill so as you say £250 for 2 tyres is very good.

At Camskill you.are looking at around £160 for a Goodyear F1 A2. Even taking into account adding fitting you're looking at a significant saving. Worth.looking into next time you need.tyres.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m55b0s24p0/Ca ... _235_35R19" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

By the way it's lose not loose :-)

My car just sailed through its MOT with not a single advisory note, as you would expect with regular servicing by VW and only 10 000 miles.

So if my old cracked tyres are good enough for the Ministry of Transport they are good enough for me.

Spending time on the Porsche online configurator speccing up my ideal Cayman S is making me loose interest in the Roc anyway.