Originally Posted by
Penguin740
An interesting side note on cheap tyres. I have spent a bit of time looking at tyres over the last week.
St George Tyres and some other firms (possibly Tempe) sell parallel imports. I got the tip from a local tyre shop. My local shop was happy for me to buy the tyres from St George, but suggested I be aware of 2 things before I buy:
1) The local supplier will not support a warranty claim for a paralell import, but I did contact St George and they warranty the tyres themselves for 12 months. As I live in Brisbane, I am not willing to send a tyre back to Sydney for a warranty claim so this was a big deal.
2) Some tyres offered through these channels can be very old stock. Tyres do have a used by date (sort of) as the tyres dry out (I think??). I checked with St George on some tyres I was interested in and they were made in 2008! They are over 3 years old.
Personally I am still happy for companies who offer these tyres for sale, as long as the customer is aware of the risk to warranty and age.