Superseded tyres!

[Northern_Mike]

I've never bothered putting the tyre from the spare wheel into service, seems false economy to me .

I tend to find it useful when I have a puncture Chris..

[daviemck2006]

I've never bothered putting the tyre from the spare wheel into service, seems false economy to me .

I tend to find it useful when I have a puncture Chris..

[GB]

I just had to replace my "new looking" Michelin Primacy HP spare as it suddenly started to lose pressure.

The tyre was made in December 2004, so just under 10 years old. The spare tyre was used twice in the last 5 years, definitely less than 800 miles covered in total, but both times in winter so had plenty of exposure to salt.

But unfortunately it had to go due to the rubber perishing (yes, even without UV exposure) and losing around 3psi per month - started happening around 3 months ago.

In the end bought 3x GoodYear EfficientGrip Performace: 1 for the spare and 2 front (under 2mm tread left).

[Gibbo2286]

Did you see Watchdog this week, Citroen rubber air suspension bags failing after 5/10 years and the 'experts' on there saying that it is wrong and that Citroen should pick up the bill for replacing them.

How does that sit with tyres being only good for six years? Should Citroen pick up the bills for tyres failing after six years?

[SwissSPEC]

Citroen don't make tyres

I suppose tyre manufacturers could make tyres which last longer than 6 years, however, it would also end up costing the consumer more money to purchase, & lets face it, a set of tyres unless you alternate them very regularly will need replacing well before the 6 year time frame is up. Therefore the vast majority of people aren't affected. I've got some michelin's on our mini clubman, they look rotten & are only approx 3 years old, quite bizzare, i wonder if its worth complaining to michelin as i'm going to have to get them changed for safety reasons & there's still plenty of tread on them. My 7 year old vredesteins by comparison, look like new?? work that one out

I'm inpressed by my Dunlop Sport Bluresponse tyres which are on my C5 estate, comfy, good grip & they are very quiet, i think i'll get some for the mini

[Gibbo2286]

Citroen don't make tyres

I suppose tyre manufacturers could make tyres which last longer than 6 years, however, it would also end up costing the consumer more money to purchase, & lets face it, a set of tyres unless you alternate them very regularly will need replacing well before the 6 year time frame is up. Therefore the vast majority of people aren't affected. I've got some michelin's on our mini clubman, they look rotten & are only approx 3 years old, quite bizzare, i wonder if its worth complaining to michelin as i'm going to have to get them changed for safety reasons & there's still plenty of tread on them. My 7 year old vredesteins by comparison, look like new?? work that one out

I'm inpressed by my Dunlop Sport Bluresponse tyres which are on my C5 estate, comfy, good grip & they are very quiet, i think i'll get some for the mini

I doubt if Citroen make the suspension air bags, they're almost certainly a product of a rubber company such as Dunlop,.

[myglaren]

I was intrigued by that statement .
I used to work for TRW who made airbags but looked up the following:

There are a number of airbag manufacturers, but only a handful of really big companies. Delphi is a large global supplier of technology and electronics for cars, and commercial vehicles. They have facilities in over 30 countries and are one of the leading suppliers of airbags. TRW is another worldwide manufacturer and distributor of vehicle airbags. They are one of the top five airbag suppliers in the world. Autoliv currently has over 38,000 employees and is one of the top manufacturers of airbags. Autoliv is the largest supplier of airbags in Europe, and currently have 25% of the US market.

[Gibbo2286]

According to Watchdog Citroen have agreed to pick up the bill for these for cars under ten years old and under 120k miles, I wonder if they'll do the same for failed shock absorbers and broken springs on the non air suspension stuff.

[bobins]

I think Watchdog portrayed it as : In an unprecendented move Citroen have agreed etc etc......

Can anyone confirm if Hell has frozen over ?

I think Citroen were trying to claim the suspension airbag failures were mere wear and tear failures and so nothing to do with them. In my book, if a suspension airbag is failing after a few years, then it isn't fit for the job.

[qprdude]

What's a suspension airbag?

[myglaren]

C4 Grand Picasso and other models have airbag suspension.

[qprdude]

Ah, cheers.

[Gibbo2286]

I think Watchdog portrayed it as : In an unprecendented move Citroen have agreed etc etc......

Can anyone confirm if Hell has frozen over ?

I think Citroen were trying to claim the suspension airbag failures were mere wear and tear failures and so nothing to do with them. In my book, if a suspension airbag is failing after a few years, then it isn't fit for the job.

Ah but, suspension air bags are rubber (Or some rubber based compound) working in the same environment and under the same or similar stresses as tyres, tyres, even if left unused in the boot for six years are considered to be unsafe to use, it even says so in the handbook.

Does that not show a conflict of ideas?

As for who pays I'd guess that Citroen are likely to be chasing their airbag suppliers for a contribution.

[SwissSPEC]

My understanding is that Citroen will be contributing to 80% of the cost of the airbag suspension, not the full 100% I never even realised that they fitted this to any citroens, weird??

[qprdude]

They look like the "feet" we used to fit to some of the big ships generators.