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Buying Tyres Online Saves A Packet!
Patrick Hay tries the service offered by a Frogsiders advertiser-
It doesn’t really feel like it yet, but it won’t be long before winter gets here. With wet, cold, and windy weather you really need to have confidence in your tyres. When you think how small your tyres’ area of contact with the road is, it’s amazing your car can stay on wet or icy roads at all, so it makes sense to check that they are all in good order well before the bad weather sets in. It’s going to be too late to do anything about them when you run into a blizzard or freezing fog in the middle of a long journey.
A couple of weeks ago, I rang one of the local specialist auto shops for a price to replace two front tyres. As the old ones had lasted well, I was keen to buy the same Goodyear Eagle brand again. The shop (Norauto) quoted €182 and said they could have them there in 3 days. The price included fitting the tyres, new valves and wheel balancing. I very nearly ordered them right away, but then I remembered seeing an ad on Frogsiders home page for “pneus moins cher online”, so in the interests of all Frogsider readers I decided to try the service from the 123pneus.fr website.
First I checked the exact size and type of tyre I needed. The size is written on the side of the tyres already on the vehicle, so it took only a moment to write down the details and enter them into the boxes on the advertisement. I don’t use special winter tyres – they are useful perhaps if you’re in the Alps or Scandinavia – so I specified Eté (Summer) grade.
Clicking the Recherche button took me to a page on the 123pneus.website where I was able to see details of all the tyres available in the correct size and rating for my car. A list of 75 different tyres could be arranged in alphabetical order of manufacturer’s brand or by price. I chose to view the tyres in ascending order of price, which ranged from €39.70 for something called a Linglong GL699 up to €130.40 each for Toyo Proxes R888 which, according to the website, is supposed to offer superior comfort and longevity on all types of road. All the major brands like Dunlop, Michelin and Pirelli were available, too.
I soon found my Goodyear Eagles towards the expensive end of the list. The website description informed me that they’re particularly good in the wet, offering an improved sense of the straight ahead position as well as sharper steering response. To be honest I have never asked nor been told in a shop, exactly what the performance qualities of my new tyres would be, so the comprehensive information offered was a pleasant surprise. It even included approval ratings and comments (written in German) from official tyre testing and certification authorities.
At first glance the price of €61.90 per tyre made the local tyre shop look very expensive, but you have to remember that this does not include fitting. The 123pneus.fr website price does however include delivery to a garage in your area. You can choose one from a list. Prices for fitting are clearly detailed on the site. These can vary slightly from one garage to another, and also according to whether you have alloy wheels. I was easily able to calculate that my tyres would cost a total of €159 delivered to my local garage, fitted and balanced, including new valves – a saving of €23 over the local shop price.
So, armed with more information and more choice than I’ve ever had before when buying
new tyres, I placed my order, paying for the tyres by credit card online. You can,
if you prefer, pay by cheque or electronic bank transfer. Within a few minutes I
had received an acknowledgement of my order, an invoice, and a confirmation of my
payment. The following day I got another e-
A few days later I rang my local garage to ask if the tyres were there – they were – and to make an appointment. The tyres were correct, fitting was quick and efficient and the price was as expected. I could find no fault with the entire operation.
123.pneus.fr guarantees to take back and replace any unused tyres that are found within 30 days to be incorrect, damaged or defective. There are also a number of other safeguards for the client built into their terms and conditions which can be read on the website. There’s also a very clear Frequently Asked Questions page, and if you need any further information or reassurance you can phone them and speak with them direct.
For me the saving was €23 on two tyres, but with the comprehensive information and
the wide range available I could have made an informed choice and saved even more
money on tyres of equal quality. This way of buying tyres seems to work well as
long as you don’t mind waiting a week or so for delivery. So, don’t leave it until
the last minute -
Check your tyres before the winter weather sets in
123pneus.fr list of tyres
The site gives lots of information about each type of tyre
Fitting was quick and efficient, at our local garage