MOT Advisory on Front Tyres

[cb1992]

Recently had my car in for MOT and got 2 advisories concerning my front tyres, both being 'Tyres worn close to legal limit on outside edge'

I have uploaded picture of tyre, to me it seems like overkill there looks to me to be quite a bit more than 1.6mm of tread on edge of tyres so not sure what is deemed as 'close' to legal limit. I know advisories aren't the end of the world but guy at garage recommended they be replaced.

Would any of you replace these? I only do 4000 miles a year.

[J4CKO]

Look more worn on the inside edge but its marginal, bit of life left in them by the looks of it.

Would keep an eye on them periodically and put a few quid aside ready. Dont let them get to 1.6 mm, get a tyre depth gauge and check them, I reckon tyres are pretty much done at 3mm left, 1.6 is the absolute minimum, not a target, they have long since been past optimal at that point.

[320d is all you need]

To be fair, it looks like the left hand side i worn quite a bit more than the rest of the tyre.

When was your last wheel alignment?

I wouldn't say it mandated an advisory though, but it's only an advisory, so who cares :-)

[Chubbyross]

Fine for pootling to the shops and back for a while longer. I’d change them though if you’re doing motorway miles in the rain.

[fatboy b]

Are they Dunlops? That's an MoT advisory regardless of wear

[Debaser]

Hard to tell from a picture, but it doesn’t look like there’s much more than 1.6mm on the inside edge.

I disagree with the advice above that tyres are pretty much done at 3mm, as there are advantages to driving with lower tread.

[TomSx]

I had my MOT yesterday and my rears were much like yours and I had the same advisory. I'd measured the tread to ensure it would pass and they were at 2.6mm.

For me it was a perfect excuse to put my winters on.

[cerb4.5lee]

My front tyres were only 2mm on the Mini and they passed the MOT without an advisory a few weeks ago(I thought I'd get one for them to be fair). I've changed them now though because they were the no grip Michelin Primacy and they annoyed me. I've put Michelin PS4 on now and I'm much happier.

Mine looked like they had less tread on them than the OP's pic, but appreciate that it is difficult to tell from a photo.

[Triumph Man]

Droplink looks nice and fresh!

[Sheepshanks]

I had them mentioned one year as scrubbed on the outer edge (common on Mercs) - next year, same dealer, same tester, same tyres but with 6000 miles more wear, they weren't mentioned.

Same happens with a chip in the screen.

Was the car otherwise OK? It's like they have to mention a couple of things, so the advisories have become almost random.

[Krikkit]

Advisories like that are at the tester's discretion I believe - if they know you're doing enough miles to run down those tyres before next MOT they might choose to advise them. After all, that's partly what an MOT is for!

As already said, that inside edge is almost down to the wear bar, so it's not far away at all.

[cb1992]

fatboy b said:

Are they Dunlops? That's an MoT advisory regardless of wear

They are Pirelli Cinturatos, were already on when i purchased the car.

[cb1992]

Triumph Man said:

Droplink looks nice and fresh!

Well spotted, it failed the MOT on the drop link. Seems I rarely get through an MOT without replacing a drop link these days.

[cb1992]

Sheepshanks said:

I had them mentioned one year as scrubbed on the outer edge (common on Mercs) - next year, same dealer, same tester, same tyres but with 6000 miles more wear, they weren't mentioned.

Same happens with a chip in the screen.

Was the car otherwise OK? It's like they have to mention a couple of things, so the advisories have become almost random.

The car Failed on the drop link. They seemed to like looking for any advisory possible, got a engine oil leak, gearbox leak. I'm 99% certain there are no leaks , maybe some staining/residue on sump. Also put exhaust corrosion as advisory and 'Covers obscuring components' car is completely standard so not sure what i am meant to do about that

Although I remember a few years back I got an advisory 'Drivers view restricted' ... it was a magic tree air freshener hanging from rear view mirror....

[cb1992]

Looks like I will run the tyres for now and replace in a month or 2. Hardly using the car the now anyway due to working from home.

Thanks for the responses.

[littlebasher]

After forgetting about my Mrs MOT while she was down south looking after her Dad, I had no option but to get her booked into a Kwikfit for the cars first MOT.

Got an advisory on both rear tyres perished - both are quite literally like new.

Subjective i guess, but the tyres are only a year old !



My car had its MOT over the summer as well - so it went to a Halfords who were doing a £20 MOT. No advisories, but on one of those 'check' sheets they like to give you, they put the front tyres down as having 4.5mm of Tread.

The car was driven straight there from my local tyre place with 2 brand new tyres on the front. Apparently losing 3.5mm of tread in 1.5 miles of use.

Edited by littlebasher on Thursday 1st October 13:01

[tonyvid]

And that is the reason I never use a tyre selling company for my MOTs. Quickfit changed an exhaust back box on my old Rover years ago and measured the tyre depth while it was in(5mm all), a couple of weeks later it went in for the inevitable more exhaust parts and miraculously had tyres reported as near the legal limit. Chancers.

[Little Pete]

cb1992 said:

Recently had my car in for MOT and got 2 advisories concerning my front tyres, both being 'Tyres worn close to legal limit on outside edge'

I have uploaded picture of tyre, to me it seems like overkill there looks to me to be quite a bit more than 1.6mm of tread on edge of tyres so not sure what is deemed as 'close' to legal limit. I know advisories aren't the end of the world but guy at garage recommended they be replaced.

Would any of you replace these? I only do 4000 miles a year.

I'd be advising that also. The tester has done his job and made you aware the tyre is getting low. Unfortunately the advisory is "close to the legal limit" when it is selected from a menu.

Edited by Little Pete on Thursday 1st October 13:17

[Pica-Pica]

ash73 said:

I wouldn't replace them doing that sort of mileage.

Get yourself a tyre tread gauge and replace at 2mm:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133465904094

Mind you, the tyres on my Smart are 12 years old... so I'm probably the wrong person to ask!

If you only going to replace when down to 2mm, you don’t need a tyre gauge, the tread wear indicators (TWI) are sufficient (in all likelihood, one TWI will be at 1.6 when the others are at or above 2mm).
I personally would would replace at 3mm if heading toward a cold and wet season. If heading into a dry season, I may push it a bit further.
An advisory is just that. Garages doing MOTs feel an obligation (correctly, in my mind) to advise on anything that become major or defective within the coming year. You could make a case for advisories only being available to the customer at the time of the MOT. Then again, we have had threads on here where buyers don’t even seem to look at the tyres, and buy cars with all sort of odd mixes.

PS if you do put new tyres on, ensure the best tyres are on the rear (applies to FWD, RWD, AWD).

[J4CKO]

Mine are way worse than that on the shoulders, BMWs tend to eat the outside edge, MOT in a month so will put two new tyres on it that I will probably never get the use out of.

I specilise in providing almost new tyres and brakes on cars for other people to use