Tyre Age on Porsche Approved Used

[stephen.robins]

Hi All,

I have recently joined having just bought a 981 Boxster S from an OPC.

On my first drive, I lost the rear end on a roundabout in the dry and at a moderate speed and nearly span the car.

I was a little shocked at the lack of grip and checked the Pirelli P Zeros fitted to the car. The tread depth is fine at about 5mm. However, the rears were manufactured in 2016 and 2017 so are now pretty old.

Has anyone else had a problem with tyres degrading with age? I was also surprised that an OPC would sell a car with old tyres?

Steve

 

[BrianJ]

OPCs are not allowed to sell Porsche Approved Used cars with tyres more than 5 years old. My OPC told me that when they were inspecting my current car prior to selling it to me. The fronts were slightly more than 5 years and had to be changed, no question. The rears were slightly less and I wanted them all changed to the later 20” N1 spec rather than them just changing the fronts to the same N0 as were previously fitted all round. The 20” N1 Pirelli is vastly superior to the N0. There was someone else on here recently that had been sold a car with one tyre older than 5 years whose OPC salesman had told him that was OK. That situation was quickly corrected when the owner appealed to higher authority.

 

[stephen.robins]

OPCs are not allowed to sell Porsche Approved Used cars with tyres more than 5 years old. My OPC told me that when they were inspecting my current car prior to selling it to me. The fronts were slightly more than 5 years and had to be changed, no question. The rears were slightly less and I wanted them all changed to the later 20” N1 spec rather than them just changing the fronts to the same N0 as were previously fitted all round. The 20” N1 Pirelli is vastly superior to the N0. There was someone else on here recently that had been sold a car with one tyre older than 5 years whose OPC salesman had told him that was OK. That situation was quickly corrected when the owner appealed to higher authority.

Brian,
Many thanks for your reply. I will raise it with Porsche Stockport and see what they say.
Steve

 

[stephen.robins]

Just an update. The OPC has confirmed that the tyres should not be older than 5 years and has agreed to reimburse me for two new rear tyres. Happy Days!

 

[Motorhead]

Hi Steve,

Brian is correct on this point. The post from the other chap he mentions can be found here under LesGTS:

N Rated tire recommendations for 718 2.5 GTS

MOT and inspection came back with amber on both front tires due to cracking so am figuring out which N rated option to go with when I put new boots on the car early next year. It currently has the PZeros (from factory) and apart from the crabbing when cold I like them but open to feedback on...

www.porscheclubgb.com

In the end he was given 4 new tyres, so definitely it’s worth pursuing the matter with Stockport.

Good luck!

Jeff

Edit: Result!

 

[Wollemi]

I would certainly inspect the front tyres as well, as they may also be older than 5 years old.
It's pretty poor though that the OPC sold the vehicle with tyres well beyond their own specification. It does make you wonder how careful the rest of their preparation has been.

 

[911hillclimber]

Indeed!
Just how does an OPC let this through?
A county garage I use for MoT on all my cars checks down the tread groves, not just my 987, but the Skoda's too.
Slapdash.

 

[BrianJ]

Just an update. The OPC has confirmed that the tyres should not be older than 5 years and has agreed to reimburse me for two new rear tyres. Happy Days!

Excellent. More value from you PCGB membership! Doesn’t improve my opinion of the group that own that particular OPC and dealerships for various other brands though.

 

[stephen.robins]

Excellent. More value from you PCGB membership! Doesn’t improve my opinion of the group that own that particular OPC and dealerships for various other brands though.

Thanks for your help and yes great value from my PCGB membership. The interesting thing is that the technician doing the 111 point health check recorded the age of all four tyres and marked them all as green. He did pick up that the tyre inflation kit was out of date and it was replaced. The front tyres are P Zero N1 with manufacturing dates in 2019 and 2020 so I will have P zero N1 all round.
I'm having the tyres fitted at my local OPC in Newcastle and they have said there is a complimentary vehicle health check so it will be interesting if they flag up any issues not picked up by the original OPC.
I must say that I'm loving my first Porsche and can't wait for warmer weather to really start enjoying the car!

 

[Wollemi]

Excellent. More value from you PCGB membership! Doesn’t improve my opinion of the group that own that particular OPC and dealerships for various other brands though.

Yes indeed, I had any interesting insight into the behaviour of that particular group when one of their dealerships spun and crashed, terminally, my BMW M3 whilst in for service. It was eye opening and I for one won't have anything to do with that group ever again.

 

[BrianJ]

Yes indeed, I had any interesting insight into the behaviour of that particular group when one of their dealerships spun and crashed, terminally, my BMW M3 whilst in for service. It was eye opening and I for one won't have anything to do with that group ever again.

Same here after several consistently dreadful experiences across two of their Porsche and BMW franchises. “Ever” is a long time and businesses can improve; let’s hope so.

 

[911hillclimber]

Incorrect post from me.

 

[stephen.robins]

Well I took the car to Porsche Newcastle (part of JCT600) yesterday for the new tyres and I was very impressed. Not only did they fit the tyres but I was given the opportunity of inspecting the underside of the car and talked through all the maintenance issues on a 981 by a very knowledgeable service advisor. They did the full health check and I'm glad to say confirmed that there were no other issues with the car. They also fitted my private plates and valeted the car inside and out, all for no additional cost. The price was just over the cheapest on Black Circles.

 

[MrDemon]

Pirelli P Zeros lol enough said, you get the blind lovers here of those tyres, but they are shocking bad.

shame you went for " P zero" again !!!

https://www.carlimits.com/

Porsche do zero prep now on cars, SO you have to ppi youeself when buying and point out to OPC's what needs doing. They spend ZERO money on 2nd hand stock unless YOU tell them what needs doing these days.
Even on my 5 month old as new GTS I was close to rejecting the car, but they paid for a detailer and all my meals whe nI was there to close the deal, very bad experence but thats the same with all OPC imo bar Porsche owned ones.

It really is shame on a nice car you have refitted P zero junk.

 

[Wollemi]

The days of P-Zero being junk are long since past. I have a preference for Michelin PS4S but have used current P-Zeros for 1500 miles including terrible weather and they were completely fine.
Objective testing bears that out too, the P-Zero beat the PS4S in the latest EVO tyre test.
To be fair they were testing generic tyres rather than N spec, but still, hardly “junk”.

 

[Scrounger]

^^^ Have to agree. I've had PS4S and currently have PZ4s fitted and I must admit the PZ4s are pretty good even in lower temps. The only thing I find a bit rubbish on the PZ4s on the GTS is the lack of rim protection. If they could sort that then I'd be 100% happy.

Dan.

 

[stephen.robins]

Pirelli P Zeros lol enough said, you get the blind lovers here of those tyres, but they are shocking bad.

shame you went for " P zero" again !!!

https://www.carlimits.com/

Porsche do zero prep now on cars, SO you have to ppi youeself when buying and point out to OPC's what needs doing. They spend ZERO money on 2nd hand stock unless YOU tell them what needs doing these days.
Even on my 5 month old as new GTS I was close to rejecting the car, but they paid for a detailer and all my meals whe nI was there to close the deal, very bad experence but thats the same with all OPC imo bar Porsche owned ones.

It really is shame on a nice car you have refitted P zero junk.

Unfortunately I had no choice of tyre as my understanding of the Porsche warranty rules is that all four tyres have to be the same and they were only replacing the rears. I also understand that the latest Pirelli Zeros have improved over the older tyres.

 

[Peter_Bull]

Unfortunately I had no choice of tyre as my understanding of the Porsche warranty rules is that all four tyres have to be the same and they were only replacing the rears. I also understand that the latest Pirelli Zeros have improved over the older tyres.

I have had P Zeros on my Porsche's over the years and found them perfectly capable tyres. Good grip, hard wearing and long lasting. Of course if you want to do track days on the edge of grip, then they may not be the best tyres.

 

[stephen.robins]

I have had P Zeros on my Porsche's over the years and found them perfectly capable tyres. Good grip, hard wearing and long lasting. Of course if you want to do track days on the edge of grip, then they may not be the best tyres.

Peter,
I don't have experience of P Zeros on a Porsche but have had them on other German performance cars and found them to be quite adequate. I will not be taking my Boxster S on track either.
Thanks for your comments and I love your Targa 4S.
Steve

 

[Motorhead]

Steve,

Since it appears that you have the Porsche Extended Warranty, as per posts elsewhere on the forums just be aware that the rear replacements should have the same N-rating as the fronts to comply with the 111-point check/Warranty T&Cs.

Jeff