Tyre advice
Last time my car went in for its MOT, I got caught out needing a new tyre unexpectedly so I just let the garage change it. They fitted something called a Chengshan Sportcat, which sounded suspiciously cheap and nasty. Anyway, this time around I was sure to check my tyres before the MOT, and one of them did need changing so I took it round to my local tyre place. They fitted something called a Westlake, which is also a brand I'd never heard of before, but it cost me twice as much. Now, I've never come across either of these brands before - is a Westlake really worth twice as much as a Sportcat?
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Goodyear Eagles
Bridgestone
Continental
...that sort of thing.
Have a look at blackcircle for purchasing, you order online and can choose to have them fitted at a local garage.
http://www.blackcircles.com/
Eg. on the one below
http://www.national.co.uk/
you can enter your registration number and it will tell you the tyres available and rate them for you as well as give a description.
(On that site your Westlake appears to come out as equal to a Goodyear or Firestone. The Sportcat appears to be what is know as a "value" tyre so maybe best to avoid next time)
Your best bet is look in the owners handbook.
All the tyre sites either don't have any details about my car or worse have the wrong details as mine have different factory fitted wheels then standard. I would suggest looking at the existing tyre but as I have found in the past, there is no guaranty that the person who owned the car before you fitted the correct tyres.
Equal according to who ?
Searching on google, the first hit is to a report that westlake suffered from government recalls in the US
http://www.carsdirect.com/car-repair/4-tire-companies-to-avoid
It is a bit of a minefield but there are plenty of reviews available from reputable sites.
Also modern tyres do come with 'ratings' for wet grip, fuel economy and noise I think but if you look closer there is no standard test so comparing tyres from the same brand is fine but virtually meaningless between brands.
They are both cheap rubbish brands , so unfortunately you were ripped off by the sounds of it. Avon are a good mid-range brand that don't cost to much. No need to buy the very top brands unless you have a high performance car.
I did explain that in my post, perhaps you missed it
(On that site your Westlake appears to come out as equal to a Goodyear or Firestone.
still it was worth posting as more and better advice has been posted now so not a post in vain
Much depends on the car, and how you drive it. If you own a BMW M3 and drive it hard, you need the best tyres on it, which are going to be pricey.
There are some obscure sounding names around, and some are best avoided. Some of the big tyre brands make tyres in other names - they may not be to the same standard as their premier range, but can be fine for the average family car driven in a reasonable way. The longer-standing budget manufacturer's are the best bet.
Most tyres perform reasonably well when cornering on a dry road if speed is not excessive. It’s what happens on a wet road that often causes problems.
One advantage with high performance tyres is that they are usually more predictable in both wet, and dry conditions, and it’s easier to know when they will break away when cornering hard.
A lot of the cheaper tyres will suddenly break away when pushed to their limits, whereas a high performance tyre will progressively lose its grip, which can be felt by the driver.
Putting budget tyres on a high performance vehicle that is going to be driven hard is a huge mistake.
But for the average family saloon that will be driven steadily, budget tyres can be fine.
If you are telephoning round the tyre chains for tyre prices, and you hear a name you've never heard of before, ask them how long they've been selling the tyre for, and if it's over two years, chances are it will be a safe buy. But make sure you match the tyre to the car, and if you drive it hard, don't try to save money on the tyres. Always check whether the price given includes valves and balancing.
The quality of the service at tyre depots often depends on how good the manager is - as with most large companies, some branches are better on customer care than others.
And are made in England. That's good enough for me.
This is sound advice, OP. Buy the tyres which are right for you and the way you drive. I drive a small car, 5 mile commute each way every day in sun or rain, never over 30. If it's snowy or icy (very rare), I'd normally get the train instead. Some longer trips. I'm simply not in the league of needing premium tyres, though I did in the end get a good deal on a pair of Dunlops.
Don't be spooked into buying super expensive tyres if you're the same.
Much depends on the type of vehicle the tyres are going on but one point which should never be ignored is whatever brand gets fitted, it must meet the vehicle manufacturers speed rating.
The reason i mention that is because if your vehicle is involved in a serious accident, everything will be closely examined, not only by the Police but more importantly an Insurance Assessor. If just one tyre is found to have the incorrect speed rating, your insurance company could void your policy and worse still, you could find yourself in deep financial mire.
When new my car came with Continentals fitted on it, I kept to them until the guy I went to didn't have any and recommended Falkens. Best tyres I ever had! Really grippy and not noisy.
However it did help that my brother used to order the tyres for me and I got them at cost as he worked for a car dealers at the time and they got all their tyres from this little place in Bishops Stortford!
http://www.mytyres.co.uk/Westlake_tyres.html
Should tell you whether the first tyre was very cheap, or whether you got stung on the Westlake. They don't look to be anything special.
If it turns out that you've really been taken for a ride (no pun intended), you could ring the head office of the firm you dealt with and double-check the price based on the size and type of tyre you were sold. Perhaps it was a mistake, or maybe someone is on the fiddle. Most of the nationals provide a printed sheet giving full details of the sale, including any extras, did you get that?
Illegal is one thing, this was lethal.
Funnily enough, my car failed it's MOT today because the Sportcat had a bulge caused by failure or separation. Luckily the place had a good range of tyres at good prices, so I wasn't caught out having to buy a "value" tyre just to get it through the MOT.
I'm not reading Finglonga's post above.