Michael McAleer answers your queries
From M Kelly:
In an unusual move I recently bought a car with low profile tyres. In another unusual move a little later, I ploughed through a large invisible pothole at Busárus on a very wet night. Next morning I had a flat on the front right-hand side.
I asked my wife to sort it since I was needed elsewhere to keep the economy turning over. She brought the wheel to a tyre shop in her car and had it back for me in the evening.
Since then, steering seems different, an occasional pull to the right. I've since examined my tyres - I have a Pirelli on the right front side and a Uniroyal on the left front side, while at the back are two Continentals and a Dunlop spare. If this were a six-wheel car, I'd probably have a Michelin and a Semperit as well.
My questions: Should I worry? Am I breaking the law?
First, you are not breaking any law. However, there will be handling issues if you run different tyres on the front wheels.
The best advice on brands of tyres comes from Terry Lennon, managing director of Advance Pitstop. He strongly recommends the same brand of tyres on all wheels. If you are to compromise at all, and we would warn against it, he suggests that at the very least you keep the two front tyres on the same brand. Likewise, keep the two back tyres the same brand.
Go back to the dealer who sold you the car and ask if they can tell you what tyres were on the car when you bought it. If they confirm that the two front tyres were the same brand, then the switch seems to have taken place at the tyre shop.
From Brendan Smyth:
Is it worth getting a tracker system for my car? We've had several break-ins over the past few months in our area.
Definitely. As they get cheaper, it's strongly recommended that anyone with a car worh over €50,000 should have one fitted. If car thieves think a tracker is fitted to a car they have taken, they are inclined to park it for a day and wait to see if someone collects it before going any further. If it is retrieved they simply move on to another car.
As was highlighted some weeks ago by Patrick Logue in MOTORS, car thieves are increasingly turning to house burglaries to get the keys. Trackers mean that, even if they go to such lengths, the car can at least be retrieved. It's one more tool in the armoury against the criminals.
Send your queries to
Motors Help Desk, The Irish Times, Fleet Street, Dublin 2 - or e-mail them to motorshelp@irish-times.ie