AT Tyres

For those of you that have fitted 215 / 75 /15 tyres to your new Jimny's Have you considered warrenty or insurance issues with fitting them. I spoke to a large retailer this morning regading purchasing a set of 215 / 75 /15's and he was very reluctant to sell them due to the problems that could occur if a warrenty or insurance claim was made after an accident  ? Were these sized tyres offered by dealers as an option ?

The dealer I purchased the car from has just said that 215 / 75 / 15 would invalidate the warranty !

Gilling Red wrote: The dealer I purchased the car from has just said that 215 / 75 / 15 would invalidate the warranty !

If you are in the UK that would be a lie or plain wrong. They would need to prove the tyres caused any failure to legally refuse it. Plus it would not be able to wipe out the entire warranty, e.g. if the stereo went wrong. What would tyres have to do with that?

Gilling Red wrote: For those of you that have fitted 215 / 75 /15 tyres to your new Jimny's Have you considered warrenty or insurance issues with fitting them. I spoke to a large retailer this morning regading purchasing a set of 215 / 75 /15's and he was very reluctant to sell them due to the problems that could occur if a warrenty or insurance claim was made after an accident  ? Were these sized tyres offered by dealers as an option ?

Insurance is down to the owner/driver. You would need to declare any/all mods to your insurance. This has nothing to do with warranty. And frankly, also has nothing to do with the tyre seller. Which there are plenty of, just go else where, no point giving them any business.

As for warranty, I believe the onus would be on the dealership/Suzuki UK to prove that any changes you made caused any failure that you would be making a warranty claim for.

Tyres themselves are not really covered under warranty as a consumable unless defective. So changing them out would make no odds here. I think you could also argue that the size difference is also negligible in this instance. And there is nothing in the warranty that likely specifies the make/tread tyres you must run.

I do understand why the large retailer refused to fit. They have a legal requirement to fit a tyre of the correct specifications for the vehicle, and the safe option is the size and rating in the manufacturers specifications. They can do it, but they need to prove they advised the customer of the correct options etc, and this involves paperwork and time. All this incase the customer post accident goes down the "they didn't tell me" route in the sue and blame game.
As already said, your only option is to go elsewhere.
 

If that was a genuine concern surely all they would need to do is to write "non standard tyre size fitted at customers request" or words to that effect on the paperwork? It wouldn't be the first time a major tyre chain has come up with this sort of nonsense. It's a shame they don't pay the same attention to wheel nut torque and tyre pressures.

I'm also sure that I have heard somewhere (possibly Australian Jimny owners on youtube?) that Suzuki have a maximum suggested tyre size, accepting that some people will want to fit taller tyres. That might be a market specific thing rather than an official line from Suzuki though. I believe Landrover have done the same with the new Defender, with "clearance for XX size tyres" included in the specifications.

It is a genuine concern for large retailes, they are targets for scammers and blame game con artist. They need to record that the requirement was assessed by a trained colleague, get the customer to sign that they got offered the correct advice, that's assuming they want to take the risk or the time to do it.
Another risk factor is negative social media, ie " tyres are us fitted the wrong type, they should have known better", iirrespective if the customer requested them or not.
You should see the forms to sell a child seat at Halfords, just in case they have an accident.

 

See reply from Suzuki UK. The main dealer that I purchased the car from was obviously trying to cover himself.

Thank you for your recent email to Suzuki Customer Services.
I have consulted our Technical and Warranty Departments here at Suzuki GB regarding your query; Our recommendation would be to fit the original spec/size. However, should you choose to fit a different size tyre then warranty would only become invalid if there was an issue that was as a result of the different size tyre being fitted.

I do hope that this offers some clarity to our position on the matter however in the meantime please do not hesitate to contact us again should you require anything further in the future on 08085 011959, option 3

I let my insurer know after getting 215/75/15s fitted, they weren't interested. No increase in premium.

Car has been serviced twice by two different main dealers and no mention of the fact I'm running non-standard tyres.