Are secondhand cars are being sold with ‘potentially dangerous’ tyres?

A new investigation of secondhand car sales has found that around one in six vehicles (16%) being offered for sale in the UK have ‘potentially dangerous’ tyres that may not last until their next MOT.

It also found around 8% are being sold with tyres that would actually receive a ‘warning’ for their condition during an MOT. And many are being sold at or below the legal limit of 1.6mm – including from dealerships. 

The research – commissioned by Halfords and carried out in conjunction with Professor Peter Wells, Director of the Centre for Automotive Research at Cardiff University – investigated almost 500 cars being sold in over 100 locations across the UK. 

The findings – being released during Tyre Safety Month – found that around one in six vehicles (16%) were being sold with 3.6mm of tyre tread or less.

Ros spoke to motoring journalist & author Maria McCarthy.

Photo by Olav Tvedt on Unsplash