Automotive

Fake tires

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Jr. Member
Dec 10, 2012
130 posts
14 upvotes
Ontario

Fake tires

Hi

I had 4 tires that were used only for few months old. When I sold my car, I had them removed. Which was in May-2015. However, the tires didn't match the car I later bought. I gave them to my cousin.

She end up going to a tire store very close to her house. They sell, used tires for $30 and up. She was pressured into buying 4 new tires and told that my tires are in very bad shape. They told her that they will get rid of them for free. She was told that she is getting the deal. One of the guy even told her "dont even tell god that you got them for this price." Which I thought pretty funny.

This was 3 days ago, when I found out this morning. I went to that store myself asking back my tires and said that they got rid of them. I showed them the receipt and only recently I got them from Canadian-tires, also the cost wheel alignment done.

After me pretending to call the cops and going to court. They started talking in Afgani, I believe. The tires reappeared from no where.

We still got a problem, the tires they put on my cousin car is called "continental" and I believe they are counterfeit from China. They only charged her $400 including installation and balancing for 4 brand new tires. Identical, brand new sets of continental tires are sold in Kijiji for $300.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-tires-rims/markh ... nFlag=true

I guess my question is, is there anyways to confirm that they are fake all season tires?
if that is the case, its going to be a safety issue, so what can we do?

Please share your input.

Thanks
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21 replies
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Mar 20, 2009
8862 posts
2693 upvotes
Vancouver
I haven't heard of any counterfeit brand-name car tires in Canada, although Chinese companies have been accused of stealing tread patterns and tire molds in the past.

Continental is a German brand, and their tires are often supplied as original equipment on German cars imported to Canada. It's common for new car buyers here to have them removed and put on their preferred tires instead, which can result in cheap resale values for the Continentals. I had a set of Continentals all-seasons as the original tires on my BMW, and they were terrible - noisy, hard-riding, poor grip in rain and snow. I replaced them with a set of Korean-made Kumho tires which were way better, so you certainly can't judge tires by their country of origin.
Deal Expert
Mar 25, 2005
22705 posts
3696 upvotes
sadiya wrote: Hi

I had 4 tires that were used only for few months old. When I sold my car, I had them removed. Which was in May-2015. However, the tires didn't match the car I later bought. I gave them to my cousin.

She end up going to a tire store very close to her house. They sell, used tires for $30 and up. She was pressured into buying 4 new tires and told that my tires are in very bad shape. They told her that they will get rid of them for free. She was told that she is getting the deal. One of the guy even told her "dont even tell god that you got them for this price." Which I thought pretty funny.

This was 3 days ago, when I found out this morning. I went to that store myself asking back my tires and said that they got rid of them. I showed them the receipt and only recently I got them from Canadian-tires, also the cost wheel alignment done.

After me pretending to call the cops and going to court. They started talking in Afgani, I believe. The tires reappeared from no where.

We still got a problem, the tires they put on my cousin car is called "continental" and I believe they are counterfeit from China. They only charged her $400 including installation and balancing for 4 brand new tires. Identical, brand new sets of continental tires are sold in Kijiji for $300.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-tires-rims/markh ... nFlag=true

I guess my question is, is there anyways to confirm that they are fake all season tires?
if that is the case, its going to be a safety issue, so what can we do?

Please share your input.

Thanks
Why do you believe they are fake? There is nothing in the post to indicate.
Newbie
Aug 11, 2012
89 posts
14 upvotes
Toronto
Can't believe how dishonest people would be... Whats the name of that tire shop? so people would know they cant be trusted and avoid going there
Deal Fanatic
Jun 26, 2009
5427 posts
5283 upvotes
GTA
400 bucks for 4 tires installed doesn't look like a bad price. Don't judge anything based on Kijiji prices. As for used tires, you always have option to keep them or pay disposal fee. Continental is a good brand, move on. Next time go to the shop with your relative to avoid all the trouble.
Sr. Member
User avatar
Dec 16, 2009
588 posts
172 upvotes
Durham
Probably not fake but 'take-offs' as a previous poster suggested.

Many well known manufacturers have plants in China now.

I bought a set of Pirellis from Costco a couple of years back.
Although they are likely as good as the tires that the factory that produced them previously, Pirelli had the font so small on the 'made in China' stamp that you needed a magnifying glass to read it.
Deal Addict
Aug 17, 2008
1727 posts
1547 upvotes
tedrowse wrote: Probably not fake but 'take-offs' as a previous poster suggested.

Many well known manufacturers have plants in China now.

I bought a set of Pirellis from Costco a couple of years back.
Although they are likely as good as the tires that the factory that produced them previously, Pirelli had the font so small on the 'made in China' stamp that you needed a magnifying glass to read it.
I've never heard the tearm "TAKE OFFs" before. From your post, I would guess it means the real thing but made by the manufacturer in China instead of where they were originally made?

To me that would be fine. if the tire is the real thing, made by the manufacturer, but from a factory in China, that's fine, as I have the manufacturer standing behind the quality.
But if it means a counterfeit tire, made with the same tread pattern, by an unauthortized factory, then I would not want the tire.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Sep 21, 2012
5065 posts
586 upvotes
Mississauga
400$ is a good price. I paid about 500$ for some off brand tires, and that was after searching 4-5 stores for the cheapest possible set.

Thw only way you'll get a better price is if the Canadian dollar was doing better and you didn't mind going to the states to have them installed.

Alot of people over rate their tires, especially on kijiji. In my experience, 40% thread tires are 'good' by kijiji standards even though they likely won't pass safety.
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Deal Fanatic
May 4, 2014
5217 posts
7141 upvotes
Toronto, ON
multimut wrote: I've never heard the tearm "TAKE OFFs" before. From your post, I would guess it means the real thing but made by the manufacturer in China instead of where they were originally made?

To me that would be fine. if the tire is the real thing, made by the manufacturer, but from a factory in China, that's fine, as I have the manufacturer standing behind the quality.
But if it means a counterfeit tire, made with the same tread pattern, by an unauthortized factory, then I would not want the tire.
TAKE OFFs means OEM tires on new vehicles that were swapped out for better rubbers shortly after. So still plenty of tread life on them or even near new condition.
Deal Fanatic
May 4, 2014
5217 posts
7141 upvotes
Toronto, ON
sadiya wrote: Hi

I had 4 tires that were used only for few months old. When I sold my car, I had them removed. Which was in May-2015. However, the tires didn't match the car I later bought. I gave them to my cousin.

She end up going to a tire store very close to her house. They sell, used tires for $30 and up. She was pressured into buying 4 new tires and told that my tires are in very bad shape. They told her that they will get rid of them for free. She was told that she is getting the deal. One of the guy even told her "dont even tell god that you got them for this price." Which I thought pretty funny.

This was 3 days ago, when I found out this morning. I went to that store myself asking back my tires and said that they got rid of them. I showed them the receipt and only recently I got them from Canadian-tires, also the cost wheel alignment done.

After me pretending to call the cops and going to court. They started talking in Afgani, I believe. The tires reappeared from no where.

We still got a problem, the tires they put on my cousin car is called "continental" and I believe they are counterfeit from China. They only charged her $400 including installation and balancing for 4 brand new tires. Identical, brand new sets of continental tires are sold in Kijiji for $300.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-tires-rims/markh ... nFlag=true

I guess my question is, is there anyways to confirm that they are fake all season tires?
if that is the case, its going to be a safety issue, so what can we do?

Please share your input.

Thanks
OP, sounds like you know nothing if you think "Continental" is some counterfeit from China.

You have shown us nothing to prove otherwise that your original 4 tires were not in "very bad" condition that the shop claimed and required replacement. "Used for few months" means nothing. You could be a cab driver and your tires might be completely bald within several months. Or your car might have bad alignment and completely shred the tires well before the nominal tread life.

I just don't see how you came to the conclusion that this shop was scamming you.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Aug 29, 2011
5259 posts
3660 upvotes
Westmount (Montreal)
Picture of your tires and their new continental tires.

Otherwise we can't do anything
Deal Addict
Apr 26, 2003
2761 posts
1830 upvotes
GTA
The ad posts that they were take-offs:

BRAND NEW
ALL SEASON TIRES - SET OF 4
REMOVED FROM BRAND NEW VEHICLES

They are on the older side being made in 2013 (the picture with the 4813) which shows the manufacture date.
Deal Addict
Dec 30, 2007
1005 posts
191 upvotes
Ottawa, ON
exrcoupe wrote: The ad posts that they were take-offs:

BRAND NEW
ALL SEASON TIRES - SET OF 4
REMOVED FROM BRAND NEW VEHICLES

They are on the older side being made in 2013 (the picture with the 4813) which shows the manufacture date.
So that is the date they were made. Installed on a new vehicle that would likely have been built after the date which the tires were made. The car is then shipped to a dealer where it could sit on a lot for days, weeks, or months before being sold to the owner. The owner then swapped the tires either at the place where your sister purchased them, or at another tire shop who then sold them to the place where your sister purchased them. The tires would then sit on a shelf until they too were sold.

Go to any tire place, you would likely be hard pressed to find tires in stock that were manufactured in the past couple of months.

Does 2 years appear long and not "new"? Yes, but is it logical? Yes.
Member
Jan 22, 2008
474 posts
27 upvotes
I Googled that guys phone number a couple of years ago when shopping for used tires on kijiiji and found a few negative posts on various boards. Apparently he is a known dealer of questionable ethics - although that doesn't mean all his merchandise is bad (as evidenced from the way he scammed your relative out of her almost new tires with intention of re-selling them for $300-$400...)

Virtually every major tire company has operations in countries with cheap operating costs. In some cases they're good plants that make certain models & sizes for the global market. In other cases they are used to make tires only for the local market and/or those specifically designated for discount clubs or outlet stores - almost certainly with other cost-saving measures like fewer QA processes and a faster running line. Brand name tires sold at Costco are almost always from one of these plants.

I doubt they're fake. The average Canadian consumer simply doesn't know or care enough about tire brands to make it worthwhile for anyone to produce and smuggle in counterfeit brand name tires and take all the risks associated with that. And if they did they'd probably carry the bluff all the way and try to sell them for top dollar, not at price point where they could just as easily sell off brand tires without doing anything wrong.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Apr 15, 2011
5834 posts
1219 upvotes
aGincourt
Why women should never take their cars to the mechanic without their husbands / brother / boyfriend unless they're car savvy

Took the biggest ****box to get an e test, leaking engine oil, bald tires, obvious bad alignment, cracked control arm bushings, warped rotors; didn't even bother trying to upsell me on wiper blades
Sister took her car to get an oil change; charged her for rotating tires and doing a multipoint inspection
Deal Addict
Dec 15, 2013
1218 posts
601 upvotes
North of Toronto
Ten Count wrote: I Googled that guys phone number a couple of years ago when shopping for used tires on kijiiji and found a few negative posts on various boards. Apparently he is a known dealer of questionable ethics - although that doesn't mean all his merchandise is bad (as evidenced from the way he scammed your relative out of her almost new tires with intention of re-selling them for $300-$400...)

Virtually every major tire company has operations in countries with cheap operating costs. In some cases they're good plants that make certain models & sizes for the global market. In other cases they are used to make tires only for the local market and/or those specifically designated for discount clubs or outlet stores - almost certainly with other cost-saving measures like fewer QA processes and a faster running line. Brand name tires sold at Costco are almost always from one of these plants.

I doubt they're fake. The average Canadian consumer simply doesn't know or care enough about tire brands to make it worthwhile for anyone to produce and smuggle in counterfeit brand name tires and take all the risks associated with that. And if they did they'd probably carry the bluff all the way and try to sell them for top dollar, not at price point where they could just as easily sell off brand tires without doing anything wrong.
Why do you say the tires from Costco are from those plants? I always buy my tires from Costco and never had a problem with quality and none of them were made in China. Even my old X-Radials (Costco exclusive) and Defender XT (Costco exclusive) were not made in China. I never really cared where they were made in the past but after driving on Continentals made from China..... ugh.

I had Continentals on my car at one point and my brothers car. They were the worst tires I have ever driven on. I wouldn't spend $250 on a set of four installed. Only reason I had them was because the car came with them.
Member
Jan 22, 2008
474 posts
27 upvotes
GhostBusters wrote: Why do you say the tires from Costco are from those plants? I always buy my tires from Costco and never had a problem with quality and none of them were made in China. Even my old X-Radials (Costco exclusive) and Defender XT (Costco exclusive) were not made in China. I never really cared where they were made in the past but after driving on Continentals made from China..... ugh.
I'll take your word for it, since I'm not a Costco member or customer myself. However everyone who's shown me their Michelins or BF Goodrich's from Costco had ones from China. That's not to say they ALL are - I should not have implied that in the post - again it can also be specific to certain applications or sizes.

But generally speaking there is a lot of stuff that's made specifically for price clubs & outlets from a second-line factory. Same thing with the Laptops & Tablets you find on special at unusual places like Loblaws or Shoppers, they usually have a different UPC code from the same device bought at a major electronics store and sometimes have an extra number or letter extension to the model number indicating a discount series.

Of course the mere fact that an item is made in China means nothing. It;s really all up to the parent company. If they decide to spend the money to make it to a high standard, then the product will be so. It's just that moving a line to a plant in an emerging or developing country often goes hand in hand with additional cost-cutting measures. Glad to hear it was not the case with your tires. Defect rates for ALL tires are really pretty low, but it sucks to be the random victim of one.

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