tempe tyres any good?

[raybow13]

My advice is talk to Australia's best tyres in Sydney, got Pirelli Pzero 225/40ZR18 92Y for $220 per corner and they were manufactured in December 2012.

And who exactly can supply australias best tyres?..

[Hail22]

And who exactly can supply australias best tyres?..

Uhhh Do I sense a troll?

[brad]

And who exactly can supply australias best tyres?..

Probably somebody over Lakemba way

[Hail22]

Probably somebody over Lakemba way

St George tyres, Taleb, Tempe and Australia's best seem to be supplied by the same organisation...as their prices are all too similar.

[brad]

Not sure about now but St.G, Taleb & Tempe were all from the same family but run as separate businesses about 5 years back

[BottomScratcher]

There's a couple of recommendations for Goodspanner at Brookvale on this thread. Here's my experience of them.

The front counter guys are friendly and professional. I rang and asked for a price on Michellin PS3's for my RS Octy wagon. I was quoted $380 a corner. I explained that I live nearby to Tempe, and that the same tyres there are $300 a corner fitted, and balanced. I said that I'd prefer to deal with someone who I think is a better prospect of not flattening my sill seams or scratching/chipping the rims while removing/refitting and balancing, and who has a generally higher standard of workmanship, but at an extra $320 I'd keep shopping around. I left my number saying that if they could do any better on the price to call me. A couple of hours later I got a price that I could live with, $340 each. I was prepared to pay more for good service.

Getting the tyres fitted was straight forward. I turned up. My car went into the shop. My car came out of the shop with new tyres on it. I checked that the right tyres had been fitted, and checked the rims for any marks. I noticed that the tyres were coated with a white substance, which I assumed to be the soap/lubricant used to help get the beads over the rims. It should've been cleaned off, but I was keen to get going on the close enough to one hour return trip so didn't bother to say anything as I needed to wash the car anyhow. I thought at the time that it was odd that the reception guy, who must've seen it (it was all over the outside walls of all 4), didn't even mention it, let alone have someone come out to clean it off.

I set off from Brookvale, and on the 80kph stretch up to Sydney Rd I thought I'd made a huge mistake. The ride was rock hard, and noisy. I was not impressed. I kept judging the tyres as road surfaces changed, but no matter the surface they were rubbish, and now I'm feeling a little despondent. As I'm coming over the Anzac Bridge the tyre monitor alarm beeps. "F****** terrific! Brand new tyres and one of them is going down on the Anzac Bridge".

But no. I pulled over as soon as I safely could, and all of the tyres are looking normal, so I get my tyre gauge out of the glovebox. First tyre is 46psi, second 44 psi, and so on. The monitor alarm is meant to go off when a tyre pressure differential is created by a tyre losing pressure. My alarm had gone off after the tyres warmed up and created a positive pressure differential. The fitters usually put in whatever pressure is needed to seat the beads onto the rims, but they obviously hadn't reset the pressures before they let the car from the shop. Not so surprisingly the ride became very comfortable, and the noise dropped considerably. I was now feeling happier about my new tyres, but a little less happy about where I bought them from.

A day later I wash the car, and discover that the adhesive rubber backing from the old balance weights is still on all four rims. It looks crap. I get in there with a cloth and some metho, and get it off, but it would've been much easier, and much more professional, to do it in the shop when the wheels were off, and regardless of who was supposed to do it, it should've been done before rebalancing not after.

So, neither the car or its wheels were damaged, but the level of workmanship was I think fair to say pretty average if not poor. More so given that I had explained why I was prepared to pay an extra $160 for the same product, and do a two hour return trip to do it. Would I use them again based on my experience? In a word, no. The front desk guys talk a good game, but the workshop side of things sees just another among a plethora of Sydney tyre shops. Nothing special. It's too early to say what I'll do next time around, but I suspect it'd be something like buy the tyres from Tempe or TireRack, and have them fitted at Spinning Wheels, where I get my alignment done.

As a footnote, I've done 3K on the PS3's now, including a return Melbourne trip, and find them a softer ride than the Conti Sport Contact 2's that were on the car when I bought it new. Bumps seem to be absorbed more readily than with the Contis, but without loss of feedback through the steering wheel. Having had nothing to compare to I had put the firm ride solely down to the suspension, but the PS3's transmit far less of the effects of bumps than the Contis ever did. I realise that Conti's are up to Sport Contact 5's now, but I suppose my point is that I'm quite happy with the PS3's, and consider them well up to my needs. Time will tell how they wear. I think they're a little quieter as well, but not so much to as get excited about it.

[brad]

Why not buy the tyres from Spinning Wheel? They can usually get somewhere near the money.

Also, give Don Cornell's on Stoney Creek Rd Bexley a call. They've been pretty good in the past (assuming it's still owned by Don & the Gay Harley riding shop manager is still there)

[BottomScratcher]

Why not buy the tyres from Spinning Wheel? They can usually get somewhere near the money.

Also, give Don Cornell's on Stoney Creek Rd Bexley a call. They've been pretty good in the past (assuming it's still owned by Don & the Gay Harley riding shop manager is still there)

Fair point Brad. I had asked for a quote from Spinning Wheels when I was there last November. The PS3's were, I think, $385. I didn't bother to haggle at the time as I wasn't ready for them then, and didn't want to annoy them and waste either their time or mine. In hindsight, I should've got a negotiated price from SW, who I know to be good operators, before going with Goodspanner. And you're right, my first instinct to next time buy cheap tyres and take them elsewhere to be fitted might save a few bucks, but if I could get quality work done under one roof at a competitive price then that's the way I'd prefer to go.

I forgot about Cornell's. I very rarely use the end of Stoney Creek Road between Kingsgrove Road and Forrest Road. Thanks for the tip. I'll put them on the list for next time.

[brad]

Suggest you don't tell the shop manager at Cornells your forum handle

[BottomScratcher]

Suggest you don't tell the shop manager at Cornells your forum handle

And on that note, I'm putting the brakes on where this converstion is going as of now.

[BottomScratcher]

brad, You might be able to enlighten me. I remember when Matthew's at Campsie were a big deal. They're still going of course, but is it right that the business was sold and the new owner's continued to trade as Matthew's, and the original owner of Matthew's was the starter of Australia's Best (now Versace Australia's Best) up on Canterbury Road, Roselands? I seem to recall that there was some sort of feud over the use of "Matthew's".

[brad]

brad, You might be able to enlighten me. I remember when Matthew's at Campsie were a big deal. They're still going of course, but is it right that the business was sold and the new owner's continued to trade as Matthew's, and the original owner of Matthew's was the starter of Australia's Best (now Versace Australia's Best) up on Canterbury Road, Roselands? I seem to recall that there was some sort of feud over the use of "Matthew's".

Matthews was sold (and emulated - my boss at Wheels Rockdale was manager at Matthews for a few years). Australia's best was opened by the guy that was sales rep for Eagle Tyre Equipment (or similar) IIRC but who knows what silent partners he had.

It wouldn't surprise me if the ex-owner of Matthew's TS went & started again once his non-compete period was up (my wife's cousin does this with great regularity in the cheese cake making trade).

If the ex-owner of Matthew's was actually named Matthew then there is nothing anyone can do about. The trade practices act says you can name a business after the owner even if there are multiple businesses of that name. If the new entity decided to paint their building green (like Campsie) or emulate other "trademarks" of the business then that's a different story.

[BottomScratcher]

brad, I know how frustrating it is when someone asks you something, you tell them, and the first words out of their mouth is, "That can't be right". So with that disclaimer out of the way, and no reason whatsoever to doubt your recollection of events, I was talking to a couple of older mates last night at the local, and here's their story re Mathew's/Versace.

They both reckon Mathew's had both the Campsie location, and the Roselands shop that is now Versace before selling the one at Campsie. They said when the Campsie Mathew's Tyre Service shop was sold the Roselands business continued to trade as Mathew's Tyres, and that is partly what the row was over. The Roseland's shop claimed that Campsie should change it's name, but the Campsie shop said Roselands was trading in breach of the non-competion clauses of the sale agreement in that not only was there an issue over the name, but the Roselands shop was also too close to Campsie to be trading as tyre retailer withing the specified period stated in the sale contract. They had no idea how Roselands got around the zoning clause, but they said they took some of the heat off by changing the name to Australia's Best.

As I struggled to remember if Versace/Australia's Best was ever Mathew's the Newcastle Knights cheerleaders started doing their stuff on the TV, and all conversation related to tyre shops ceased forthwith.

[brad]

Mate, sounds like your sources know more about it than me. I'm happy to concede to their knowledge. It *was* ~25 years back wasn't it?

Most likely the rep from Eagle was big-noting himself & was going to be the manager & didn't actually have any skin in the game.

We are talking about the same place aren't we? Cnr Canterbury & Canaris rds?

[BottomScratcher]

Mate, sounds like your sources know more about it than me. I'm happy to concede to their knowledge. It *was* ~25 years back wasn't it?

Most likely the rep from Eagle was big-noting himself & was going to be the manager & didn't actually have any skin in the game.

We are talking about the same place aren't we? Cnr Canterbury & Canaris rds?

25 years? Easily. And yes, we're talking about the same place.

Funny you mention "knowledge". Our spot in the bar is known as The Table of Knowledge. If you want to know anything about anything just ask us we'll be happy to give you at least four different answers to the same question.