Insurance Repair Rip Off - Runflat tyres fiasco

[csimpson1971uk]

We are fortunate enough to own 2 Minis. A R53 Cooper S (02) and a R50 Cooper (54).

Story time........

About 12 months ago 'her indoors' crashed the car. The damage was not too extensive. New suspension, 3 x 17inch alloy wheels and 3 new tyres.

I was driving the car down the motorway one evening 3 weeks ago when I heard a pop from the front of the car. No warning lights came on which was a bit strange. The car started to weave slightly so I slowed down and pulled off at the next junction (1/4 of a mile at most). I parked the car and checked the tyres only to find that the tyre was fully deflated.

The insurance company (sub contractor in this case) had fitted standard tyres instead of the run flats that were on the car. I had no spare, no fixing it so ended up having a very unpleasant evening getting it sorted.

Anyway, we are now in dispute with the insurance company for putting tyres on the vehicle which are not covered by policy and probrably illegal due to having no spare or repair kit.

The insurance company (the lovely company that it is) are admitting that they put the non-runflat tyres on but are claiming that they were like for like replacements. We have always used run-flat tyres (not a fan but always used them) and the 4th tyre that was not replaced by the company was a runflat tyre and is still on the car.

I have since purchased 3 new runflat tyres at considerable cost. There are 3 standard tyres with 4-5K miles sitting in the garden.

I wanted to know if there is a log stored of when the runflat tyres set off the light as this would show that there were runflats on the car at the time of impact.

Has anybody else had similar problems? Our issue is that this a 2nd car that has done very little mileage over the last few years and I don't have any receipt to prove purchases of run flat tyres.

[Clifford clubman]

Mixing run flats and non run flats is very dangerous. Threaten to sue them for mixing the tyres and endangering your life.

[Angib]

That is shameful performance by the repairing garage and you are certainly entitled to a refund of all your costs.

Quote: Originally Posted by csimpson1971uk (original)

...putting tyres on the vehicle which are ...probrably illegal due to having no spare or repair kit.

This idea pops up at regular intervals and it seems worth scotching in case anyone else believes it. There is no such law of any sort about carrying a spare or repair kit.

The only people who care are the motoring organisations like the AA/RAC who used to not cover you for fixing a puncture if you weren't carrying a spare - now that punctures are so much rarer than they ever were, I don't know if they still bother with this.

[mab01uk]

Quote: Originally Posted by csimpson1971uk (original)

I have since purchased 3 new runflat tyres at considerable cost. There are 3 standard tyres with 4-5K miles sitting in the garden.

I wanted to know if there is a log stored of when the runflat tyres set off the light as this would show that there were runflats on the car at the time of impact.

The warning light would come on whatever type of tyre is fitted as it works on monitoring a slight change in diameter of the tyre when it loses air pressure whether runflats are fitted or not.

The 3 standard tyres could be fitted back on one of your Mini's with a fourth added to make up a full set, preferably on the R50 Cooper as a spacesaver spare can easily be fitted to Cooper and Ones. Alternatively they could be sold on ebay perhaps? Some models of Mini are fitted with non-runflats from the factory and there is no reason to think this is unsafe.........if fact Rover originally designed the R50 for normal tyres, runflats were a late option added by BMW which required the warning light system to be added as owners would otherwise possibly not realise they had a flat!

[Cooper S Jon]

Quote: Originally Posted by mab01uk (original)

owners would otherwise possibly not realise they had a flat!

how can you not realise you have a flat..

[mab01uk]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cooper S Jon (original)

how can you not realise you have a flat..

Believe me it can happen as the stiff side walls don't look flat to the untrained eye and despite a little extra road noise and feeling a bit strange on corners there are plenty of drivers who would just carry on without a warning light!

Some car owners even come into garages for MOTs, etc with their brakes grinding metal to metal and then casually mention to the mechanic.....by the way a warning light came on several weeks/months ago!