Tyres and batteries

Tyres and batteries are the two things people make a separate trip for. If your car is already booked in for a service, an eSafety check or a repair, it’s already here and often already up on the hoist. Mention it when you ring, we’ll tell you where things are up to while it’s here, and you get a price before we order anything.

Signs your tyres or battery need looking at

• The engine cranks slower than it used to, especially first thing on a cold morning.
• Headlights dim at idle, or the stop-start has given up.
• The tread is down near the wear indicator bars moulded into the grooves.
• A tyre is wearing on one edge, or there’s cupping across the face of the tread.
• Cracks in the sidewall, a bulge, or a tyre that keeps losing pressure.
• The car takes longer to pull up in the wet, or feels light over standing water.

What a tyre or battery job involves

A battery on its way out gives you a few weeks of lazy starting before it strands you somewhere inconvenient. Testing one means checking its voltage and how well it holds up under load, then checking whether the charging system is putting current back in while the engine runs. A flat battery and a failed alternator feel identical from the driver’s seat, so the charging side gets tested before a new battery goes in. Our auto electrical page goes into that side of it.

For tyres, the size and the load and speed ratings are read off the sidewall so the replacements match what the car was built for. Tread depth gets measured, and the whole tyre gets looked over for uneven wear, cracking or damage you can’t see from the kerb. New tyres are balanced as they go on.

Uneven wear is worth sorting out before you buy rubber. A tyre going off on one edge usually points at the alignment or a worn suspension component, and a fresh set fitted to the same car will wear out the same way. That’s why a wheel alignment is normally part of the conversation.

Tyres and your pink slip

Tyres are one of the items checked in an eSafety inspection, and worn or damaged ones will fail it. If your rego is coming up, have them looked at in the same visit as the pink slip, while the car is here anyway. A battery or a set of tyres usually doesn’t mean a second trip.

What to tell us when you book

Tell us what the car is doing and what’s on it now. For a battery, how long it’s been in, whether it’s been jump-started lately, and how it behaves after the car has sat for a few days. For tyres, read the size off the sidewall if you can, or leave it to us when you get here. If anything feels odd through the wheel, say so while you’re on the phone.

Questions about tyres and batteries

How long does a car battery last?

It varies with the car, the weather and the way it’s driven. Short trips are hard on a battery, because the charging system never runs long enough to put back what starting took out. Slow cranking is normally the first warning you get.

When do tyres need replacing?

At the wear indicator bars moulded into the tread grooves, or sooner if there’s damage, cracking or uneven wear. Age counts too, because the rubber hardens over the years even on a tyre with plenty of tread left on it.

Do new tyres need balancing?

Yes. Every wheel and tyre has a heavy spot, and balancing evens it out with small weights. Skip it and you get a vibration through the wheel or the seat that grows as the speed climbs. There’s more on our wheel alignment and balancing page.

Do you fit tyres and batteries to any car?

All makes and models. Tell us what you’re driving when you ring and we’ll sort out what suits it.