lol I was thinking that too, but with those tyres, the repair cost could be alot more ;)
Why? Nowt wrong with many cheap tyres, in fact the cheapo's I've just put on my Transit have a better spec than Michelins at 3 times the price in terms of fuel consumption, wet grip and noise ratings. They may not last as long but if I get 50% of the life of a big brand tyre I'm still winning.:)
 
Why? Nowt wrong with many cheap tyres, in fact the cheapo's I've just put on my Transit have a better spec than Michelins at 3 times the price in terms of fuel consumption, wet grip and noise ratings. They may not last as long but if I get 50% of the life of a big brand tyre I'm still winning.:)

haha of course they do.....
 
..... it would be heartening to think that once something is fixed, it stays fixed for a reasonable time/mileage.
Most of the time the original fault will remain fixed aslong as due diligence is taken and not only do you fix the symptom but also the cause... i.e. a classic example is a knackered compressor, why just fix/replace the compressor if you have a leak?? Fix the leak that caused the compressor to fail!

Year 2 I am hoping for no surprises, but Iam thinking of Suspension bushes and PCV valve/hoses....with luck the more common items like rad, fuel pump and water pump have been dealt with for a while atleast:)

Can I just ask one thing that shocked me more than all of that money you have spent.....why did you put **** cheap as chips tyres on a nice (heavy) motor like the L322?
See Datateks reply below - spot on! :D
Cos his wallet is empty with the cost of repairs:)

lol I was thinking that too, but with those tyres, the repair cost could be alot more ;)
Because I don't tear around like a loon, I drive like my grandma and to the road conditions prevalent at the time, I have no cause for concern.

Take today for instance, it has been teeming down all day and the roads are wet and greasy, yet not once, not even in the hard breakng I had to do cos some idiot pulled out on me, did the vehicle feel unsafe/unsteady/nervous or twitchy.

Cheap rubber only catches out those who are not so 'adept' in driving skill or road reading.

In the mean time, cheap rubber will suffice and is more than capable and suited to my driving skill and style!
 
Cheap rubber only catches out those who are not so 'adept' in driving skill or road reading.

hahaha i like that :D they should use that in the advertising ;)
 
Iv never had problems with budget tyres
Use Nexens on my L322 and there great !

Can't justify spending £300 a tyre !!
 
Hmm my list in 2 years

5 cooper ltz AT tyres £1000 - garage
Discs and pads £300 - I provided materials and did the fronts, garage did rear
Water pump £240 twice as one was faulty, but replace foc - garge
Radiator £300 - garage
Thermostat £150 I think - garage
Pcv valve £120 - me
Side steps £43 - me
Heated seat fix £100 I didn't need to spend as it was just a dodgy connector - me
LPG service £150 - garage
Service £250 - garage
Steering rack £920 - garage
Wheel bearing £186 - garage
Front air strut £280 - me
Battery £120 - me
Gearbox oil and filter £180sh I think - me thanks to saints write up
Rear wiper non return valve £3 - me
LR Bluetooth phone integration (my addition) £100 using 2nd hand bits - me
20k miles since we bought it
And had a new gearbox just before we bought it

£4442 servicing and roughly £3600 a year in fuel
 
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So a L322 costs twice as much to run as a P38. OUCH! But then I suspect once parts start to drop in value it'll bring down the costs of the L322. Give it about 3-4 years of L405 and spares for the L322 will be cheap as chips.
 
Some of the prices iv listed are items fitted at a garage and include labour, and some I have fitted myself, I have listed what it's cost me :)
 
Whilst it does depend on the tyre, I respectfully disagree with those who say budget tyres are as good as tyres from conventional brands, plus saying you can 'read the road' better is, again respectfully, jive. :) If your tyres don't allow you the confidence to jump on the brakes when someone does something unexpectedly stupid, or they give up the limits of grip halfway through a bend, you bought the wrong tyre.
 
In my own opinion I don't skimp on tyres, I buy the best I can, at the end of the day they are the only thing that actually attach the vehicle to the road, the only contact point (hopefully) so I like to know when my family is in the car that it's connected well, that it will stop when I want it to, corner how I want it to and react in sun/rain/snow/mud as I want it to
 
My old van came with cheapo Nexen budget tyres. I felt so much more confidence after putting on some good rubber. The cheapo tyres might be as good on paper, but in real life, the aquaplaned a lot more, would lock up under any hard braking and generated a lot of understeer.

I've not pushed my RR hard enough to break traction on the roads, but unless you put on road biased tyres you're not going to get brilliant tarmac performance from any tyre that allows you offroad performance. The Kumho Road Ventres I have on right now are road biased and I'd say they are quite good on road but total meh offroad. Kills the whole point of a RR.
 
I must admit I really do love my coopers, they are great on road and great off it too, reduce mpg abit but oh we'll, I didn't buy a RR for mpg
 
deasy.
so what coopers are you running?

Cooper ltz, these are 275/45/20
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I really rate them, cracking tyre, would recommend to anyone, much better than my brothers general grabbers. And apparently can get 40k out of a set too
 
My old van came with cheapo Nexen budget tyres. I felt so much more confidence after putting on some good rubber. The cheapo tyres might be as good on paper, but in real life, the aquaplaned a lot more, would lock up under any hard braking and generated a lot of understeer.

I generally buy budget tyres - and change then at 3mm tread which is safer than trying to squeeze every mile out of your premium tyres.

I had a Audi up my chuff on a fast A-Road at about 80mph driving my missis's Citroën on budget Chinese all-season tyres, I was overtaking (not lane hogging) then I spotted huge puddle ahead, I just took my feet off the pedals in anticipation of the incident, I hit the standing water - no drama, The Audi pirouetted off into the Armco.

Budget tyres today are better than premium tyres of ten years ago, if you're using the last 20% of grip in normal circumstances you either cannot anticipate the road properly or you need to find a race track. The Nexens I put on my Jag XJ8 had more grip wet and dry than the o/e Pirellis and they cost half as much. There's a lot of scaremongering about budget tyres because the big companies make a fortune selling you over-priced "premium" rubber. Yes the premium tyres are probably slightly better - but that's about it.
 
I generally buy budget tyres - and change then at 3mm tread which is safer than trying to squeeze every mile out of your premium tyres.

I had a Audi up my chuff on a fast A-Road at about 80mph driving my missis's Citroën on budget Chinese all-season tyres, I was overtaking (not lane hogging) then I spotted huge puddle ahead, I just took my feet off the pedals in anticipation of the incident, I hit the standing water - no drama, The Audi pirouetted off into the Armco.

Budget tyres today are better than premium tyres of ten years ago, if you're using the last 20% of grip in normal circumstances you either cannot anticipate the road properly or you need to find a race track. The Nexens I put on my Jag XJ8 had more grip wet and dry than the o/e Pirellis and they cost half as much. There's a lot of scaremongering about budget tyres because the big companies make a fortune selling you over-priced "premium" rubber. Yes the premium tyres are probably slightly better - but that's about it.

+1

very true.
 
From my experience, and other peoples, I wouldn't even entertain cheap tyres on any of my vehicles, as previously stated they are your only contact point to the road. Wouldn't risk it anymore, don't get me wrong i have had cheapo tyres when I was younger, but it's all I could afford, it also helps now getting tyres at trade price :) which is always a good thing.
 
maybe I can ask you aswell, why did you put cheap tyres on it?
If it was a 5.0l supercharged then might go for michelins or if I lived in the sticks up a farm track then would go for cooper AT but it's not a sc and I don't go
off Tarmac that often.
Never had any bother from the nexen s and I don't drive like an oap , done about 20000 mile and they're down to about 4.5 mm was looking at ordering another set ready for when they hit the wear markers , think there's a fair bit of tyre snobbery doing the rounds.
 

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