This is not, strictly speaking, a recommendation for a garage but it's a similar, car related, subject so thought this would be the best place for it.
Late on last year I had a non repairable puncture in the Ibiza's N/S/R tyre. This was annoying as all the tyres had a good 3.5mm tread still on them but, on the other hand, I've been somewhat unhappy with the original (from new) tyres on the vehicle. They are now some 6 years old and definitely not very "grippy" in the wet. I'd been making my mind up about what to replace them with for some time so had a couple of "front runners" when this incident happened.
For very many years I bought my tyres from Auto Image here in Edinburgh. They were a small specialist supplier of tyres and alloy wheels where I always got excellent prices and never had a problem with balance. Then, all of a sudden, they closed up and stopped trading - They may still have a shop in Glasgow? but that's a bit too far to go just for a tyre. For a number of years I've been trying to find a new supplier but, although I've had some success, I haven't found another "Auto Image". Then, whilst chatting to Steven at the wee Honda Garage I've spoken of elsewhere - Bonnington Mill Garage - he said "why don't you try a mobile fitter? We use one and he's excellent". I think I've briefly mentioned this before but I don't think I've drawn attention to the subject like I am now. I'd never seriously considered mobile tyre fitters for a number of reasons but, with Steven recommending this chap - who turns out to be called Steven too! - I thought I'd give him a go: https://www.citymobiletyres.com/ He could have supplied pretty much any tire I wanted but I settled on a Falken (one of the brands I'd been researching) and he came along with his fully fitted out van (I could see Quality branded equipment like his Corgi wheel balancer - we had Corgi balancers and they were very good so that filled me with confidence) He expects to do the whole job so is ready with jack and "rattle gun" but I prefer to do my own "spannering" and he was very happy for me to jack up my car and gave him the wheel for him to dismount the old tyre, fit and balance the new one and hand it back, correctly pressured, for me to refit to the vehicle. I actually swopped this wheel with the front one on the same side so I could check balance next time I was out to my boy's house on a fast main road south of the city and I'm pleased to say there's not the slightest hint of a tremor at the steering wheel so balance must be spot on.
Coming forward to now. I'm getting fed up with the lack of grip of the six+ years old original tyres so got Steven to come round last Wednesday and fit 3 more Falkens to the other 3 wheels so giving me a matching set. The old tyres were still showing around 3 mm so would have gone a little longer but I've just got fed up with the car acting like a snow plough, understeering, in the wet - especially on roundabouts. The fitting experience was just as good as last time and we're on first name terms now which is pleasant too. Think I've just got my tyre supply problem sorted. The Falkens (Sincera SN110) get a good name for wet grip so I'm hoping for a big improvement in performance. There's always been quite a lot of road noise transmitted so it's going to be interesting to see if the Falkens give a quieter ride.
So, anyone in the greater Edinburgh area and needing tyre related services, I can really recommend this chap,
Late on last year I had a non repairable puncture in the Ibiza's N/S/R tyre. This was annoying as all the tyres had a good 3.5mm tread still on them but, on the other hand, I've been somewhat unhappy with the original (from new) tyres on the vehicle. They are now some 6 years old and definitely not very "grippy" in the wet. I'd been making my mind up about what to replace them with for some time so had a couple of "front runners" when this incident happened.
For very many years I bought my tyres from Auto Image here in Edinburgh. They were a small specialist supplier of tyres and alloy wheels where I always got excellent prices and never had a problem with balance. Then, all of a sudden, they closed up and stopped trading - They may still have a shop in Glasgow? but that's a bit too far to go just for a tyre. For a number of years I've been trying to find a new supplier but, although I've had some success, I haven't found another "Auto Image". Then, whilst chatting to Steven at the wee Honda Garage I've spoken of elsewhere - Bonnington Mill Garage - he said "why don't you try a mobile fitter? We use one and he's excellent". I think I've briefly mentioned this before but I don't think I've drawn attention to the subject like I am now. I'd never seriously considered mobile tyre fitters for a number of reasons but, with Steven recommending this chap - who turns out to be called Steven too! - I thought I'd give him a go: https://www.citymobiletyres.com/ He could have supplied pretty much any tire I wanted but I settled on a Falken (one of the brands I'd been researching) and he came along with his fully fitted out van (I could see Quality branded equipment like his Corgi wheel balancer - we had Corgi balancers and they were very good so that filled me with confidence) He expects to do the whole job so is ready with jack and "rattle gun" but I prefer to do my own "spannering" and he was very happy for me to jack up my car and gave him the wheel for him to dismount the old tyre, fit and balance the new one and hand it back, correctly pressured, for me to refit to the vehicle. I actually swopped this wheel with the front one on the same side so I could check balance next time I was out to my boy's house on a fast main road south of the city and I'm pleased to say there's not the slightest hint of a tremor at the steering wheel so balance must be spot on.
Coming forward to now. I'm getting fed up with the lack of grip of the six+ years old original tyres so got Steven to come round last Wednesday and fit 3 more Falkens to the other 3 wheels so giving me a matching set. The old tyres were still showing around 3 mm so would have gone a little longer but I've just got fed up with the car acting like a snow plough, understeering, in the wet - especially on roundabouts. The fitting experience was just as good as last time and we're on first name terms now which is pleasant too. Think I've just got my tyre supply problem sorted. The Falkens (Sincera SN110) get a good name for wet grip so I'm hoping for a big improvement in performance. There's always been quite a lot of road noise transmitted so it's going to be interesting to see if the Falkens give a quieter ride.
So, anyone in the greater Edinburgh area and needing tyre related services, I can really recommend this chap,
