Some UAE tyre dealers selling old tyres as new

Be careful before you spend your money on new tyres. UAE authorities have accused several tyre dealers of making easy money by defrauding customers into buying old tyres as new. Many of them are even replacing new tyre “frames” with older ones that may have been imported more than a year ago.

According to a translated Al Ittihad Arabic newspaper report by Emirates247, the Ministry of Economy has imposed a fine of Dhs.100,000 to some tyre shops who are practicing such scams, even after the sale of old tyres has been banned according to the new consumer-protection law.

The Ministry is planning to discuss with different car agencies and tyre dealers on ways to stop these malpractices. Meanwhile, our advice is to check the manufacturing dates on tyres at the least. Look for a string of numbers, the last four digits of which will indicate the date. So if you find “0108”, it means it was made in the first week of 2008. Or to save yourself from hassles and buy only branded tyres from somewhat-reputable shops that don’t look too ghetto.