A car on a bay near Red Lion Square, the owner crouched by a front wheel with a phone torch, studying a lump on the sidewall they are fairly certain was not there last week. That is how most damage assessments begin: with somebody who suspects a problem and has no way of judging how serious it is.
The answer is worth getting properly. A bulge means cords inside the casing have snapped and the tyre can fail without warning, so that one is never a wait and see. A cut is a question of depth: if it opens when you press either side of it, or shows cord, the tyre is finished, and if it does neither it very often is not. Kerb scuffing on a car that lives in central London is constant and mostly harmless. We come out, look at it and tell you which of those you are dealing with.
Kerbs and potholes do most of the damage in WC1V, and they rarely do it while you are looking. You find it later: a scuff that has gone through to the cords, a split along the shoulder, a lump in the sidewall that was not there last week. You do not drive it anywhere first, and nothing gets towed off Chancery Lane. A Gray's Inn Road cul-de-sac or a Theobalds Road main road, tell us which. A tight terrace in Chancery Lane or a narrow bay on Theobalds Road is usually workable.
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Damage here comes from geometry rather than speed: sunken ironwork, patched surfaces and granite kerbs on corners never intended for modern cars. It also hides well, because the inner sidewall faces away from the pavement and nobody ever sees it. When something looks wrong on a car parked near Chancery Lane or Gray's Inn Road, having somebody look at it there is faster than driving across town for an opinion.
Taking corners laid out centuries ago in a car designed for motorways puts wheels into kerbs regularly, and the alloy usually shows it first. The real question is whether the tyre shoulder took the same blow, which is answered with the wheel off rather than by torchlight from the pavement.
Vehicles here cover very little ground and stand for weeks, so their tyres age out rather than wear out. Fine cracking around the sidewall and rubber gone hard to the touch is the sign. Plenty of tread and still due for replacement, which surprises people until somebody explains why.
Something in the road cut into the tread far enough to expose the belt. The tyre was still holding air, which is exactly why it had been ignored for a fortnight. Once cord is showing there is no repair at any price, so it was changed there and then.
It can be. Holding air says nothing at all about whether the structure beneath is intact. Bulges and deep cuts both hold pressure right up until the moment they stop doing so.
Do not make the drive on it. Bulges give way under sustained speed and load, which is precisely what a long trip consists of. Get it changed first and go afterwards.
Not by themselves, but they are a good reason to look. The tyre stands proud of the rim, so anything hard enough to scar the wheel went through the sidewall on its way there.
Age is a genuine factor on a car that stands still. Once the rubber has hardened or is cracking at the sidewall, the tread depth is beside the point. You will get a straight opinion rather than an automatic yes.
Regularly. A fair share of these calls end with the wheel going back on untouched. We would rather be the outfit that said a tyre was fine than the one that sold four to somebody who needed none.
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