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Hi there, this is an update for those of you who have the Matador tyres (serial numbers on my previous post) I on your caravan an those who helped me with my previous post.

I have recieved a letter today from Continental Tyre Group Ltd who are taking over the handling of Matador warranty issues in the UK & Ireland in January 2011. As i expected matador still havent contacted us!!!!

They have accepted responsibility for the blow out an the damage to our caravan, at the moment the repair bill an labour cost sits at almost £5000.

 The company we bought our caravan from have replaced our damaged caravan and we now have a nice 2008 Abbey GTS with brand new tyres.

Weve really had to dig our heels in an stand our ground and i was determind to prove those tyres were defective, my husband and i have had so much stress with this matter and its great to know we won the battle.

Debbie 68, just out of curiosity exactly what have they offered you?

Phil

hi Phill, they have asked us for a full estimate labour and parts and the stuff we lost on the motorway so that they can make an offer, so weve got to contact our insurers to forward Continental the final bill.

The dealers didnt treat us very well either infact they became impatient with us an tried to crawl out of any blame.

Having just looked back at your original post it appeared that your claim laid in law with the dealer who sold you the tyres (with the van). Now, just idle legal interest to see how your legal thread has been woven I wonder if you wouldn't mind answering me another curiosity question.

As your dealer gave you a new van for the damaged one was that a straight replacement or did you pay for it? If it was just a straight swop, then what loss are you claiming from the tyre manufacturer? Just wondered.

Phil

Quite right Surfer01. Anyone buying new should read

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/nr/rdonlyres/aa21c69d-adcd-4264-9be5-090bdec6ef81/0/tyresandwheels.pdf

to understand just what all the markings on the tyre mean and in particular the date of the tyre. If you are buying a new caravan and you see that they have put an old fridge in you would complain, and so you should for tyres. They can be the difference between life and death. Worth checking on your new car as well.

Phil

There was an actual recall on the matador tyres as they are defective, they were immediatly defective as soon as they were made, some swift vans from 2006 to present day have these tyres. Anyone who finds the serial numbers of the defective tyres on their tyres(if they are matador) should immediatly go to their dealers an they will replace the tyres for free.

And Phil my husband is the one doing all the fone calls and stuff so im not quite sure what happens next, our damaged van is now back at the dealers because we agreed for them to repair it at first an we was going to have the van back, they gave us the cheapest quote so that they could have the van back and repair it asap.

We wasnt really happy about having a damaged repaired van as its not what we bought in the 1st place so the dealer said we could have another van like for like, so after many visits a van finally came in.

At that point it was quite straight forward as we was just treating it as one of those things that happen, but our insurers have been great because they have been very interested in these tyres, i dont know what happens next all i know is continental want a full estimate for labour and costs as they want to make a settlement offer, the letter says they want to solve our claim locally and then recoup their costs from matador, i dont think we get anything from it.

Hi surfer yea its disgusting, the van was fully serviced the day we collected it, after our accident we checked the rest of the tyres and they were in a poor state, buldging and cracked and all out of shape

Our van was from a swift dealer and they should of been aware of the recall on those tyres, every swift dealer recieved a letter informing them of the defects and so did almost every swift caravan owner, as far as im aware not all owners(not dealers) recieved the letter.

Our tyres were obviously over looked during the ''so called'' 4hr service!!!

Right. Thanks for that. Sounds like a chain of claims. Dealer sorted you out for their breach of contract/negligence. Dealer then claimed from Swift or Matador for their loss and so it goes round.

Would be very surprised if you got anything as your loss appears to have been made good. However, sometimes right and left hands don't know what they are doing and you find a nice cheque in the post. Or maybe it will not be a mistake and they will send a cheque as an act of good faith to cover such damages as pain and suffering..............plus all your phone calls letters etc. who knows?

Phil