[hoochy]

i had to blow up my tyres today when i was in my local shell station can you guess how much it cost????? 50 f ing p about 2 or so weeks a go i i put air in them in the same station for 20p thats a jump of 30p in less then say 1 month total rip off im going to buy the 12 v small tyre inflator from the asda agian had 1 a few years ago but it got broken, atleast **** turpin had decency to wear a mask when he robed some 1 whats the price in your local shell? look at it this way if its a busy station and if 50 people use it that day thats what?£25 in 1 day now count that over 1 month

 

[bobbydog]

I've never ever inflated my tyres in recent years on a garage forecourt due to the cost.

Years ago it was free, it was commonplace to see children pumping up their bicycle tyres, even i did it :d

I always have a compressor at home.

They have become really affordable in recent years.

 

[Smokingman]

Sainsburys in Lincoln is free.:d

 

[bugsb]

its a money spinner they did for a while go back to free air and many petrol stations got more customers but once they all started to do it the free air was no more best thing is pay £5-£8 for an electric pump and do it at home and tyre pressure should be done when the tyres are cold not driving to a petrol station when the tyres are hot
Ron

 

[Paul Dengel]

Sainsburys in Lincoln is free.:d

Same here in sunny North London!

 

[madnoel10]

There are three reasons for charging for air.

First there is the deterrent aspect to stops kids from monkeying around with the equipment.

Second is that many of the filling stations don't own the equipment. It is supplied on a rental or lease basis and the supplier pays the filling station for the privelege of siting the kit on their forecourt.

Third the company responsible for supplying and maintaining the kit has to buy third party insurance. There have been cases whereby the gauges have been faulty and due to incorrect pressures they have been sued by motorists and insurers should a loss be attributed to wrong tyre pressures. Forecourts rarely display a tyre pressure chart for the same reason.

Obviously some outlets see the provision of a free air as a means of attracting customers but in essence it still has to be paid for and will ultimately be paid for by the customer anyway.

Personally I rarely use forecourt but if I do I use my own pressure gauge and in all honesty I have rarely found forecourt gauges to be accurate. Also in my view what is 50 pence if it saves the price of having to renew a tyre or a life.

 

[Salvidar]

On the continent (specifically I know in Austria and Germany), it is almost universally free air. And - here's the bit that I (sadly) don't think would work in the UK - there is no physical connection between the machine and the forecourt. Their machines are basically a compressed air cylinder that is charged up when the unit is placed on top of the valve. When you want to get some air, you simply lift the unit off the valve (there's nothing tethering it) and take it to your car, use it and when you've finished you put it back on the valve and it recharges itself.

It just works over there; everyone's trusted to replace the unit when they've finished with it and everyone does.

 

[VelSatisfied]

They are merely passing on the cost of inflation...

On a more serious note, the portable compressor is a much better idea as you can measure the tyre pressures before the car moves, plus it can also allow you to reach a tyre retailer in the event of a slow puncture.

Paul

 

[mord]

groan......


id agree, a foot pump is ideal if you want some exercise, or get a cheapo leccy one (which will take forever and evevntually burn out ) if your lazy:d

 

[christopherM]

MadNoel

There have been cases whereby the gauges have been faulty and due to incorrect pressures they have been sued by motorists and insurers should a loss be attributed to wrong tyre pressures

That must be real hard one to prove, 1st you would have to prove the car owner inflated the tyre to the correct pressure at that time, 2nd you would also have to prove the tyre was cold at the time of inflation, 3rd the inflating machine was calibrated correctly at the time of inflation, awful lots of if,s for a case.
Salvidar

Their machines are basically a compressed air cylinder that is charged up when the unit is placed on top of the valve. When you want to get some air, you simply lift the unit off the valve (there's nothing tethering it) and take it to your car

We use to have one of these at a garage in Llandudno, not for customer use more forthe sales lads to pump up sales cars on the forecourt, our conected to an airline to be charged, great idea but not for this country guarantee someone would pinch it
As for free Air, shell station in Llanddulas use to be free till a few month back, new machine = cost, 20p per useage, unfortunatly you only get enough time to inflate/check 2 tyres, so in reality it costs you 40p
The trouble with tyre inflation charts is they are out dated usually before they go to print, so many cars with so many differant wheel tyre combinations the chart would be about a mile long to take them all into account, when really all you need is your owner handbook which all cars would have come with, I am afraid it is a sign of the times really, you get nothing for free anymore not even air an water. There is FREE air at Slaters Abergele ( ESSO STATION) but the gauge is miles out so take your own gauge it also has an inflation chart as well belive it or not! probally from 1974! no idea about your Meg CC but it tells you about tyre presures for yout Austin Maxi, should you have one! :crazy:

 

[madnoel10]

MadNoel
That must be real hard one to prove, 1st you would have to prove the car owner inflated the tyre to the correct pressure at that time, 2nd you would also have to prove the tyre was cold at the time of inflation, 3rd the inflating machine was calibrated correctly at the time of inflation, awful lots of if,s for a case.
Salvidar :

That's just the point it would also be difficult for the supplier of the machine to disprove these allegations. Even if they could the legal costs of defending such a legal action would be expensive.

 

[christopherM]

Funniest thing I have ever seen, as we are on an island close to a beach many years ago when we use to sell petrol a lad drove onto the fore court with one of those inflatable dinghies and yes you guessed it connected it up, blew it up, and duly popped it with quite a decent BANG to boot he must have jump about 6 foot in the air, our forecourt attendant also blew his bike tyre up and blew that apart as well leaving a very nice red mark on his fore head ON THE SAME DAY!!!!
Aaaahh those where the days no elf n safety, mis-use anything like that and it bit back at you, you only did it once!

 

[saabguy]

I really don't mind paying 50p at a filling station for inflating my tyres. The pumps are more accurate than a foot pump and certainly a lot less work in the event of a flat.
I've also seen the pump reduced to a squashed box where some moron has reversed into it and killed it. I wouldn't expect the filling station to keep incurring the cost of replacement so think 50p occasionaly is reasonable.