Beware of buying wheels on ebay

[xaote]

I've seen quite a lot of questions that have been posted for advice about spare wheels, I thought it best to post this warning.

Ebay is full of listings selling steel space savers and fake branded alloy wheels. They are made from inadequate quality/incorrect/cheap materials. The steel space savers buckle very easily because the steel is too soft and even scarier... the alloy wheels can shatter when u hit a bump.

These sellers began selling fake alloys a couple of years ago but their attention has shifted, now they also sell space saver wheels, due to the fact that manufacturers don't generally provide spares with new cars anymore.

[gloucester]

I bought a space-saver for my Suzuki - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224064439322

It was a 14" wheel but I assumed - wrongly as it turned out - that it would have a high-profile tyre to make it suitable for my 16" equipped Ignis. It turned out to be MUCH smaller - by about 100mm - so small I didn't like to try it out. I don't think it would have been safe!

The seller claimed that I should have bought a 15" one for my 16" wheeled car - the 14" one was for 15" wheeled cars. But the 15" wheeled Ignis has higher profile tyres meaning the rolling diameter is approx the same for 15" and 16" equipped cars. So it wouldn't fit those either!

As I wrote to the seller:

ALL 2016-2020 Ignises take either a 175/65 R15 (SZ3) or 175/60 R16 (SZ-T + SZ5) tyre.
A 175/65/R15 tyre has an overall diameter of 610mm
A 175/60/R16 tyre has an overall diameter of 617mm
The 115/70/R14 tyre on this spare has a diameter of only 516mm
I regard this large discrepancy as significant and it would make the car undrivable!
Your listing is NOT clear. There are NO 2016-2020 Ignises around which this tyre would suit.
Hence your listing is incorrect and misleading.
I repeat I wish to return this item for a full refund at no cost to myself.


I believe it could and should have been fitted with at least a 135/80 R14 tyre which would have been a lot closer at 572mm diameter - but why should I shell out for a new tyre!

Then I found I couldn't return it via the standard eBay route, since that was blocked so I had to arrange a courier to return it - and it turned out that the seller had declared its weight as just 1kg rather than the 10kg it was actually - so it cost me a LOT more to send back and of course I wasn't refunded that. AND it was then mis-delivered at the other end so I had to start a claim with the courier, with whom I'd taken out additional insurance but they're slipped up too and had no proof of delivery as contractually promised !!!

Eventually it was found delivered to a neighbour but the whole incident has left a very bitter taste! And as you can see he's still selling them and has a near perfect rating of 99.7%

[xaote]

What a nightmare that turned into.

I dread to think how many people bought wheels and have just thrown them into the boot without paying any attention to the size. That was well spotted.