Matador Elite tyres - Abbey caravans

[Angela_5076436]

This is fairly urgent - I'm sending this from a campsite in France [ piggybacked on to an unsecured wireless network ] but would be most grateful to find some replies waiting for me when I get back to the UK .

Have any other Abbey Users , or indeed anyone , had problems with Matador Elite tyres , size 195/70 R14 96S as were fitted to our Abbey Cardinal year 2006 caravan ?

Our most recent problem had a section of tread 6"x1.5" detaching itself.

I'll post the saga once we have returned - but help from any other sufferers would be very useful - I don't think we can be the only ones who have had problems.

 

[cokey1970]

Hi Angela,

The Caravan Club is currently investigating a 'handful' of reports into premature deterioration of tyres fitted to quite new caravans.

This taken from the Club's website:

August 2007 Caravan Tyre Safety Concerns The Club is currently investigating a handful of reports into premature deterioration of tyres fitted to quite new caravans. We think there may be a problem, but we need more evidence to be certain, and to identify the makes and models affected. If you have a caravan which is less than two years old, look for signs such as those shown in the photos below. If you find evidence of this, please let us know the following details:

1. Make, model and year of caravan

2. Make, full service description (size, load and speed rating), and if possible, date code for the tyres.

3. Brief details of the deterioration. If you are able to attach digital photos, that would be excellent, but this is not essential.

For advice on how to read the details on the side of the tyre, see Appendix 2 of our Information Leaflet 'Tyres and Wheels'.

Please email details to technical@caravanclub.co.uk using the title 'Tyre safety concern' in the subject line. We would advise that tyres showing these characteristics should be checked by your caravan dealer or tyre fitter as soon as possible, since at least some of them may require replacement.

Please note that these characteristics are similar to those which might be seen on old, well-used and basically worn-out tyres which are at the end of their serviceable life. We would emphasise that the tyres in the photos are under two years old, and fitted to new or relatively new caravans. It is only these tyres which we are concerned about for the purposes of this investigation.

Martin.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Angela,

This is a transcript from our Eriba (Hymer) Touring forum concerning the same sized Matador Tyres:

[Robert] Updated with comments from the Swift Caravan Group

There is a warning from Swift group caravans that the Matador tyres fitted to their caravans may show signs of early sidewall cracking - this was reported by owners of Swift caravans and doesn't appear on the Swift group web-site.

The problem appears to be restricted to batches of 195/70R14 tyres manufactured with DOT codes between 4005 and 4605 (that's between week 40 and week 46 of 2005) and at this time, as per this note from Swift:

"Hello my name is Carol and I am a member of the Customer Care Team at the Swift Group. I am responding to the Matador tyre post on behalf of the Swift Group and our tyre supplier Tyre Line.

Tyre Size - 195/70 R 14 96S MP42 Elite Matador DOT Number - 4005 through to 4605

If your tyres fall into the above category we would ask that you contact your supplying Swift Group Dealer who will be able to arrange for the tyres to be replaced.

If your tyres fall outside of this range your tyres are not affected by this campaign." End of quote

As you may know, Matador tyres are fitted to Eriba (Hymer) caravans too - with this size being fitted to Triton and Troll models - and the issue appears to be restricted to just that one size of tyre from those 6 weeks of production.

So, don't worry - but check your tyre sidewall for the DOT code and also make a check of the sidewall for signs of cracking. And check the tyre pressure too whilst you're down there.

[Tony] Also mentioned on the www.Eriba.nl forum

[Robert] - I speak Dutch and translated the pages from the NL forum.

The Matador discussion on the forum site of the Dutch Eriba / Hymer company web-site - remember all Hymer group caravans will carry the Eriba badge in Holland - basically discusses these issues:

1. Life expectancy of the Matador tyres in normal use - and that the very good results from the 8000 km test by ADAC cannot be exactly carried over to real life - but there was nothing specifically that would concern anyone

2. A question about the quality of the Matador tyres - with an answer from Matador that they are tested to EU standards - and a following note from the Eriba NL site saying that this was a diplomatic answer - the Dutch are very straight-forward and say what they mean, but Eriba NL have no specific knowledge of issues with Matador tyres from their quality reporting system - and likewise the Dutch would tell you if there was a problem

3. There was a discussion about motor movers, fitted to a high percentage of Dutch caravans, which may be responsible for the few problems of side-wall cracking seen by a limited number of users.

And an end note saying that from 2008 onwards, Eriba NL will be fitting the highly regarded (5 star rated) GT Maxmiler tyres to all Eriba caravans - this is a very good quality tyre fitted on "white vans" in the UK.

So in summary - Matador are manufacturers of good quality tyres, but a bad batch escaped during 2005 - and as you have a 2006 caravan it's worth checking the DOT code and see if you are affected.

Robert

 

[Harry_260665]

Bought an new 2006 Abbey this year. Have had two letters from Swift requesting me to take the caravan to my dealer to have the Matador tyres changed as they are prone to cracking. Will be getting them changed at its first service. BTY Lunar seems to have the same problem with theirs.

Harry

 

[Val & Frank]

Asked our dealer about this, and he said Swift Group had told them, they would contact all owners who may have a van fitted with problem tyres.

Frank

 

[Angela_5076436]

Thanks guys for this .

We are now home and will be contacting our Dealer ASAP . Our Abbey had it's first service earlier this year - and that's when we were told we had sidewall damage - so we had to cough up for a new tyre then. I don't have any photos of that problem - but I do have several from this latest one so will contact the Caravan Club about this one. My Husband is going to check for all the data off the tyres this am and we will then start on all this.

BTW - has anyone ever had success at buying a spare tyre in France ? We had great difficulty with this - we shoved the spare on but wanted to ensure we did have a good spare - and could not get hold of one where we were .

 

[trevor11sqdn]

This subject has been discussed on various forums over recent months , Swift have a far bigger problem on their hands than they care to admit. My recently sold Conqueror (2006) had deformed side walls on all 4 tyres, I replaced them at my own expense after having little interest shown by the dealer or Swift. My new Challenger has exactly the same problem and indeed, every Swift model I looked at in the dealers premises all showed deformaties on the sidewalls.

By running your hands lightly around the outside of the side wall you will feel a "dip" in the side wall where it meets the tread and when you look a little more carefully you will be able to see the deformity quite clearly, some tyres have more than one deformity.

Anyone with a 2006/7 Swift on Matador tyres should check their tyres carefully.

 

[Angela_5076436]

I have forwarded pics of ours to the Caravan Club - unfortunately the Automatic response says that they take up to 7 days to respond.

We will be contacting our dealer.

Sadly having checked the codes on our tyre - it is outwith the dates already under recall from Swift - but I can't help feeling that to have had 2 go on us should not have happened.

We may also have a problem with the factory fitted spare - it was a steel wheel not Alloy like the other 2

The recently failed tyre with section of tread detached has DOT code 0806. The original spare tyre [ steel wheel ] has DOT code 0206. Presumably the first tyre to fail earlier this year with sidewall problem shared the code 0806 of the other alloy wheel.

I'll keep you updated - oh and if we end up going to the small claims court we have a 100% success rate

 

[Angela_5076436]

OK - now we are about to contact our dealer - we have a response from the CC ⇦Thank you for your e-mail regarding Matador tyres. The information you have provided will make a very useful addition to our report. ⇨

Keep watching - after all we have had to pay up for 2 tyres for what does seem to be manufacturing faults - this does irritate

 

[Angela_5076436]

OK - now for an update to the continuing saga.

As the Caravan Club basically said thanks - we will add this to our data , but did not give any indication they were actually doing anything for all the Matador Elite tyre owners , and the Camping and Caravanning Club also noted that they had heard of problems [ but did not make any comment about action] we contacted our dealers - sending them photos etc.

We have just had a phone call from them saying that we should contact Tyre Line who in fact supplied all these Matador tyres.

It seems that this may help to speed up getting our money back for the 2 tyres we have been forced to replace. By dealing with Tyre Line we will cut out 2 middle men - our dealer [ normally very very good ] and Swift Caravans who do seem to be dragging their heels over this problem.

The one really worrying factor is that Tyre Line may well say words to the effect of " oops- you have been unlucky - have 2 new tyres ' and then supply us with 2 new Matador ones !! We really want the cost of these tyres refunded , not another 2 tyres kicking round our garage - nor do we want the 2 'new' tyres we have put on removed after only a few months use.

Has anyone had a satisfactory conclusion to all this ?

And if like us you have had 2 duff Matador Elite tyres - would you really want them to give you 2 more as replacements ?

I'm most unhappy

 

[Nigel_374341574]

Hi there

In response to the tyre issue, I note that Harry mentioned that Lunar have had problems with their tyres too. I bought a Lunar Quasar 525 in September 07 (first registered April 05) and the tyres are badly cracked all the way round the inner rim - the treads are fine. These are Maxmiler tyres. Does anyone know if there have been issues with these tyres?

On another point, when standing in the bathroom for the first time using the toilet, the shower tray around the plughole cracked under my heel (I am not overweight!). Has anyone experienced this issue with this model of van?

Thanks.

 

[BigAl1]

Angela

What happenned with your tyres?

 

[HomerS1]

Hi,

My Abbey Cardinal needed a new tyre just one year from new. The bad cracking in the sidewall was noticed at the first service (April 08) and changed over with the spare. Strangely the other tyre was in good condition. The van had done about 4,000 miles at the time and never been laid up for more than 2 or three weeks. Not good enough!

 

[Gumbo]

Swift ?? had a recall on tyres not so long ago. Our dealer said if you haven't had a recall letter every thing is fine. The tyre was a Matador if I remember correctly. If you can work out the search engine you should be able to find the details on the site.

 

[gary]

Regarding the Swift recall, this is the relevant information;

We are asking our customers to check the tyres fitted to their caravans for the following information:

Tyre Size - 195/70 R 14 96S MP42 Elite Matador

DOT Number - 40/05 through to 46/05

If your tyres fall into the above category we would ask that you contact your supplying Swift Group Dealer who will be able to arrange for the tyres to be replaced.

It has to be said there have been other non Swift specific but still Matador related issues reported since.

 

[Brum1]

Anyone aware of problems with Matador Stella tyres as fitted to some 2007 Fleetwood models?

 

[Margaret_374372846]

Has anyone experienced problems with Matador tyres on Eldiss Caravans? We discovered one tyre with a bulge and another with a crease in the side on our new Eldiss Crusader Supercyclone, 2008 model, whilst on holiday. We had all 5 tyres replaced and a third was found to be faulty. As we did not keep the tyres the manufacturers say the warranty was invalid. An expensive experience!

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Margret.

I am sorry to read of your problems with the Matador tyres,

Whilst this is no direct help to you, the make of the caravan is irrelevant. Most of the caravan manufactures will obtain their tyres from the same importer, so it is possible that if there is a faulty batch of tyres, they may appear on any caravan where that make and size is used.

 

[Guest]

This has been covered fairly recently - but to recap:

Matador tyres are made in Slovenia and distributed on a country and/or regional basis by independent subsidiaries of the parent company. In the UK tyres are distributed by Matador UK via wholesalers.

Some Matador tyres of various types and sizes, have experienced recognised manufacturing defects.

The Matador tyres used by the UK caravan industry are supplied to them by a firm called Tyreline (www.tyreline.com)

Matador UK have instructed Tyreline to replace defective tyres when they are brought to their attention. Some caravan manufacturers issued a recall, others did not.

Notwithstanding, Matador UK & Tyreline have usually been very helpful and keen to resolve problems.

Contact Tyreline if you have any of the affected tyres, and take it from there.

Tyres fitted to imported vans do not fall under the specific remit of Matador UK, but are the responsibility of the distributor and wholesaler in the country of origin.

In the case of German vans, they are wholesaled to the caravan industry by Otto Just (pronounced 'Yewst') who obtained them from Matador Slovakia.

Otto Just are fully aware of the problems, which have been reported in various EU countries, including Germany & Holland. They will liaise with the caravan manufacturer and/or importer to effect an exchange or, if necessary, offer reasonable reimbursement if tyres have had to be replaced urgently.

They can be contacted at www.otto-just.de

 

[Guest]

This has been covered fairly recently - but to recap:

Matador tyres are made in Slovenia and distributed on a country and/or regional basis by independent subsidiaries of the parent company. In the UK tyres are distributed by Matador UK via wholesalers.

Some Matador tyres of various types and sizes, have experienced recognised manufacturing defects.

The Matador tyres used by the UK caravan industry are supplied to them by a firm called Tyreline (www.tyreline.com)

Matador UK have instructed Tyreline to replace defective tyres when they are brought to their attention. Some caravan manufacturers issued a recall, others did not.

Notwithstanding, Matador UK & Tyreline have usually been very helpful and keen to resolve problems.

Contact Tyreline if you have any of the affected tyres, and take it from there.

Tyres fitted to imported vans do not fall under the specific remit of Matador UK, but are the responsibility of the distributor and wholesaler in the country of origin.

In the case of German vans, they are wholesaled to the caravan industry by Otto Just (pronounced 'Yewst') who obtained them from Matador Slovakia.

Otto Just are fully aware of the problems, which have been reported in various EU countries, including Germany & Holland. They will liaise with the caravan manufacturer and/or importer to effect an exchange or, if necessary, offer reasonable reimbursement if tyres have had to be replaced urgently.

They can be contacted at www.otto-just.de

That should be 'Slovenia', btw