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Auto news; Puncture leaves owner facing £800 bill Joseph Hamilton was told Porsche Cayman needed four new tyres when only one was faulty.
Replacing a punctured tyre can be an unexpected expense – but imagine Joseph Hamilton’s shock when he faced a bill for more than £800! He had been charged for a full set of rubber on his Porsche Cayman, when only one tyre had been damaged.

Joseph, of Glasgow, recalled: “I bought the car from my local Porsche centre in May last year. When I punctured a rear tyre in August, I was told the factory-fit Continental SportContact2 tyres were no longer in production.”

What’s more, the dealer said Joseph would have to shell out £805 for four new Continental SportContact 3s instead, as they had a different ‘N’ rating to the older models, and all four tyres needed to match. Porsche explained it ran a goodwill scheme for customers who had to replace the rubber through no fault of their own. But Joseph didn’t qualify.

“I was told I wasn’t eligible because my other three tyres had more than 4mm of tread left, so they were too new to count. Porsche refused to give me a penny off,” he claimed. We contacted tyre maker Continental to see exactly where Joseph stood. A spokeswoman told us it wasn’t strictly necessary for Joseph to replace all four tyres. She said: “Porsche has its own set of rules. But in general, as long as the two tyres on the same axle match, that’s sufficient.”

So we called Porsche to find out what was going on. Its representative explained: “At the time we sold the car to the customer, we had no way of knowing the rubber would be discontinued so soon after.” Yet he maintained all four tyres should be changed, and refused to show lenience towards Joseph regarding the goodwill scheme.

However, the dealership did offer him a 10 per cent discount, bringing the price to £720. And as Continental was unable to supply his original spec tyres – which are now unavailable in Europe – it offered a further 25 per cent off the cost of the replacements. The combined discount took £300 off his bill, leaving him with a much more palatable £518 to pay.

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