Part worn tyres are tyres that have been taken off other vehicles to sell on. It may be a tyre that has come off a car that is being scrapped, a car where new tyres have been fitted but there is still tread on the old ones or even from other parts of Europe where tyres have to be changed sooner than they do in the UK.

New tyres have 8 mm of tread on them and all part worns should be sold with a minimum of 3mm. the legal limit for tyres in the UK is 1.6mm but many garages recommend changing them at 3 mm. With this in mind you may buy a set of part worns that need replacing almost as soon as you have them fitted. If you can get some with over 5mm of tread then they are often a good buy, but anything less and you may be forking out for new ones a month or so later.