Thought I'd start a thread about this.
We all care about our loved ones but how often do you check your tyres and how much attention do you pay to what you buy? When I bought my car (a 406 1.9 Turbo Diesel) I was told that the woman who previously owned it had 3 small children. If so then why did she have 4 obscurely branded, incorrectly inflated and only just legal tyres on her car?
A month or so ago I put some brand new shiny Michelin Pilot Primacy's on the front (couldn't afford to do all four at once) and the car is sooooo much better to drive, soooo much safer AND it's more fuel efficient than before (only by a bit but it all counts doesn't it?).
If you shop around you'll find you can buy some proper well known brand tyres such as Michelin's, Pirelli's or Continentals for less than your local tyre place would cost to rip you off for some obscure Eastern European tyres. So would you risk the safety of your loved ones just for the false economy of saving 40 quid or so on a set of tyres?
I know that I'm definitely not willing to do this and I'll continue to pay more for tyres and get more out of them!