Estonians fitting cast-off Finnish tyres

Many used tyres that are being sold in Estonia are actually tyres that Finns have thrown away, according to the Estonian daily newspaper Õhtuleht. The paper quoted a Finnish mechanic who works at a garage who said that he often sees Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, but also Poles going through the container of used tyres behind the garage because most of the tyres there can still be used for a season or two.

The mechanic said that it was customary for Finns to drive a few seasons with new tyres and then change all four. This means that tyres that have not been under the driving axle are fully usable.

Priit Muru, CEO of Kummi-Ott, Estonian retailer of used tyres, says that he is familiar with the case.

Muru admits that he himself has been going through the discarded tyres and says that Finns find such behaviour repulsive. He adds that in some cases Finns pierced the discarded tyres to make them unusable.

According to Muru, many used tyre sellers in Estonia lie to their customers that they get used tyres from Norway and that they have been used for a few months. The truth is that most of the used tyres arrive from Finland or Sweden and have been notably more used.