Coming into winter with no reprieve from the wet weather, and potholes still abundant throughout the Yass Valley region and beyond, it’s important to keep on top of your tyres. Fortunately, local business Country Tyres Yass provides service to tyres in need of inspection, maintenance, wheel alignment, repair or replacement. Business owner John Berry spoke to the Yass Valley Times about the growth of this local business, what customers like about them, how to keep on top of your tyres this winter, and why it’s so important to shop local.
Country Tyres Yass was established about three and a half years ago. However, due to good service, and both customer and employee retention, as well as strong visibility in the Yass Valley Times and its online presence, Country Tyres Yass has grown during this time, in customer base, service, and team members.
“We’ve gone from three to about five and a half, probably the best description”, said John on the growing team. On the businesses growth, John attributes it to positive community response;
“It’s about quality, we just take our job seriously”.
Country tyres Yass provides tyre service to not just standard vehicles, but also to farming and industrial vehicles, as well as offering parts outside of tyres.
“We do batteries, all that sort of stuff. All your regular maintenance, the basics, we also do trucks, agriculture and industrial vehicles.”
As a local tyre service, Country Tyres advises people to be aware of the effect the current weather has on tyres and helpfully describes what to look out for.
“Definitely the safety aspect, being wet and cold you’ll find a lot of tyres you previously thought were safe are now not. There are sort of two facets to tyres, there’s worn out and there’s unsafe, unsafe normally happens before worn out and people don’t really realise that. This time of year it’s about safety, even if your tyres aren’t worn out, doesn’t mean they’re safe”, said John, expanding further to include not only the weather as something to be mindful of, but the ever-present issue of road conditions and potholes.
“Pot hotels are a major factor these days so regular maintenance is very important at the moment, including wheel alignments, but there’s still a lot of people out there that just put their tyres on and set and forget then expect them to wear beautifully, get 80,000 ks out of them and it just doesn’t happen with the conditions as they are.”
Should you encounter issues with your tyres and/or wheels, whether it be damage, needing a wheel alignment done, or simply wanting to check the integrity, John assures that it’s a quick, efficient job, and one that should be done often, particularly wheel alignment and general inspections as even small things, such as striking the curb while parking, can lead to integrity issues.
“Pop in, it takes us literally a minute to take a look, have a chat, see how the car feels and also check the tread wear and go from there”, said John, recommending regular inspections;
“We would recommend every six months you come in, and as a minimum do a rotation, pressure check, and if you need a wheel alignment we’ll do a wheel alignment. That’s the best way to get the best out of your tires – Maintenance will get you a long way, but certainly climbing up the quality range will get you a far better product. I recommend people get the best tyre they can afford”
For those who work in Canberra and take their cars in for maintenance while at work, John understands the convenience, but recommends shopping local for a more personalised, long-term approach to your car.
“I understand the convenience, but the beauty of getting it done locally is I then get to understand your car, the history of your car, the maintenance of your car, we get to have a relationship essentially that allows me to know your car. We are competitive on price, people just need to give us a call and check it out. We’re open Saturday mornings at people’s convenience, so if they need it done on the weekend, give us a call, and get it slotted in. Buy local”
John and Country Tyres Yass are thankful for the community’s interest, attributing loyalty and support to the business’s growth and existence.
“It’s on the back of the locals being tremendously supportive. Yass is a really supportive town and they understand that without supporting local business, they have no choice but to go to Canberra.”
Griffin Palen
