I mean I disagree. A gouge would be a big chuck taken out, a scratch would be a more surface level line where as a scuff would be a patch of surface level damage. I doubt I would ever use scuff in terms of a tyre either.
That is the wonders of language though, everyone uses it differently :D
I'm not saying it can't be scuffed, I'm saying that personally I wouldn't use it in that way because like you say I'm from an island that spells tyre with a y :p