4 New General RT45 tires with very different manufacture dates

[cb474]

I got four new General Altimax RT45 tires for my partner's car, which I ordered from Tire Rack. After I picked the car up from the installer, I noticed that two of the tires had 1724 manufacture dates and the other two 0425. Should I care? There is both the fact in itself that two of the tires are 1 1/2 years old and there is the odd fact of having two tires that are 1 1/2 years old (18 months) and two that are only 9 months old. I also noticed the two older tires have some white residue on the side, like they got wet at some point and something got on them (making it not exactly seem like they were stored in an ideal fashion).

The car probably does about 12K per year. The current tires (Michelin Defenders) aged out and got sidewall cracking, but had plenty of tread left on them after six years. So on that basis, I'm hoping these new General tires will last six years, before they age out.

I've never had Tire Rack send me tires that are older than one year before, nor tires that have radically different manufacture dates (sometimes they might be off by a month), so it didn't really occur to me to check before the tires were installed. In the past, I have preferred Tire Rack as a tire source because I figure they do so much volume that you will tend to get tires with newer manufacture dates and because I have more (misplaced?) faith that the tires are stored properly. I even sort of thought Tire Rack said that they don't sell tires that are more than a year old. Anyway, I don' t know, I kind of feel like Tire Rack is going down hill.

 

[The_Jeff]

Call their customer service with your concern. I wouldn't have one-- tires are preserved-- but it's a good test to see their response. And you do have a right to be annoyed.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Call their customer service with your concern. I wouldn't have one-- tires are preserved-- but it's a good test to see their response. And you do have a right to be annoyed.

Why does OP have a right to be annoyed? He ordered unused tires. Tire Rack delivered unused tires. While it IS best practice and looks like FIFO may not have been followed here, how do you know the older two weren’t the last tires from the last order of that model that Tire Rack placed?

The older tires have the same warranty as the new ones do. Somebody was going to get those two tires, it just happened to him. If OP decides to be annoyed, he should take his business to a locally-owned tire shop where he can put eyes on product.

 

[skyactiv]

I'd just live with it. The General RT43 seemed overhyped by the herd and when the RT45 came out it became unfamiliar and lost its herd mentality good or bad. I think Conti/General had higher expectations for the RT45 but many of those shoppers probably switched down a notch to cheaper Asian tires since.

 

[nwjones18]

That age gap wouldn't keep me from running them, but I'd be mildly annoyed as well.

 

[Cujet]

I'd be very likely to accept it also, unless they were ultra high performance sports car tires. But when paying $450 per tire, it is OK to demand fresh tires.

As I am sure you know, tires will remain soft and fresh when stored at the distribution center for quite some time. At least 5 years, and in ideal conditions, as much as 10 years. We stored new vintage race car tires for many years without issue.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

That is not a problem. There is nothing wrong with that

 

[IndyIan]

I'd be very likely to accept it also, unless they were ultra high performance sports car tires. But when paying $450 per tire, it is OK to demand fresh tires.

As I am sure you know, tires will remain soft and fresh when stored at the distribution center for quite some time. At least 5 years, and in ideal conditions, as much as 10 years. We stored new vintage race car tires for many years without issue.

Yep, I got some very old (8-10 yrs) x-ice unmounted tires that were found in the back corner of a dealerships tire storage shed. I actually hoped they were hardened up a bit as a I ran year round, but they worked and wore, like new snow tires. The white stuff is the protectant/release agent and seems only show up after a couple years of sitting around, but if you've got tires with that on them, you know they've never been used.
For the OP, at 12k/yr and in 6 years when they are worn out, the difference in tire age won't matter.

 

[charbaby]

I think that every set of 4 tires I have purchased either locally or online were all different in their date of mfg. Maybe 2 were the same!
The only tires that I've seen with the same dates on all 4 were the OE that came on my new vehicles. You can't control who is pulling our new tires from the warehouse. They just grab the desired amount of tire(being 1 or 4 tires) and send them either to shipping(online purchase) or the local installer(the service dept). We'd have to pull tires ourselves in order to get what we want for ourselves.

 

[bdcardinal]

Its funny with ordering tires from my suppliers. When no-one cares about date codes, they all come in with the same one. The second a customer insists on it and I call or enter a special request, I am told that they cannot guarantee matching date codes. Apparently that requires one more brain cell than they are willing to pay someone to use.

 

[CleanSump]

OCD. Putting too much thought into it as they'll likely be worn out and replaced before they rot.

 

[cb474]

The white stuff is the protectant/release agent and seems only show up after a couple years of sitting around, but if you've got tires with that on them, you know they've never been used.

Oh, that's interesting and good to know. Thanks.

I think that every set of 4 tires I have purchased either locally or online were all different in their date of mfg.

Yeah, when I get tires they're never exactly the same. But the differences are usually a month or two. Nine months just seemed like a lot.

 

[Mainia]

If it is for a car that gets driven "normally" I would not have an issue, they are not being sun baked sitting in a warehouse. But if I am going 90 mph in a corner, fully loaded at high G's, I would want the newer matched tires. Just saying.

 

[FordP3]

If it is for a car that gets driven "normally" I would not have an issue, they are not being sun baked sitting in a warehouse. But if I am going 90 mph in a corner, fully loaded at high G's, I would want the newer matched tires. Just saying.

That's what high priced specialty dealers are for.