How old is too old for tires?

[BrainThicknessVariation]

I struggle with this. Most of my fun cars see maybe 2k/year if that and are always garaged. I typically use 7-8 years in service, but it sill galls me to see tires tossed w/ ~15k on them if that and usually less, but its safety and fun. The Yoko's on my Lotus got scary in the wet at 6 or so, but I haven't noticed much of a difference with the Contis, Michelins or Vredesteins, but the latter do seem to lose pressure quicker than the others. The old Rovers get 10 years, but I'm not exactly corner carving with them.

Cost for playing I guess, but still irritating.

About two years ago, I put on Craigslist some original '05 Corvette run flats that had less than 5k miles. Free with pickup. They drove like rocks. The DWS06 I put on were wonderful.

Anyway, that vehicle was eventually totaled before It even had 20k miles on it

 

[TacoTanium]

It depends how aggressive of a driver you are and not as much the situation. An aggressive daily driving can tear it down pretty quickly.

Since 2016 & 25k is about 3k per year, depends on the history it had, I would keep using it knowing my own driving style.

 

[MrJayhawk]

I knew a guy who had a cheap 1985 little GMC Jimmy. It was like a toy. He only drove it within his town I doubt he ever got over 40 mph. At 35,000 miles and thirty years, it still had the tires that came on it. With white walls.

Buddy of mine has a 71 Buick Skylark convertible as a sunny day car. He was driving today and had a blow out at 20mph. Date code showed tire was 29 years old. He admitted he had looked at replacing them but ‘ just hadnt gotten to it’. He is now.

 

[oil pan 4]

My buddy just finished off snow tires that were 12 years old. They went on his car for maybe 3 months a year and were stored in his basement in the off season.
Stored in the basement was the key.
It's going to take 6 to 8years to wear out the tires on my pickup so I'm CO2 filling them so hopefully they last longer.

 

[andy2001]

For me 10 years for car tires , less for motorcycles.

 

[SaberOne]

I would replace them if it was my car. I’ve lived in the desert most of my life, and all of my out-of-town driving is nearly 200 miles of open desert freeway. I am very conscientious when it comes to tires, water, and battery for this reason. To add to that mix, I somehow became old and that adds another element.

 

[NewEnglander]

Boston driving in all four seasons, even moderate driving, I'm not pushing past five years.

There are four points of contact with your ride and the road. Don't second guess it too much.

 

[Enthusiast]

6 years is the replacement time. Not worth taking a chance. Trust me, you don't want to be injured in a car wreck. Tires are cheap, wrecks are expensive.

 

[97prizm]

Tires on my 17 Regal GS are 2016 with 25K, plenty of tread an sidewalls look good, Pirelli P Zero's, car is garage kept. checking the web anywhere from 6 to 8 years is recommended. would hate to have to buy new tires with these looking as good as they are. Only complaint is that they are getting noisy.

After about 5 years or so tires start degrading whether garage kept or not.

Inevitably from the tire manufacturers who want to sell more tires. If they aren't dry rotted, I'd run 20 year old tires. And I probably actually have some like that on cars I bought 10 years ago and put in storage.

 

[97prizm]

Inevitably from the tire manufacturers who want to sell more tires. If they aren't dry rotted, I'd run 20 year old tires. And I probably actually have some like that on cars I bought 10 years ago and put in storage.

Tire age was partially to blame when investigators looked at the wreck that killed Paul Walker. And make no mistake they were driving waaaay too fast for being on the street. When the wreckage was gone through the owner of the Porsche Carrera GT was driving on the original tires. By then they had hardened, and had unpredictable handling characteristics. Maybe a show car can get away with ten plus year old tires when it's being towed on a trailer.

 

[CarlB]

Tires on my 17 Regal GS are 2016 with 25K, plenty of tread an sidewalls look good, Pirelli P Zero's, car is garage kept. checking the web anywhere from 6 to 8 years is recommended. would hate to have to buy new tires with these looking as good as they are. Only complaint is that they are getting noisy.

They are likely "bad" at this point.

But lots of people roll around on aged out tires and never notice any difference. Since as they dry out they don't just flip a switch and explode, but are always degrading from age.

If you don't care about the grip (safety) of the tire, then carry on.

 

[Kira]

Here's one NOBODY is likely to admit to:
Anybody ever get into a crash or even a simple breakdown due to ancient tires AND have the responding police give an equipment citation for bad tires? Or, an insurance company denying a claim due to "bad tires"?

 

[CarlB]

Here's one NOBODY is likely to admit to:
Anybody ever get into a crash or even a simple breakdown due to ancient tires AND have the responding police give an equipment citation for bad tires? Or, an insurance company denying a claim due to "bad tires"?

That doesn't prove or disprove the inability for common-folk to understand tire health.

 

[Allaneddie]

You don't drive much but do drive enough to know they are noisy. You will be happy with new tires. If snow or ice is not important in your area, get a good set of real "summer" tires and not all weather treads. Sound will be much less from your tires.

 

[Kira]

TO CarlB: It wasn't intended to.
I was just wondering if anyone has ever learned, "the hard way".

My first car was 3 days in my possession. I knew it needed tires.
I drove gently through an intersection on a rainy night and the car skidded.
I was amazed given how slow I was going.
Next day-new tires.

 

[CarlB]

TO CarlB: It wasn't intended to.
I was just wondering if anyone has ever learned, "the hard way".

My first car was 3 days in my possession. I knew it needed tires.
I drove gently through an intersection on a rainy night and the car skidded.
I was amazed given how slow I was going.
Next day-new tires.

Has anyone ever crashed because their tires were wrong for the given driving conditions? Absolutely.
Did they know it afterwards? Yes, no and everything in between.

 

[KevinMalone]

I was going through a BMW manual to verify tire pressures and came across this:

Wasn't aware that BMW had a stance on this. It seems to be on the conservative end of the recommended 6-10 years depending on climate.

 

[burnbomber]

We had a puncture on a 7 year old OEM tire; the repair shop (a national chain) announced they would fix the flat, but that it was against their policy. This was a small town bedroom community; I think if the tire showed age cracking or the shop was in a big city, they would have refused the fix. BTW, the car has always been garaged, and with 30k miles on it.

 

[Just Dropped In]

Tires on my '79 Caddy are 18 years old. The car is garaged, and just driven a few miles a year. No cracks or dry rot, but the rubber is somewhat hardened. I'm getting ready to put something new on, but there's not much to choose from due to the 1.3"-1.5" whitewalls needed.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

This exactly. It's a bit ridiculous when people insist on replacing perfectly fine tires after 5-6 years under the guise of safety. There is wayyyy more safety factor in tires then we give them credit for.

If the vehicle is in a climate-controlled garage removed from sun bleaching (UV/IR degradation) they could have a longer serviceable life. Vehicle on jacks would help here too. Also dry air in the tire.
Speed rated tires are likely made with better materials.

I had a vintage rear tire on my old Suzuki 500 2-stroke cafe bike let go at speed. That was a pucker moment.

Blew a left front on my V8 Vega drag car at over 100mph. No problem at all, other than the fender getting mangled from the disintegration. Helped that I was going straight. Rear tire would be a different story. - Arco