Is it safe to buy 6 year old tires?

[atikovi]

My question is why?
I just got the same tire for my sons car brand new at Sam’s Club for 117 with an $80 rebate on 4

Just picked up these pair of Continental Extreme Contact tires in a similar size for $70. $35 for nearly new tires that probably cost over $150 new, that's why.

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[UncleDave]

There are guys that have always been rich and have never used up a tire or set completely, blown a tire, never bought used or old tires.
I didn't grow up that way, and we always used stuff till it was gone and bought good take offs so Ive spent time as a youth calling around looking for deals.

Getting real about buying old tires I use the following formula-

Car tires - never mounted- stored inside & 6 years old = 60% off.

Never seen one fail in under ten years stored like this, but they are 60% gone from age alone.

 

[Stinger63]

Just picked up these pair of Continental Extreme Contact tires in a similar size for $70. $35 for nearly new tires that probably cost over $150 new, that's why.

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That wasn’t the question I answered
He asked about buying 6 year old new tires vs this years at the same price

 

[Stinger63]

There are guys that have always been rich and have never used up a tire or set completely, blown a tire, never bought used or old tires.
I didn't grow up that way, and we always used stuff till it was gone and bought good take offs so Ive spent time as a youth calling around looking for deals.

Getting real about buying old tires I use the following formula-

Car tires - never mounted- stored inside & 6 years old = 60% off.

Never seen one fail in under ten years stored like this, but they are 60% gone from age alone.

I really burn up the road in for a while I was buying used tires
40-50 dollars mounted and balanced every 6 months
Then find that they were plugs in them putting air in all the time
The time involved
Now that I’m over the hump it’s easier just to buy new ones and be done with it

 

[UncleDave]

I really burn up the road in for a while I was buying used tires
40-50 dollars mounted and balanced every 6 months
Then find that they were plugs in them putting air in all the time
The time involved
Now that I’m over the hump it’s easier just to buy new ones and be done with it

To me..buying used means buying when the right pair or better comes along vs. when buying when you need them like when you can afford new.
It's not always possible to find good used at the time of need, and rushing gets you plugs, or to thin to be worth it.

Sounds like you got burned, you've got to trust your source implicitly, or inspect closely any take offs yourself.

Unused but older with the label still on it is a better bet.

 

[researcher]

I change all my tires regardless of tread depth every 5-6 years, rubber degenerate and it's not always visible.
Now if you were to use them locally for a very short while that may be OK, but I'd not make long term plans on them.

I agree Pelican! My last set of tires on the civic were about 6 years old (when I got rid of them) and you could tell the rubber was getting harder, less pliable, the ride was also getting harsh! Looking at the tread and sidewall, no dry rotting or separation, but yes I find that about 6 years old the current rubber composition of tires seems to lose it's ability to function at 100%! The new tires (fresh) show how much better the tires should be performing!

Otherwise I usually get rid of tires at the 4/32" tread depth, and that usually is about 5-6 years so it works out. I find anything less than that isn't good for water evacuation or snow traction.

 

[michaelluscher]

Ask Paul Walker how it worked out for him

Unless they're sole purpose is to keep it from sitting on bricks, buy newer

 

[UncleDave]

Ask Paul Walker how it worked out for him

Did the tires get the blame for that?

 

[TheLawnRanger]

I wouldn't.

 

[Pelican]

I agree Pelican! My last set of tires on the civic were about 6 years old (when I got rid of them) and you could tell the rubber was getting harder, less pliable, the ride was also getting harsh! Looking at the tread and sidewall, no dry rotting or separation, but yes I find that about 6 years old the current rubber composition of tires seems to lose it's ability to function at 100%! The new tires (fresh) show how much better the tires should be performing!

Otherwise I usually get rid of tires at the 4/32" tread depth, and that usually is about 5-6 years so it works out. I find anything less than that isn't good for water evacuation or snow traction.

Learned a hard lesson when I wiped-out on black ice on nokian snows that had been on my car for 5 yrs, but were built 2 yrs prior so they were 7 yo and as hard as stone.

 

[researcher]

Learned a hard lesson when I wiped-out on black ice on nokian snows that had been on my car for 5 yrs, but were built 2 yrs prior so they were 7 yo and as hard as stone.

I would take a couple inches of snow over black ice ANY DAY! but ya I noticed how hard the going on 6 year old tires were on dry pavement.. Replacement much softer/pliable and you can feel the difference in grip! But about the black ice, glad you're ok! but those kinds of things prove why tires need to be replaced at 6+ years, at first people could say it's the tire companies trying to make money, actually it's really age.

 

[billt460]

6 year old tires are nothing. My truck is a 1991 F-150. 31 years old with over 160,000 miles on it. A few years back I bought a new set of tires for it. (The 4th set including the tires that came on the car when it was delivered new). I had never touched the spare, except to add air every once and a while.

When Discount sold me the last set of 4, they pulled the spare out from under the truck, and the guy couldn't believe it was the same one the truck was delivered with. He told me the tire was dry rotted, and was totally unsafe. I said as long as it holds air, I'm good with it. He argued with me, and being the cheap SOB I am, I didn't budge.

In desperation, he finally GAVE ME A NEW 5th tire FOR FREE, as a spare replacement! He said he couldn't in good conscience let me leave with that crappy, rotten old spare. I told him that it still had the little rubber nipples on the tread, because it had never been mounted. He just smiled at me, shaking his head as he walked away.

 

[thunderous1335]

6 year old tires are nothing. My truck is a 1991 F-150. 31 years old with over 160,000 miles on it. A few years back I bought a new set of tires for it. (The 4th set including the tires that came on the car when it was delivered new). I had never touched the spare, except to add air every once and a while.

When Discount sold me the last set of 4, they pulled the spare out from under the truck, and the guy couldn't believe it was the same one the truck was delivered with. He told me the tire was dry rotted, and was totally unsafe. I said as long as it holds air, I'm good with it. He argued with me, and being the cheap SOB I am, I didn't budge.

In desperation, he finally GAVE ME A NEW 5th tire FOR FREE, as a spare replacement! He said he couldn't in good conscience let me leave with that crappy, rotten old spare. I told him that it still had the little rubber nipples on the tread, because it had never been mounted. He just smiled at me, shaking his head as he walked away.

Regardless of your beliefs, using a spare tire from 1991 is stupid and you should feel like an idiot for thinking that there's nothing bad about it.

 

[atikovi]

Here we go.

 

[billt460]

Regardless of your beliefs, using a spare tire from 1991 is stupid and you should feel like an idiot for thinking that there's nothing bad about it.

I never used it. It was so stupid, and I was such an idiot, I got a free new tire out of it. He was smiling at me in the lot. Where as I reserved my smile, until I turned the corner out of the place.

 

[Wolf359]

6 year old tires are nothing. My truck is a 1991 F-150. 31 years old with over 160,000 miles on it. A few years back I bought a new set of tires for it. (The 4th set including the tires that came on the car when it was delivered new). I had never touched the spare, except to add air every once and a while.

When Discount sold me the last set of 4, they pulled the spare out from under the truck, and the guy couldn't believe it was the same one the truck was delivered with. He told me the tire was dry rotted, and was totally unsafe. I said as long as it holds air, I'm good with it. He argued with me, and being the cheap SOB I am, I didn't budge.

In desperation, he finally GAVE ME A NEW 5th tire FOR FREE, as a spare replacement! He said he couldn't in good conscience let me leave with that crappy, rotten old spare. I told him that it still had the little rubber nipples on the tread, because it had never been mounted. He just smiled at me, shaking his head as he walked away.

Was it a full size spare? I'm surprised they didn't mount one of the old tires that still had some tread on there instead of giving you a new tire.

 

[billt460]

Was it a full size spare? I'm surprised they didn't mount one of the old tires that still had some tread on there instead of giving you a new tire.

Yes. The tires that were replaced were 31 X 10.5 X 15 Goodyear Wranglers. He didn't use any of them as a spare because they were well worn, (down to the warning strips), and the tread was starting to separate on one of them.

I actually ended up getting 2 out of the 5 tires, "free". The original deal they had going on with the tires I ended up buying, (Falken 31 X 10.5 X 15's), were, "Buy 3 and get the 4th tire "free". So between that, and the "free" spare he tossed in, I paid for 3 and ended up with 5.

I never bought, (or even heard of Falken tires before this), so his generosity made me a little skeptical of the quality of what I was buying. But I have to say, they're wearing very well, and holding up as good, or better than the Goodyear Wranglers did. And they are A LOT quieter. So I can't complain one bit. I would definitely buy them again.

 

[billt460]

I should also mention that part of the reason he gave me a new tire, was the original unused full size spare was the wrong size. When I bought the truck new, it came with P235's on it. They weren't even LT rated. Needless to say they wore away in a bit over 20,000 miles. Not to mention they looked stupid on a full size truck with an 8' bed. When I bought the first set of new tires for it, the local tire shop here suggested I go with the 31 X 10.5 X 15's.

So I did, and never bothered with the spare. That first set of 31's were Remington's. They weren't half bad. After I wore them off, on went a set of Goodyear Wrangler's. Next were the Falken's from Discount. The fact I had an oddball size spare, (along with the fact it was there since the truck rolled off the assembly line), I'm sure contributed to his generous decision.

 

[jughead]

If the guy wants you to meet him in a dark alley...

 

[OILJUNKIE]

I would run them, but I've never had a set of tires last me a year. How old do you think they will be when you replace them?

Jethro, Do you do a burnout from every stoplight?