How old is too old for tires?

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My daughter has a 2003 Grand Am. A few years ago the front OE tires needed replacing but she couldn't afford new ones. I found a nice set of Michelins with great tread on craigslist and they have performed well. But fast forward to today and she's running tires that are 7 years old even though they still have 6/32s. Replace because of age or ride them out since they are a name brand?
 
I would continue riding the sets of Michelins but not for too long though. If you your Michelins have made her happy and trouble free for seven years, then I perfectly see no reason why you should not go with a new set of Michelins. Enjoy your tires !
 
I changed mine at 6 years old and they were perfect. 66,000mi plenty of tread 5/32 & 6/32nds, rolled smooth, no scuffs or cracks, I easily could have gone 20k more. I bought the exact same tires, Michelin Symmetry for my caddy.
 
Just keep an eye out for sidewall cracks and dry rot. At first signs of those, toss 'em.

Some people have time recommendations. 5 yrs, 7 yrs.... I've always figured that method to ignore tons of relevent variables. I've got 6 yr old Yokohama's that have about 20k miles on them that I run for 5 mo over the winter, and then store them covered in my cool basement. They still look practically new.

On the other hand I've seen 4 yr old tires that've sat outside during extreme hot and cold temps with the sun beating down on 'em. Dry rotted and cracked to [censored].

That's why I just eye 'em up good at every rotation and don't put too much weight on the age.
 
AS meangreen said dry rot is what you want to look for. I have 10 year old Goodyear Tires on the fron of my Explorer and they look like new.
 
The Michelins on our BMW are 20 years old and are still like new, but they are stored out of the elements and rubber dressing is always on them, not driven in the rain or salt.
 
on my 95 seville the tires are original with 40,001 miles on them they still look good i dont drive at high speeds with them anymore but they still look good they also live in a carpeted garage
 
I still have the OE Goodyears on my Cav( a bit over 6 years), and they still look good. (Granted, I thought different for a while) No cracks, rot. Cav is often either in the shade, or underneath something (like a carport), so that could explain why they have held up so well.

I'm no longer in a rush to reaplace them....
 
Recent bulletins from the tire industry indicate that tires degrade simply due to time. The age of a tire is important even if the tire is unused. There some disagreement over how to best express this age limitation, but my take is:

If you live in a hot climate (AZ, CA, NV, TX, and FL) then the limit is six years. If you live in a cold climate (MN, ND, WI, MT, etc), then the limit is 10 years. States in between are ..... ah ........ in between.
 
Spare tires in 2 of my cars are 10 years or older. '94 LS400 spare was used once or twice in 16 years, '00 E430 spare is never used. No hairline cracks I can see on either tire, should I dump both spares because of time limit ?
 
Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Spare tires in 2 of my cars are 10 years or older. '94 LS400 spare was used once or twice in 16 years, '00 E430 spare is never used. No hairline cracks I can see on either tire, should I dump both spares because of time limit ?

I would say no, if you're only going to use them as a spare just to slowly drive to the nearest place to repair the flat. If you're the type that puts things off until tomorrow or the day after that, then keeping them may not be a good plan.
 
So...if I have 75% tread left, on a light car, (compact), in a coldish climate (MI), I wonder what mine would be?
 
Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
So...if I have 75% tread left, on a light car, (compact), in a coldish climate (MI), I wonder what mine would be?


I believe you are in the 10yr group ....



*Whew*


That's good. Gives me time to buy the tires I want....
 
I used to work in Livermore, CA and in the summer it is 110F with the desert sun 10 hours a day, my tires started exploding after 4 years with all the trend intact.
 
I try to keep fresh tires on the wife's vehicle... I don't want her to have a flat. Probably no more than 6 years old or so.

But on my own daily driver, I'll put on pretty much any tire that has tread and will fit. My '94 Corsica's ridiculously mismatched tires range from 17 years old to 8 years old. And really, I don't have many problems with them. These old junk tires do get damaged more easily as they wear thin and the rubber dries out. And now and then I'll run into one that won't balance properly... it'll make a bald spot before the rest of the tire wears out.
 
I'm on 10 years with my winter vehicle. The tires are showing fine crazing. This car has been garaged half the time and they are a type of high-mileage Michelin touring tires. I've seen 4 year old tires that looked worse.
 
I'm worried about this issue myself.

The original equipment Pirelli tires on my wife's Jaguar are now six years old, and I feel like I should change them on the basis of age, but the car has only about 24K miles on it and the tires still look good. Right now it is rarely driven as she prefers to drive her Torrent.

The ultra cheap Pep Boys tires on my '99 S-10 are also about six years old, but only have 20K on them, but are starting to show some signs of rot.

I'm sorta thinking I should change out all the old tires while oil is still cheap.
 
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