Do you replace tires due to age?

[Car-Guy]

But, but, but there are no safety requirements mandated by the state!

But, but, but, now the cops can stop you "anytime" and do a spot check to be sure your vehicle is safe to operate on the roadway. e.g. probably cause.

 

[aja8888]

But, but, but, now the cops can stop you "anytime" and do a spot check to be sure your vehicle is safe to operate on the roadway. e.g. probably cause.

Kind of a double edge sword, no mandatory safety inspection program and cops can make a determination based on what THEY think is safe or not. Really a lousy setup for all parties. I suppose if you got a ticket for tires with minimal tread, a judge would have to rule if you decided to go to court.

 

[Badger]

I'm glad I saw this thread. Between losing track of time and low milage this came as a good reminder. I still have the tires that were on my car when I bought it new in Nov. 2019. I haven't checked the manufacture date yet. Even though they only have about 23k miles, the Florida sun, not being garaged, and being about 5.5 yrs old I need to keep a watch on them.

 

[Mark1]

I too am glad I saw this thread. I have never been in a position where my tires lasted over 6 years, but now with 3 vehicles and one of them being a seldom used pickup I need to keep an eye on my truck tires. Truck is now almost 8 years old with original tires and only 19,000 miles.

My inspection plan is to give my tires a good yearly inspection using a flashlight and running my hand over the tread and sidewall looking for any budging or signs of deterioration after 6 years. I plan to replace the tires at the 10 year mark, regardless of tread wear. Inspection took me maybe 10 minutes yesterday.

Funny thing is that my tires show a date of 1017 (Oct 2017) although I bought the truck new in Sept 2017.

 

[Flieger]

Funny thing is that my tires show a date of 1017 (Oct 2017) although I bought the truck new in Sept 2017.

That's actually the 10th week of 2017, so March.

Flieger

 

[Jerry1]

Funny thing is that my tires show a date of 1017 (Oct 2017) although I bought the truck new in Sept 2017.

I think 1017 is the tenth week of 2017.

 

[kgtest]

I recently started racing a sports car on track. $1200 for 4 200 tread wear tires...and they last maybe 3 track days. OUCH! Maybe I should post that in BTD. I don't see myself doing this more than a year or two and maybe 5 track days over that time. Tires make a HUGE impact on how your car handles on the pavement.

 

[freedomatlast]

Yes, you definitely want to replace tires that are six years old, regardless of how much tread they have left.

This is propaganda from the tire manufacturers to sell tires that's repeated so often that many believe it as fact.

Like most "one size fits all" statements, it's not worth the paper it's written on.

The conditions to which the tires are subjected, the quality of the tire and if they've been maintained at proper pressure all are contributing factors to tire life.

 

[Jerry1]

Tires make a HUGE impact on how your car handles on the pavement.

I’ve always likened getting new tires to the feeling you get when you get new sneakers. You don’t notice how much your old shoes (tires) were worn out until you put on a new pair (set).

 

[sengsational]

This is propaganda from the tire manufacturers to sell tires that's repeated so often that many believe it as fact.

You mean the guy who stands to make more money isn't being completely honest? I'm SHOCKED! Shocked, I tell you!

 

[Jerry1]

As with most things, the legalities play a role beyond just the profit motive. If manufacturers said that tires last 10 years, imagine the lawsuits from people who don’t pay attention to their tires and having a serious or fatal accident from a blowout. Of course the tires were in a hot sunny environment for 9 years with obvious signs of dry rot, “but the manufacturer said they were good for ten years”. The manufacturers have to fall on the side of being overly cautious.

 

[CRLLS]

I have a car that had tires well over 25 years old. I say "over" because prior to the year 2000, tires only had a 3 digit code using the week and only the last digit of the year. So 109 could be the 10th week of 1999 or 1989 or 1979. You get the point. Truth be told, it is a project car and I just used those tires while restoring it and being able to roll it back and forth in the garage. I would never actually drive a car with tires over 10 years old. I put about 7k miles each on my 2 DDs. Living in snowy place and needing good grip, I replace them well before the allowed tire wear or age.

I did have tires on my trailer that were likely 20 years old. I don't use that trailer more than a few miles a year and never on the highway. I did replace them about 2-3 years ago due to cracked rubber.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

But, but, but, now the cops can stop you "anytime" and do a spot check to be sure your vehicle is safe to operate on the roadway. e.g. probably cause.

In PA, they have yearly inspections AND local and state police can stop you anytime if they see an obvious safety issue.

A couple years ago I was pulled over by a NJ state officer for a headlight being out while driving in NJ. No ticket issued. I think they were looking for a reason to pull me over. Might've been a slow night.

IMO, if a police officer stops behind a car at a traffic light and sees an obvious safety problem (bald tires, exhaust pipe hanging, overly tinted wheels, tires sticking out too much, etc.) I think that's a good thing for everyone. A lot can happen between yearly inspections, and there are also "sketchy" inspection stations that pass sketchy cars for their friends.

 

[wrigley]

Never had a set of tires last that long.

 

[surprising]

In PA, they have yearly inspections AND local and state police can stop you anytime if they see an obvious safety issue.

A couple years ago I was pulled over by a NJ state officer for a headlight being out while driving in NJ. No ticket issued. I think they were looking for a reason to pull me over. Might've been a slow night.

IMO, if a police officer stops behind a car at a traffic light and sees an obvious safety problem (bald tires, exhaust pipe hanging, overly tinted wheels, tires sticking out too much, etc.) I think that's a good thing for everyone. A lot can happen between yearly inspections, and there are also "sketchy" inspection stations that pass sketchy cars for their friends.

Recently learned that my neighbor Washington State stopped requiring yearly DEQ testing a few years ago with the reasoning that new cars are pretty clean nowadays and smog is down, so it's not necessary. Sure, newer cars are cleaner, but there are plenty of older cars still on the roads. Another consequence is diesel owners deleting emissions components on their trucks since they no longer are being tested.

Recently went to DEQ here in Oregon and an older pickup ahead of me was visibly smoking from the exhaust. He pulled into the bay and they looked at his truck, saw the smoke, and waved him right through without even doing any tests.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

Recently learned that my neighbor Washington State stopped requiring yearly DEQ testing a few years ago with the reasoning that new cars are pretty clean nowadays and smog is down, so it's not necessary. Sure, newer cars are cleaner, but there are plenty of older cars still on the roads. Another consequence is diesel owners deleting emissions components on their trucks since they no longer are being tested.

Recently went to DEQ here in Oregon and an older pickup ahead of me was visibly smoking from the exhaust. He pulled into the bay and they looked at his truck, saw the smoke, and waved him right through without even doing any tests.

Catalytic converter theft is a problem in our area, and elsewhere. It particularly sucks if you own an old car, since some insurers will total the car if you put in a claim because some OEM converters are expensive (Honda I'm looking at you), and cheap Amazon sourced ones tend to have problems.

In states without emission inspections, it's easy to just straight pipe the exhaust without replacing the converter. It also prevents a theft reoccurrence, and damages from the dope with the sawzall mangling the exhaust system.

It sucks all the way around.

 

[gwill1010]

I think what matters is
- Where is your car parked (Kept out of the sun 95% of the time in a somewhat temp controlled environment.?)
- How often you drive it (You don't want flat spots developing on them and rubber needs to be exercised)

It would be tough to convince me to replace tires with a good bit of tread before 8 years if I do the above.

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

I replaced my garage kept car tires after 10 years. Tread was probably still at 50 percent.

Held my nose and jumped on a tire rack sale at least.

Part of my reasoning was the litigious society we live in. So there's that consideration.

 

[Dash man]

In PA, they have yearly inspections AND local and state police can stop you anytime if they see an obvious safety issue.

A couple years ago I was pulled over by a NJ state officer for a headlight being out while driving in NJ. No ticket issued. I think they were looking for a reason to pull me over. Might've been a slow night.

IMO, if a police officer stops behind a car at a traffic light and sees an obvious safety problem (bald tires, exhaust pipe hanging, overly tinted wheels, tires sticking out too much, etc.) I think that's a good thing for everyone. A lot can happen between yearly inspections, and there are also "sketchy" inspection stations that pass sketchy cars for their friends.

Pennsylvania also controls tire aging with potholes. Potholes take out tires frequently enough keep tires fresh.

 

[Ian S]

For those with a spare tire, do you replace it?

We have a full size spare on the back of our 2004 CRV. I think we finally replaced the spare last year with one of the 4 that were being replaced.

My compact spare is 15 years old. I had occasion to ask Discount Tire to put it on a couple of years ago while waiting for a new tire. They said they could not do that due to its age.

 

[Koolau]

Probably less than 5% of the states population lives west of San Antonio, or about that 1/2 of the state. If you are looking for traffic, try about 200 miles east of San Antonio. You can take your pick of any of the 26 lanes on I-10 once you get into Houston. Often (usually) they are jam packed and move along at a crawl.

Yes. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt!

 

[Koolau]

I recently started racing a sports car on track. $1200 for 4 200 tread wear tires...and they last maybe 3 track days. OUCH! Maybe I should post that in BTD. I don't see myself doing this more than a year or two and maybe 5 track days over that time. Tires make a HUGE impact on how your car handles on the pavement.

Yes, but think of all the prize money you are winning!!

 

[Koolau]

Catalytic converter theft is a problem in our area, and elsewhere. It particularly sucks if you own an old car, since some insurers will total the car if you put in a claim because some OEM converters are expensive (Honda I'm looking at you), and cheap Amazon sourced ones tend to have problems.

In states without emission inspections, it's easy to just straight pipe the exhaust without replacing the converter. It also prevents a theft reoccurrence, and damages from the dope with the sawzall mangling the exhaust system.

It sucks all the way around.

Yes. AND so easy to prevent. Make it the responsibility of the scrap yard or used-parts dealer. Strict liability laws would curb theft. If you have a stolen cat conv. you go to jail - no exceptions. Buying a dozen stolen Cat Conv. from lefty the known thief would stop pretty quickly.

It really irritates me as well that the people involved in stealing actually get relatively little money from the theft. But the poor victim has to pay hundreds to get the vehicle "legal" again.

We had a battery stolen one time. To make it quicker, they simply cut the cables. Heh, heh, if the guy was susceptible to negative waves, I'm guessing his ears were burning when I found the cut cables.

 

[APP01]

I recently started racing a sports car on track. $1200 for 4 200 tread wear tires...and they last maybe 3 track days. OUCH! Maybe I should post that in BTD. I don't see myself doing this more than a year or two and maybe 5 track days over that time. Tires make a HUGE impact on how your car handles on the pavement.

Like you I also race, except I drag race and and have for decades. Depending upon how many times I get to the track between April and October, I have to replace my rear tires at usually once at about $700 for two slicks. Bigger expense is race fuel at $35 a gallon, and I go through about .65 gallons in one 1/4 mile pass, so not good mpg , but worth every bit.

 

[Al18]

I look at a tire and if I see cracking, thin remaining tread or a damaged sidewall - it gets replaced. Using a penny to check allowable tread depth is worthless, in my opinion. In NJ, the telephone/utility polls are placed close to the road edge, so it’s a big safety issue.