Why are drivers seemingly not bothered by old tyres?
Discussion
Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but does anyone find it amazing how many vehicle owners (especially on classic vehicles) don't bother replacing really old tyres?
Several vehicles I've bought in the last 5 years had exceptionally old tyres on them.
Last week I bought a campervan which had just had a very expensive night heater just fitted... and guess how old the rear tyres were? 2008!! The previous owner had recently done several large motorway trips to with his family in it too... On vans you can get good budget tyres for £65 each.
Am I overestimating the risk of old tyres?
Several vehicles I've bought in the last 5 years had exceptionally old tyres on them.
Last week I bought a campervan which had just had a very expensive night heater just fitted... and guess how old the rear tyres were? 2008!! The previous owner had recently done several large motorway trips to with his family in it too... On vans you can get good budget tyres for £65 each.
Am I overestimating the risk of old tyres?
Harry you Potter said:
I see no issue. The tyre manufacturers are trying to scaremonger so we buy tyres more often.
Naa, I'm usually on the side of it'll be fine but old tyres go hard and in the wet have seriously reduced grip. I nearly stacked my TVR when I bought a new set of wheels with tyres. They looked like new.
Shooter McGavin said:
As with everything it is condition over age.
I've got a Kawasaki ZX7R motorbike which sees little use, its tyres are ancient but they are in great shape, despite being "old".
The tyres in your picture have cracked sidewalls which I personally would not trust.
How old is your helmet?I've got a Kawasaki ZX7R motorbike which sees little use, its tyres are ancient but they are in great shape, despite being "old".
The tyres in your picture have cracked sidewalls which I personally would not trust.
In the Porsche community folk go on about this day in day out. They pootle around in their Porsha - to and from the shops and change all tyres after 5 year regardless of tread depth, cracking or owt. Tyres are replaced with Michelin Pilot 4S and £1k a set. It’s like a religion to them.
balham123 said:
Imagine a lot of people have no idea what the codes mean.
Including me.
Ten second Google:-Including me.
https://www.michelin.co.uk/auto/advice/tyre-basics...
It’s all to do with storage and usage conditions. If tyres are kept relatively stable in terms of humidity and temperature and do not see much light then they can last a long time. I have one set which are now 25 years old and the mot tester says they are fine with no cracking or block deformation. The car has 80 bhp so it’s not a big deal and I think I can feel the difference between them and “new” but they are not unsafe in any way. It’s because they have not really seen any “environment”. Equally though those which are kept outside and suffer real changes in environment can be toast in five years. I have a baby super car on 10 year old tyres and I will probably change them this year. Clearly if you track all the time you will want to do things more often. But I drive in the way only we can now nowadays in the U.K. - in traffic. The ten year rule no longer applies.
Worrying about the age of tyres seems to be a recent obsession!
In fact I don't think there was any date marking until recently. I've never replaced tyres because of their age, but have changed tyres showing signs of cracking.
Having said that they don't seem to last too long these days. My sister bought a 2018 Fiat 500 in 2021 with less than 10K miles and when it had it's first MOT in 2021 there were advisories for all 4 Pirelli Run-flats.
In fact I don't think there was any date marking until recently. I've never replaced tyres because of their age, but have changed tyres showing signs of cracking.
Having said that they don't seem to last too long these days. My sister bought a 2018 Fiat 500 in 2021 with less than 10K miles and when it had it's first MOT in 2021 there were advisories for all 4 Pirelli Run-flats.
I think there's an element of common sense to approaching this rather than using dates. If the tires look visibly perished or cracking, replace. If not, they're likely fine.
I'm more bothered about people fitting new plastic chinese ditchfinders to their cars than having an old set of decent quality tires.
I'm more bothered about people fitting new plastic chinese ditchfinders to their cars than having an old set of decent quality tires.
Mr Tidy said:
Worrying about the age of tyres seems to be a recent obsession!
In fact I don't think there was any date marking until recently. I've never replaced tyres because of their age, but have changed tyres showing signs of cracking.
I did change all 4 tyres on the Caterham when I got it because they were 21 years old, but in fairness the car had only done 4k miles though from new, so they still looked like new to be fair. In fact I don't think there was any date marking until recently. I've never replaced tyres because of their age, but have changed tyres showing signs of cracking.
I don't know if I did the right thing or not really, because they're wasn't any cracking on them or anything. But I did it for a bit of piece of mind, but it could be argued that it wasn't worth it though as you say I think.
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