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Here's another thought process that comes to mind for me when I think of you guys with your 8-10 year old cars with only 30-odd k miles on them. Presumably you are not going to up and start driving a lot more anytime soon. With that in mind, if you get the new tires now, they should last another 6+ years, and then you will have had all the benefits of the fresh tread and so forth in the meantime. And they might be the last tires you buy for that car, depending upon how long you keep it.
I find it kind of akin to a house remodeling project. It is better if you remodel your home to get some use out of it yourself, rather than only fixing it up when it's time to sell and thinking "Gee, why didn't we do this a couple years ago so we could enjoy it?" Same with the tires. They are old, and most consensus is that at that age they should be replaced on age alone, not just miles. And my point is, if you do replace them, you will see some benefit in the ride and noise probably, in addition to making it less likely you have a catastrophic tire failure.
Short answer: I'd definitely replace them in both your cases. Heck, personally, I don't have your problem with my 4 regular tires, but I'm still fretting over a good solution for the spare! 13-year-old donut spare does not leave me hopeful. Yes, I have AAA, and I don't take the car on longer trips now, but I'd hate to be sidelined waiting for a tow when I could just put the spare on. I can't even get a minus-sized 14" tire to fit in the spare tire well so I either need to modify the cover in the trunk for it somehow or pay more than my regular tires to get a new donut. Or do nothing, which is what I have been doing. Heh.
Just pulled out my paperwork for one of my cars. The continentals currently on the car have 56K miles on them, and prob can still get another 10K. They are low on tread though, but not to the wear bars. I'll replace them before the snow flies as they were awesome in the snow on my AWD G35x.
My other car is a Mustang. I'm lucky to get 20K on those tires which are summer performance tires and feature a softer compound. I had a set of tires go in under 10K miles before. They were expensive too, but stuck like glue when i floored it
My BMW has runflats (no spare tire). A nightmare nightmare nightmare if one goes flat. Sure you can drive on it flat but only under 50mph and only to the next service station. Where, I guarantee you, they do NOT have your exact size in runflat replacement tires. Which, incidentally, also cost 25-50% more than regular tires in the first place.
But wait there's more! I went ahead and ordered runflats since my local tire store (Merchants) didn't carry them in my size, and guess what? When they arrived, Merchants also wasn't able to mount them. Their equipment 'couldn't break the bead' to get the existing tires off the rims even. Runflat sidewalls are too rigid for their apparatus. Had to take everything to the BMW dealer (fortunately close by) where mounting/balancing was $220.
Oh and since this thread is now about everything Did you know that new tires have a break-in period? Turns out the releasing agent sprayed into tire molds sticks to the tread and compromises traction for the first 100 miles or so. So drive very carefully on new tires. You heard it here first
Many new tires are very slippery the first few miles... especially in wet weather... seen several spin outs with brand new tires in the rain.
Don't know what to make of BMW's advancing technology...
Limiting tires to a Dealer sounds like a huge step backward... friend bought his wife a Z4 and when the time came went to the Dealer for 2 new ones... charged him over $500 AND THEY DID NOT PUT ON RUN FLATS!
I called to find out what was going on and they said their shipment didn't arrive so they were mounting regular tires on a car with no spare???
Sister in law has an Odyssey with run flats and lots of issues getting a replacement when she was on a trip.
I remember this when I purchase the Odyssey, the Touring (highest) model has the run flats, but no one really want them because of the pain and cost of replacement. I believe that it was so unpopular, that they discontinued this on the Touring in 2010 and on.
I have a 2005 Odyssey with the original set of tires. The car only has 32k miles on it but I noticed the tire walls have small cracks in them. I am thinking of replacing them soon, but not sure if I should wait till fall or do it now. Should I be concerned with the cracks and do 8 year old tires okay to drive even if they still have some treads?
Fall is only 2 months away. Why would you wait?
I would recommend calling around to find your best deal, and get the new tires. You're not going to wear out the new tires before winter. Also, though the risk of one of the old tires blowing out is extremely low, it is a risk you need to consider.
Shop wisely, but keep in mind that the price of tires has risen markedly in the last 2 years.
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With that in mind, if you get the new tires now, they should last another 6+ years, and then you will have had all the benefits of the fresh tread and so forth in the meantime. And they might be the last tires you buy for that car, depending upon how long you keep it.
