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The tires on my car have quite a bit of tread left, because I did not drive this car for many years. The tires were manufactured in 2010.
1) I read that tire has an expiration of 6 years. Is this just general rule, or am I endangering myself driving on 13 year old tires?
2) I have been browsing tire selections. There are literally hundreds of rubber patterns. Some have big grooves, some have thin grooves; some have straight grooves and some have curved grooves. Yet some have very few grooves. What should I be going for?
3) If I get new tires, I want to ask to keep my current tires. I have other use for them (other than driving on them). Will tire shop give my old tires back to me?
The tires on my car have quite a bit of tread left, because I did not drive this car for many years. The tires were manufactured in 2010.
1) I read that tire has an expiration of 6 years. Is this just general rule, or am I endangering myself driving on 13 year old tires?
2) I have been browsing tire selections. There are literally hundreds of rubber patterns. Some have big grooves, some have thin grooves; some have straight grooves and some have curved grooves. Yet some have very few grooves. What should I be going for?
3) If I get new tires, I want to ask to keep my current tires. I have other use for them (other than driving on them). Will tire shop give my old tires back to me?
I don't see why not. You'll likely have to pay a disposal fee if they keep them. Just ask.
The tires on my car have quite a bit of tread left, because I did not drive this car for many years. The tires were manufactured in 2010.
1) I read that tire has an expiration of 6 years. Is this just general rule, or am I endangering myself driving on 13 year old tires?
2) I have been browsing tire selections. There are literally hundreds of rubber patterns. Some have big grooves, some have thin grooves; some have straight grooves and some have curved grooves. Yet some have very few grooves. What should I be going for?
3) If I get new tires, I want to ask to keep my current tires. I have other use for them (other than driving on them). Will tire shop give my old tires back to me?
I wouldn't try to do too much analysis on your own of tire designs by inspection - it's not that easy. Look at comparative tire testing reports. Consumer Reports has good info, but requires a subscription - well worth it in my opinion.
Another place that has a lot of free info is the customer ratings of tires sold at Tire Rack. Once there is enough data there, Tire Rack publishes not only the customer narratives, but a series of performance ratings (from 1-10) along maybe a dozen metrics - see the Survey Stats section of a product page, like this one on my Forester's tires. This info is really very helpful - customers aren't doing hard-core engineering style assessments, and if just a few of them have weighed in, I don't think it means much. But when you have a lot of customers reporting great performance in a given area, yes, I think that's significant.
25 years ago I was into buying and selling certain model cars..... wrecked or otherwise.
I bought a totaled car. The tires on it were Dunlops. I was in need to the exact size tire on my daily driver. The car had been in a guys backyard for over a year. The tires were probably about 5 to 7 years old by this time. I swapped them for my worn out tires. The first time I drove the car in the rain on my familiar route to work, i ended up in a farmer's field.
I figured it was lousy Dunlop tires compared to the worn out Michelins they replaced. BUT, it could have been the age on the tire causing them to harden a bit and not have enough flex and grip.
Ever since then, I try to replace tires ever 6-8 years regardless of the tread left.
The tires on my car have quite a bit of tread left, because I did not drive this car for many years. The tires were manufactured in 2010.
1) I read that tire has an expiration of 6 years. Is this just general rule, or am I endangering myself driving on 13 year old tires?
2) I have been browsing tire selections. There are literally hundreds of rubber patterns. Some have big grooves, some have thin grooves; some have straight grooves and some have curved grooves. Yet some have very few grooves. What should I be going for?
3) If I get new tires, I want to ask to keep my current tires. I have other use for them (other than driving on them). Will tire shop give my old tires back to me?
They will let you keep your tires, I replaced mine and kept the best of the used ones and use them for the spare tire, I carry the full size spare on road trips now instead of the donut. Just had to buy a rim.
The tires on my car have quite a bit of tread left, because I did not drive this car for many years. The tires were manufactured in 2010.
1) I read that tire has an expiration of 6 years. Is this just general rule, or am I endangering myself driving on 13 year old tires?
2) I have been browsing tire selections. There are literally hundreds of rubber patterns. Some have big grooves, some have thin grooves; some have straight grooves and some have curved grooves. Yet some have very few grooves. What should I be going for?
3) If I get new tires, I want to ask to keep my current tires. I have other use for them (other than driving on them). Will tire shop give my old tires back to me?
Go to a good tire store, just don't go on a Saturday morning or Monday morning when they are crazy busy. Let the salesman educate you about today's tires.
Buy a new set of tires and enjoy the car/truck without fear of a tire failure.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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When I bought my 1974 Nova about a year ago, I checked the dates on the tires which had tread like new, but showed signs of age. There was no date code stamp on them, so they had to be made prior to the year 2000, so I replaced them. On my newer vehicles I rarely keep them until the wear bars are showing, but have gone as long as 8 years. Just inspect them for cracks, and feel for the tread area turning hard like rock. Always garaged tires will last better than those constantly exposed to the sun and freezing weather. If you often drive at 70+ on the freeway or tow, I would definitely recommend replacing at 6 years.
Don't worry about grooves. Get the tire that is best fit for your driving environment
No tire store will give you back those tires. It's a major liability. Nor will any tire store ever remount them if you want them too. Another huge liability
I bought a brand new 2002 Nissan Altima that had Continental tires that were very noisy, enough to be annoying on a long trip. I put up with them for over a year, but then I got fed up and bought Michelin tires that were much quieter. Many new standard or economy grade cars are factory equipped with lower grade tires, and sometimes that means noisy tires.
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