Tire Safety: New but Old..What would you do?

[V10 PWRD]

Holiday Greetings to All. Ever since I read a very good Tire post and watched a great video on tires I have burning questions on this issue. After I watched the video and read the posts on decyphering the production dates I tend to wonder what does one do let's say if they buy a $1600 set of tires brand new but after checking the production dates they find out the tires actually have been sitting on the rack for over a year, maybe 2. With all the talk on "don't trust old tires and get rid of them quickly" just how old is old. The tech in the video says that even tho you're buying "new" tires they may still be old and some of the life is already used up just by sitting for a year or 2. The tire is already beginning to lose some of its' stability. I can just imagine the tire salesman excuses when I tell him that "these tires are already 2 years old and I'm not paying this price for "new tires" after I check the dates and they're over a year old. I can guarantee you that they will never stray from saying "but they're brand new tires".
To me these are good points to consider. Maybe there aren't many of us that have ever wondered about "new tires actually being old" but when it comes to safety and price why are we paying premium price for old tires that have been sitting in the store as new ones for a year or 2.
Hopefully someone from TireRack or anyone else that is an expert on tires will give an honest answer. New is not always "new".

 

[bluesrt]

Holiday Greetings to All. Ever since I read a very good Tire post and watched a great video on tires I have burning questions on this issue. After I watched the video and read the posts on decyphering the production dates I tend to wonder what does one do let's say if they buy a $1600 set of tires brand new but after checking the production dates they find out the tires actually have been sitting on the rack for over a year, maybe 2. With all the talk on "don't trust old tires and get rid of them quickly" just how old is old. The tech in the video says that even tho you're buying "new" tires they may still be old and some of the life is already used up just by sitting for a year or 2. The tire is already beginning to lose some of its' stability. I can just imagine the tire salesman excuses when I tell him that "these tires are already 2 years old and I'm not paying this price for "new tires" after I check the dates and they're over a year old. I can guarantee you that they will never stray from saying "but they're brand new tires".
To me these are good points to consider. Maybe there aren't many of us that have ever wondered about "new tires actually being old" but when it comes to safety and price why are we paying premium price for old tires that have been sitting in the store as new ones for a year or 2.
Hopefully someone from TireRack or anyone else that is an expert on tires will give an honest answer. New is not always "new".

definitly would not want them if there the same price as 2 0r 3 month old for the same tire,but probably thats why there sold at a deal,is anybody else got the same tire for this price,there not dangerous,but not as gripping as a 6 month or newer tire,if there a great saving,i would not hesitate to install them unless ur gona hit the race track,or drive on the hi-way like a race track.

 

[ViperTony]

I don't buy the tires unless I know the date codes on them. I'm fortunate in that I live near a tire place that knows me, gives me great deals and doesn't hesitate to show the me date codes in advance. I've purchased 2 full set of PS2's for my daily driver from them and 3 month old tires are the freshest I've seen so far. 1 year or older tires I will not purchase. New Old Stock is still OLD STOCK and when it comes to a NOS product such as tires where time is an enemy...no thanks unless there's a reasonable reduction in price for a reasonable service life. Why full price for new when they're not new?!?

 

[JonB]

I have written SO MANY threads and VCA Notes and other articles on this.....I have even had guys accuse my of trying to scare someone into a premature sale....away from their good-tread-old-tires. NOT SO ! I applaud your care in watching what you buy....... but at some point, one can become finnicky vs careful/informed.

Its not just age. Its Atmosphere-temp-storage conditions. And Heat Cycles. A brand-spanking new 'green' tire just cured from the mold has a very thin mold-rind on it. If this rind is never broken by use, the air-ozone wont ********* and age the tire as readily as if the tire has been driven even 5 miles. I would be very confident driving and tracking 'new' tires, never mounted, properly stored, even at 3-4 YEARS old....and burn em up in 2-3 years. The engineers at Michelin have confirmed this to me personally, as does TireRack's Tire and Rubber Trade Association resources.

BUT: Even ONE HEAT CYCLE begins the oxidation-hardening-process. More cycles = faster degradation. And the SOFTER the tire rating, the faster it ages once heat cycled.

Now: Please spend MORE time worring about your Tire Pressures.....even 3 lbs difference left to right can unsafely deviate your driving line.....

 

[ViperTony]

Why buy 2-3 year old NOS tires when you can purchase fresher tires? Makes no sense to me.

 

[Dom426h]

im with Jon, and would be fine with purchasing tires that are a few years old. Most people dont know about the mold release coating that is applied to tires. It is there and as long as the new tire is stored inside away from the elements it will be fine.

These tire warehouses have to keep a large inventory and it is unreasonable to expect them to turn everything around in a year. It is also unreasonable to expect a discount on 2 year old tires that are perfectly fine.

From TireRack:
Because many of the tires the Tire Rack offers are manufactured in Europe or Asia, it's common for us to receive new tires direct from the manufacturers that are six to nine months old. Additionally there are some instances where the tire manufacturer's minimum run quantities will produce enough tires to meet a few years of consumer demand for lower volume types and sizes. In these cases the tires we receive directly from the manufacturer may already be several years old.

 

[Lee00blacksilverGTS]

For those of you pondering how to tell the date, here's the video.

ABC News