Old (New) Tires

[ET16]

I just bought some Nokians from Amazon and had them installed at Sears.

I glanced at them and saw a 2016 date code, and wasn't thrilled, but didn't think it was a deal breaker.

Later, I looked at the others and found 2015 date codes, so two of the four (new) tires are over three years old.

I called Amazon. I wanted to get them to discount the tires, but they are replacing them and partially refunding me.

It could be worse, but I have the hassle of having to make another appointment and sending the old tires back.

I think the lesson for me is to have tires shipped to me first, so that I can take a look before they are mounted. I had had them shipped to Sears.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by ET16
I think the lesson for me is to have tires shipped to me first, so that I can take a look before they are mounted. I had had them shipped to Sears.

Or still have them shipped to Sears / installer, but inspect them prior to mounting.

I had somewhat similar incident with TireRack once - they sent 4 tires to a local installer. I came in and installer mounted the tires on my car, and off I went. Driving back home, there was a noticeable wobble. When I got home, I looked at the tires - one of them was a different size than the other three (195/65 vs. 195/60).

 

[Spartanfool]

Originally Posted by ET16
I just bought some Nokians from Amazon and had them installed at Sears.

I glanced at them and saw a 2016 date codes.


I had to get rid of the 9 year old NEXENs on my daughter's car. Plenty of tread, but starting to dry rot.

I just got a great price ($51.12) on some Nokian eNTYRE 205/55/R16 from WalMart online.

First thing I did was check the date code...May 2018 on all 4.

Very happy with the tires and the price.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

3-year-old tires are not a problem at all. CapriRacer has said on here that tires that are three years old stored properly indoors are as good as new

Did you get the (original) Entyre? Because they were replaced by the Entyre 2.0 a couple years ago. Being an old, discontinued tire line should be a clue that they will be a couple years old

Also, were your tires actually from Amazon? OR a marketplace, or a third-party seller that uses Amazon fulfillment?

FWIW, Walmart usually has fresh stock tires.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
3-year-old tires are not a problem at all. CapriRacer has said on here that tires that are three years old stored properly indoors are as good as new

Maybe not a problem per se, but that only leaves him 7 years to use them up before they are considered "expired." Had they been new, he would have had 10 years to use them up.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
3-year-old tires are not a problem at all. CapriRacer has said on here that tires that are three years old stored properly indoors are as good as new

Maybe not a problem per se, but that only leaves you 7 years to use them up before they are considered "expired." Had they been new, he would have had 10 years to use them up.


And that depends on whether you follow the 6 year or 10 year recommendation or somewhere in between. With 6 years, they're already half gone. I think some follow 6 years in hot climates.

 

[ET16]

Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
3-year-old tires are not a problem at all. CapriRacer has said on here that tires that are three years old stored properly indoors are as good as new

Did you get the (original) Entyre? Because they were replaced by the Entyre 2.0 a couple years ago. Being an old, discontinued tire line should be a clue that they will be a couple years old

Also, were your tires actually from Amazon? OR a marketplace, or a third-party seller that uses Amazon fulfillment?

FWIW, Walmart usually has fresh stock tires.


It was Amazon, not a reseller.

 

[Pelican]

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
3-year-old tires are not a problem at all. CapriRacer has said on here that tires that are three years old stored properly indoors are as good as new

Maybe not a problem per se, but that only leaves him 7 years to use them up before they are considered "expired." Had they been new, he would have had 10 years to use them up.


According to my tire shop one should never go beyond 6 yrs from the manufacturing date, I had a set of Nokian winter 6 yo and the rubber was so hard the the sipes couldn't work prperly and I wiped-out on black ice totalling the car, never again will I go beyond 5 yrs from the mfg date. Now you in the south if kept away from the sun, may get 1 or 2 yrs more But never 10 if you want o be safe.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by Pelican
Now you in the south if kept away from the sun, may get 1 or 2 yrs more But never 10 if you want o be safe.
Actually, it's the other way around: most experts recommend 6 years max in the south, and 10 years up north. This is due to the fact that heat kills tires faster.

But I agree with you on tire rubber compounds hardening over time, and negatively impacting winter performance. I noticed a marked decline in winter performance of my Altimax Arctic after the first 3-4 years or so, despite them still having almost all of their tread left.

I would never want "new" 3-year-old winter tires.

 

[Spartanfool]

Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog


Did you get the (original) Entyre? Because they were replaced by the Entyre 2.0 a couple years ago. Being an old, discontinued tire line should be a clue that they will be a couple years old

FWIW, Walmart usually has fresh stock tires.


The original Entyre tire is still being made, it is not discontinued. The Entyre 2.0 is their premium "environmentally friendly" tire. The original is positioned as their entry level model.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I know it's not the same but I had a couple pair of shoes that looked like brand new but were about 10 years old. The soles literally crumbled and looked like black popcorn. I couldn't believe a pair of shoes could be good one day and fall apart the next. I would never run tires that were much over 7 years old no matter what. I know of Corvette owners who have had older tires and had nothing but problems. One must be careful running old tires.

 

[NewEnglander]

Sweet, sweet Nokians!

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted by slacktide_bitog
3-year-old tires are not a problem at all. CapriRacer has said on here that tires that are three years old stored properly indoors are as good as new

How would you know how 3 yr old tires were stored before you got them? Maybe they were in a warehouse in Phoenix. No thanks.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by ET16
I just bought some Nokians from Amazon and had them installed at Sears.

I glanced at them and saw a 2016 date code, and wasn't thrilled, but didn't think it was a deal breaker.

Later, I looked at the others and found 2015 date codes, so two of the four (new) tires are over three years old.

I called Amazon. I wanted to get them to discount the tires, but they are replacing them and partially refunding me.

It could be worse, but I have the hassle of having to make another appointment and sending the old tires back.

I think the lesson for me is to have tires shipped to me first, so that I can take a look before they are mounted. I had had them shipped to Sears.

At least you got some refund. I did not get anything from Discount Tires when I purchased Nokian Hakka R2. Got all four 2015 DOT, paid through the nose and overall they are average tire with some really good performance (snow and ice) and some abysmal (wet, dry, comfort, noise).

 

[boulderdentist]

You would think I would learn. I had original Continental tires from Ford factory, and this car does not see that many miles. At about 52,000 miles and eight years of age had failure, a chunk of tread came out about an inch wide and three inches long. Replaced with Kumho and experienced another failure, chunk of tread came off, again at about eight years, not that many miles. So for me I would be getting uncomfortable at about eight years, this is in Colorado. I was recently in Discount Tire and believe that had posted life is six years, but suppose many exceed that. This car was garaged, so not subject to a lot of UV, etc. If you drive a lot of miles would not be two concerned about date, but if fewer miles I would.

Scott

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by boulderdentist
You would think I would learn. I had original Continental tires from Ford factory, and this car does not see that many miles. At about 52,000 miles and eight years of age had failure, a chunk of tread came out about an inch wide and three inches long. Replaced with Kumho and experienced another failure, chunk of tread came off, again at about eight years, not that many miles. So for me I would be getting uncomfortable at about eight years, this is in Colorado. I was recently in Discount Tire and believe that had posted life is six years, but suppose many exceed that. This car was garaged, so not subject to a lot of UV, etc. If you drive a lot of miles would not be two concerned about date, but if fewer miles I would.

Scott

6 years at most for me if vehicle does not see a lot of miles since it is garaged (wife's car). My car on toher hand usually racks up 30k a year so they never hit 5 year mark anyway, although I use snows in winter.

 

[ET16]

Weill.... They sent me replacements. They, too, were made in 2015!

 

[Darris]

Originally Posted by boulderdentist
You would think I would learn. I had original Continental tires from Ford factory, and this car does not see that many miles. At about 52,000 miles and eight years of age had failure, a chunk of tread came out about an inch wide and three inches long.


That must have been the old ContiTour Contact that was on Tarus/Sable from the mid 90's & early 2000's and also on Altimas 02-04. It was total junk in terms of both weather resistance and impact /puncture resistance. The post-2007 ContiPro Contact has been a huge improvement in rubber quality, they seem to stand up exceptionally well to time and weather, but still below average survivability for jagged potholes or cub hits.

 

[Darris]

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by Pelican
Now you in the south if kept away from the sun, may get 1 or 2 yrs more But never 10 if you want o be safe.
Actually, it's the other way around: most experts recommend 6 years max in the south, and 10 years up north. This is due to the fact that heat kills tires faster.


Heat an UV are the worst, but salt isn't all that great either. And for cars which are left outside 24hrs a day all of those temperature swings between overnight lows bellow freezing and driving temperature probably aren't ideal for rubber life either.