Tyre advice - look at the age, not just the tread!

[knitware]

Hello,
I'm just putting an email together to the supplying dealer regarding the above matter, 'please help with the cost with new tyres', although I should have checked so don't expect anything back.

I picked up a car, quite a distance from me, a video presentation was sent to me and all looked great. The dealer mentioned the tyres and how much tread was left, a new MOT confirmed the tread depth with no advisories.

All good, I looked over the car on collection day and drove home. I thought that the tyres were noisy, but put that down to the brand and happily posted a thread into the Jaguar section on PH. Helpfully, when I asked what to check on my new car purchase, a 2008 XK, someone mentioned check the date of the tyres, oh ok.

I checked the dates and all for are the original 2008 Dunlops. In a way I'm happy, that explained the tyre noise, in another way i'm gutted I didn't check the dates on the tyres when purchasing, and in another way I'm slightly miffed that the dealer and MoT station did not mention the dates. 12 year old tyres are not a good thing to have on a car.

So, please do check the tread and dates of manufacture.

[Sheepshanks]

MOT tester is supposed to check load rating but there's nothing in there about age. People get miffed when MOT testers comment on stuff outside the scope of the MOT.

Not sure if it's happened yet, but tyres more than 10yrs old are going to banned on buses etc.

I think you said this car had always been garaged? If so, the tyres will have been protected from UV. It's a bit counter-intuitive that they were noisy due to age - you'd expect them to harden and be quieter.

[Summit_Detailing]

Unless the tyres have cracks in the tread or perished sidewalls due to age and thus would be flagged up by the MOT tester, they don't need to check the date stamp, only that the tyres have sufficient tread depth.

The dealer would approach it the same way, in that the car is good to go if the tyres have decent tread depth remaining. In fact I'd go as far to say that most sales people wouldn't know tyres are date stamped or indeed what that looks like and where it is found...

The OE tyre would have been Dunlop, which are particularly noisy compared to a Michelin PS4S or Conti SC6 in the XK sizes.

Cheers,

Chris

[samoht]

Good point to raise - tread depth, cracks, brand, any damage, and date mark all worth checking.

On the upside it probably means your new purchase has been driven fairly gently to still be on its original tyres.

I have to say, I drove a 2008 car on its original tyres last year, that had always been garaged, and I couldn't get it to show any evidence of lack of roadholding. OTOH on cars that have spent time outside I have definitely experienced a severe lack of grip from aged tyres.