Let’s face it: everything has a shelf life, from the milk you buy in the store, to the tires you roll on to get there.
You wouldn’t buy milk past its freshness or “sell by” date, you wouldn’t plant seeds that have been in the junk drawer for five years, so why buy tires that aren’t factory fresh?
You want your new tires to really be new, not “also rans” that have been on the shelf for half a decade.
Why? Isn’t a tire that hasn’t ever been used a “new” tire?
NO.
Even without hitting the road, the rubber tire sitting on the shelf waiting to be sold will deteriorate over time. In a worst case scenario, you could buy “new” tires that were manufactured seven years earlier, and the degraded rubber could cause the tire tread to separate while you’re driving on the highway.
So … how can you know whether you’re getting a new tire, or an old tire that’s never been used?
Check the Tire Identification Number. It’s on the sidewall of every tire sold, and it’s pretty easy to find. First, look for the letters “DOT” followed by a 4-character code. Following that code, or on the opposite sidewall, you’ll see an 8-character code, four letters and four numbers.
Look at the four numbers. The last two tell you what year the tire was manufactured, and the first two tell you what week of that year the tire was made. So, if you see “1211,” you know the tire was manufactured in the third or fourth week of March, 2011.
This is just one of the “tricks of the trade” I share with participants who come to my Car Care Clinics for women and teens.
The next one is scheduled for Saturday, October 1. Watch the website for details.
Hope Peterson
