How old is too old for a tire?
How to read the DOT date code, and how much age really matters next to tread.
Find the date in ten seconds
Every tire has a DOT code molded into the sidewall. The last four digits are the week and year it was built.
3419 means the 34th week of 2019. 0523 means the 5th week of 2023. If you see only three digits, the tire is from before 2000 and should not be on a car.
The full code is only on one side of the tire, so if you cannot find it, look at the other sidewall.
What age does to rubber
Rubber hardens and dries out over time whether the tire is driven or parked. An old tire grips less in the wet and is more likely to crack.
Heat and sunlight speed it up. A tire that has lived in Arizona ages faster than the same tire in Ohio.
The guidance, and the honesty about it
Several carmakers recommend replacing tires at six years from the build date, and many tire makers say ten years is the outside limit regardless of tread. There is no single legal age limit in the United States for passenger tires.
These are recommendations, not laws, and they vary by who is giving them. Treat age as one thing to weigh, not the only thing.
Look for cracking
Fine cracks in the tread grooves or along the sidewall are the visible sign that rubber has dried out. A tire showing that should be passed over whatever the date says.
A tire with no cracking, stored out of the sun, ages more gently than the calendar suggests.
Age versus tread
Deep tread on a very old tire is not a bargain, because the rubber is the problem, not the depth.
Shallow tread on a new tire is not a bargain either, because you are buying very little life.
The tire worth having is reasonably recent with tread left. You can check both before you buy: the date code is in the sidewall photo and the tread depth is measured with a gauge.