Tires - DOT Date Codes and Tire Rack Policies

This week I bought a set of Goodyear Eagle Sport A/S tires for my early 911. TireRack delivered them the following day, with date codes "2715." I complained and sent them back. Tirerack processed a return without much push-back, though they did explain their view that the tires don't start aging until they leave their climate-controlled warehouse. TireRack effectively applies a 10-year policy (3 years for manufacturer supply chain, 1 additional year in the TireRack inventory, then 6 years for the consumer to use up).

My view is that TireRack has lost their minds. Every set of tires I have bought from them has been less than 1 year old in the past, until now. Most sources say replace your tires 6 years after the "born on" date.

Question - am I off-base, or is it fair to expect fresh stock for my money?

I would not be happy with 10 year old tires.

Besides I call bullshit on the timeline they gave you; If they (manufacturer/tire rack) operated with those timelines their margins would suffer tremendously. The cost of capital alone, not even considering storage, would cause CFO to have a fit :)

Johan

Costco won’t sell 6 months after mfr

I dont feel that you are "off base" and you are quite within your consumer rights to have done what you did but the tyres for our 911 cars are probably not the fastest movers in a suppliers infantry.
Purchasing "online" is so impersonal so the only real solution is to personally ask the supplier what Dot Date their tyres are and make a choice based on that.

You are right. I neglected to ask about date codes, and assumed fresh stock. Wont happen again.

I called one of the well known tire suppliers asking about date codes on a set of Michelin TB-15’s wondering how fresh they might be given the limited buyer pool of these tires. They said they had no way of checking since they came from a distribution warehouse which was separate of sales and marketing. They did confirm that they would likely be a year or two old but that the warehouse was similarly climate controlled and I shouldn’t worry about any deterioration. With those tires I’m a bit more comfortable buying 1-2 year old tires as they don’t last long enough (in my case) to ever get near that 6 year birth date. That said, I still wish they could tell me what I wanted to know. TB’s aren’t exactly cheap....

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Originally Posted by H-viken

I would not be happy with 10 year old tires.

Johan

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To clarify, TireRack told me their policy is to sell a tire up to 4-5 years after the DOT date code. In their view, that still leaves about 6 years of useable life for the customer (up to 10 years after the DOT date code), because you don't start counting the 6 year max life until the tires get installed. I grant that some manufacturers recommend replacing tires after 10 years, but based on my research that is not the industry standard. I don't put a lot of miles on my 911, and after 6 years I replace tires regardless of treadlife.

Some food for thought...

https://www.thoughtco.com/the-scienc...-aging-3234377

Under conclusions read bullet no. 3...talks about stored tires.

Thanks Lee. Interested read, and generally supports Tire Rack's view. My takeaway is that Tire Rack's position is fair. Since most of our early 911s no longer see 10000+ miles per year, and may also be prone to premature cracking due to lack of regular exercise, the tires usually age out. In that case, starting with fresh tires may add some lifespan to the tire purchase, but for more normal use patterns, the article suggests it's ok to start out with a 3 or 4 year old tire.

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Originally Posted by neunelfs

To clarify, TireRack told me their policy is to sell a tire up to 4-5 years after the DOT date code. In their view, that still leaves about 6 years of useable life for the customer (up to 10 years after the DOT date code), because you don't start counting the 6 year max life until the tires get installed. I grant that some manufacturers recommend replacing tires after 10 years, but based on my research that is not the industry standard. I don't put a lot of miles on my 911, and after 6 years I replace tires regardless of treadlife.

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Fair enough. 4 years from production to sale still leaves ample room for opportunity. Speed to market may not be a well known concept for some I guess.... ;)

Interesting read, but I saw nothing about the author's credentials. What credence can you give that info?
Tom

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Originally Posted by Troos

Interesting read, but I saw nothing about the author's credentials. What credence can you give that info?
Tom

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Much like the never-ending debate over which oil is "best" I guess you learn what you can from various sources and try to put together an understanding of the issue. Until the issue of tire aging is better defined and ultimately regulated all we can go on is what we can glean from these sources. What we know is that tires age and newer is better. When is a tire truly unsafe? I would think that depends on whether you're running track days at Chuckwalla in August or going to the 7-Eleven for a slurpee. If you buy your tires from a local shop at least you can check the dates before accepting them.