Tires DOT date codes

[Haasman]

My local tire dealer said they will not balance tires older than 5 years, based on the DOT date code on sidewalls.

I understand how old tires can be dangerous, of course. But 5 years? For those of us who don't drive a ton of miles each year on our cars, it seems like we are going to be changing/disposing of tires much more quickly than planned.

It occurs to me that one should never buys tires until date codes are carefully checked.

Thoughts?

[Jones]

Tires will degrade due to UV exposure, this is evident in micro-cracking and hardening of the surface. Cars that are used minimally and are stored inside will likely show little if any degradation, it's pretty easy to tell by how soft the tread rubber is. I understand if a tire shop refused to sell or mount 5 year old tires, but refusing to balance is a bit excessive... 10 years is a more reasonable and standard cut off point for tire techs to call tires due to age. I'd find another shop to do your balancing.

[Druepy]

5 years sounds ridiculous to me. Like Jones said, you just need to find the right tire shop. I just had small tire shop take off 30+ year old tires then mount and balance 15 year old tires.

Good luck

[Jim Morris]

Isn't there a law about this in California? I believe Porsche dealers in California also abide by this "rule" when doing tire work.