[enbanfe]

Does anyone know if there is an expiration date for tires, specifically for an 99 Modena? A colleague of mine is looking to buy a 99 Modena with ~5000km, and the shop that looked over the car for him is recommending replacing the tires because of their age. I am not sure what brand these tires are, but I believe they are original equipment. He says that they do not look dry and the tread depth is fine.

Does this sound right? He does not necessarily have a problem with replacing the tires, but it made him question the motives of the shop.

 

[Boxer]

As a general rule, I would replace any tires that are more than 8 years old (10 max). They might not look dry but they will be. Suggest you have your friend check the markings on the sidewall to see when they were originally manufactured. In one of the other threads (should come upo if you run a search) there is a guide on how to decode the markings.

 

[enbanfe]

Thanks Boxer.

I found the guide you mention. It was posted by Greg in Australia (gma365) on 22 November 2005:

To determine a tire's age look on its sidewall (usually the back side) for the letters DOT followed by one or more ovals containing numbers. The last oval will have three or four digits. If there are three digits, the first two are the week of the year and the last digit is the year of manufacture (the digits 229, for example, would indicate the tire was manufactured in the 22nd week of 1999). To distinguish between the 80 and 90 decades, tires manufactured in the 90's will have a triangular mark to the right of the manufacture date. Beginning with the year 2000 there are four digits. The first two are the week of the year and the last two are the year of manufacture (2301 indicates the tire was manufactured in the 23rd week of 2001).