Background first. A mate of mine drives (as I do) a Honda Insight. A few months ago, at his last service, the dealer reported >5mm tread on all four tyres. At his MOT recently, the car failed with exposure of the ply or cord. That got me thinking.
My Insight (manuf. 2000) is still on the original tyres. There's plenty of tread, but should I be thinking about replacing them on age grounds? And the spare too?
Martin.
Yeah. Can't remember what the figure is OTTOMH but I seem to recall it's around 5 years old.
Insight. A few
What usually happens with age is the rubber starts to perish and cracks. Then you can start to see the cord down the cracks. IME this is more likely on the side wall than the tread. So I'd check the sidewalls and see if there's signs of perishing. I recently had to put new tyres on my Transit Campervan, which does a very low mileage, for this reason... plenty of tread left, but sidewalls cracking.
BobC
Insight. A few
Does that also apply to the spare tyre? I guess so if it is mounted underneath the car but what about those living in the comfort and safety of the boot?
Chris
Honda Insight. A few
I guess the rate of perishing could depend on the conditions it's kept in. I'm no expert on rubber technology. But the point is, simply look at it and see. If there's cracking in the sidewalls, personally I'd change it. If not I'd leave it.
BobC
In message , Martin Sylvester writes
I was in a similar situation. Bought an E reg Nissan Micra with only
19000 miles on the clock - genuine - the tyres had plenty of tread. When I took a closer look, however, there were cracks along the line of the tread. Checked the spare, same thing. What really showed up the cracks was when the tyre was deflated - the cracks opened up when the tyre flexed. Had to get four new tyres.Many thanks to all for the helpful replies. I'll start inspecting the tyres more thoroughly, and maybe take the car in to a reputable tyre depot and ask them to give an opinion.
Martin.
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