Is it safe to buy 80-90% tread used tires for a 2001 Civic DX-G?

Probably not, because you do not know what has happened to the tires before you saw them. Some damage is not visible (broken belts, etc.).

On the other hand, the tires I have on my Honda are used. They were not used when I bought them but they sure are now. And they have a lot less than 90% tread.

Would I buy used tires? Yes. Have done so in the past, will likely do so in the future.

Elliot Richmond, Ph.D. Freelance Science Writer and Editor

eh? i read that as "no, but i do it myself". doesn't that really mean "yes"?

If you are buying from a reputable source, yes. Tires are traded in for a variety of reasons and decent tire shops will not accept bad ones. The previous owner probably bought custom wheels that required different size tires, and that type of owner usually takes care of his "baby." You've probably seen the posts by people who immediately changed from the stock brand X tires to his favorite brand Y tires as soon as he got his RoadShredder 3000 home. Those tires are literally as good as new.

Mike

That Ph.D. must have his head spinning! :-)

The original question was, is it safe? I stick by my answer. It is not

On the other hand, would I buy a used tire? That was not the original question, it was a new question that I introduced. Then I answered it. For example, I was in another town a while back and one of my tires got a large cut in it, on a Sunday afternoon on a holiday weekend. Since no tire places were open and I did not want to drive back home on the emergency spare, I bought a used tire.

See, it's really very simple. Even a Ph.D. can understand it.

Elliot Richmond, Ph.D. Freelance Science Writer and Editor

i agree with mike.

that's a squirm. you're now saying; "no, but yes. because they're as risky as new."

bottom line, there's nothing more intrinsically wrong with buying a used tire than there is buying a used car that already has tires on it. or using your own tires once they're no longer new.

Clearly there are lots of different opinions here.

The one strong warning I will offer is:

Always get tires without tubes in them.

It is fairly rare to have a true "blow out" with a tubeless tire. If there is damage the tire tends to leak and go flat slowly. Think minutes to days.

Tires with a tube can have a major defect and the tube can still hold air. If the defect gets big enough the tube can push out and if it ruptures the tire will lose air quite suddenly. Think just a few seconds. At freeway speeds this is very dangereous.