Do Tyres Have a Used-By Date?

Road laws do not impose an expiry on tyres but do specify a minimum tread depth eg down to the “wear indicators”, which is about 1.5mm, and of course require tyres to be in road worthy condition eg no serious cracks in side walls or tread peeling off.

However, most tyre manufacturers recommend we replace tyres once they reach 10 years old, regardless of condition or wear. This is because rubber deteriorates with age and circumstances including temperature and UV exposure.

How to tell the age of your tyres

All tyres have a 4-digit code on the side wall, after the “DOT” information.

The first two digits represents the week of the year, and the last two digits are the year of manufacture eg 1612 is a tyre manufactured in the sixteenth week of 2012.