How long do tyres last? Age matters as much as mileage
5 min readBy Wheel Fit
The short answer: tyres wear out through mileage and degrade through age. A tyre with good tread that is ten years old is not a good tyre. Find the DOT code on the sidewall to see when yours were made.
Finding the age
Look for four digits after DOT, often inside an oval. The first two are the week, the last two the year. 1122 is week 11 of 2022.
It is on one side of the tyre only, so if you cannot find it, look at the inner face.
Why age matters
Rubber is a chemical compound and it changes over time. Oils migrate out, it hardens, and it becomes more prone to cracking — a process accelerated by UV, heat, ozone and being left standing under load.
A hardened tyre loses wet grip long before it looks worn out. This is why a low-mileage car that has sat outside for years can have a full tread depth and genuinely poor tyres.
Rough guidance
- Most manufacturers suggest inspecting annually from around five years.
- Many suggest replacement at around ten years regardless of tread.
- Caravans, trailers, classics and low-mileage cars are the usual candidates — they age out rather than wear out.
- Spare wheels age too. A twelve-year-old space-saver is not a reassuring thing to be relying on.
These are guidelines rather than law. The legal requirement is the 1.6mm tread minimum, which says nothing about age.
What to look for on an older tyre
- Fine cracks in the sidewall or between tread blocks — often called crazing.
- A hard, shiny surface instead of slightly matt rubber.
- Deformation or flat spots from standing in one position for a long time.
- Any bulge, which means replacement now regardless of age.
What actually determines mileage life
The honest answer is that there is no useful average, because it depends on: compound (a soft high-performance tyre may last a third as long as a hard touring one), driving style, whether pressures are maintained, alignment, and whether the car is front or rear wheel drive.
What you can control is pressure and alignment. Both have a bigger effect on tyre life than the brand on the sidewall.
See also what uneven wear is telling you.
