[Inder7]

Hello folks, I came upon this discussion by chance and having spent an hour or so going through the interesting views, was left with a mild sense of dread. Let me explain. I was smugly under the impression that i was not due for a tyre change till I read the 'age' and related issues - dryness, hardness, cracks et al. I have a Audi Q5, registered Aug 2015. The tyres are Bridgestone Dueler 235/60, R18 (103W), manufactured 2214, which means they are now full 5 years old. The car has been sparingly used as this was strictly our tour car (long weekends and planned holidays out of NCR only). The odo reads 24000 kms. The car has always been parked in a covered garage. We are planning a family (wife + 11 year old son) road trip to Leh - 2800 kms over 22 days in June. The tyres look and feel OK. The contact surface does appear to have hardened a bit though I have not particularly noticed any effect on the ride. I have also not noticed any other weakness such as frequent punctures etc. I am posting pictures taken today of my tyres and I seriously need advise on whether I should go for change before my trip. Please do share your experiences. My own detailed physical inspection (after having been schooled on this forum) of the tyres suggests they should last another 5 to 10 k. Though when you zoom in on the grooves in the tread, the tiny cracks become visible. Also, if i do decide to replace the tyres what are my options ?

[supremeBaleno]

^^^Looks like normal wear for the 5years & 24000kms it has been used.

In case you aren't sure, you could have the tyres inspected at a good tyre shop (Bridgestone dealer maybe) in your vicinity.

[Inder7]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

In case you aren't sure, you could have the tyres inspected at a good tyre shop (Bridgestone dealer maybe) in your vicinity.

Thanks. That's what I did today and as expected its a tough call and its my call. Normally I would have just carried on for another 10 k but keeping the nature of the trip in view, rough roads, remote area, the risk is not worth it. So now the next challenge is to identify a good replacement tyre. Again, there's a lot of noise all around and little clarity....

[supremeBaleno]

What exactly did they say ?

IMO you should be ok with those tyres. To put it differently, if I were you, I would proceed without doubt.

Do you have a portable compressor/inflator in the car ? If not, get one. Goes a long way, especially with tubeless tyres.

[Inder7]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

What exactly did they say ?

IMO you should be ok with those tyres. To put it differently, if I were you, I would proceed without doubt.

Do you have a portable compressor/inflator in the car ?

Thanks again!!

I had the tyres inspected by two separate dealers in Sec 16 Noida. Their comments were along following lines - tyres become unreliable after 5 years of life, these have become hard, may face more punctures or even a tyre burst etc. Tread life is ok and good for another 10-12K kms.

Yes I have a tyre inflator - Audi provides one along with the spare tyre kit. I'm also well versed with tubeless tyre repair kit. Do you have any experience with tyre sealants? would they help in my situation ?

I'm getting inclined to give your recommendation a serious consideration. Now to convince the wife

[longhorn]

Originally Posted by Inder7

I had the tyres inspected by two separate dealers in Sec 16 Noida. Their comments were along following lines - tyres become unreliable after 5 years of life, these have become hard, may face more punctures or even a tyre burst etc. Tread life is ok and good for another 10-12K kms.

Please replace your tyres. I am not someone who would advocate replacing tyres strictly by age. Your tyres are okay for city use. As long as you maintain < 50 kmph, you could continue to use them.

I wouldn't recommend to go on a long trip with these tyres though. The reason - If you zoom into the groves, the hairline cracks are very obvious. These are the signs that you tyres have hardened and are due for a replacement. Don't go purely by the tread wear. The tread is good enough but with those hairline cracks all over the grooves, I wouldn't risk it. Normally these cracks tend to appear on the sidewall first. In your case however, the sidewall seems to be better off than the tread.

Hairline cracks = hardened rubber = tyre replacement due

[mpp19]

Originally Posted by Inder7

Yes I have a tyre inflator - Audi provides one along with the spare tyre kit. I'm also well versed with tubeless tyre repair kit. Do you have any experience with tyre sealants? would they help in my situation ?

I'm getting inclined to give your recommendation a serious consideration. Now to convince the wife

I will agree with those dealers views and would strongly advise against any sealants or for that matter tubeless tyre repair kit as well.

More often, the internal damages caused by the puncture is unknown and hence please refrain using these. Here, they replace tyres even for a minor puncture and these days they are included/covered in the normal maintenance/warranty.

From your pictures, it's not fully clear for me at least, (if they are in a good condition).

And as you are planning your Leh trip, and considering the age of the tyres, if I were in your shoes, I would change the tyres. Safety comes first, and it's always good to be safer.

[Inder7]

Just to put a closure on this off subject discussion. I have gone and changed all four tyres. We now look forward to our trip. Will post a travelogue on return as well as a review of the new tyres. Thanks to all who responded to my post.

[scuderiamania]

Hi guys,

I need the forum's input on whether I need to replace my tyres now.

So the car is a 2012 october honda city which had to tyres upgraded to c drives (195/60/R15) even before the car got back home from the showroom! The car however has extremely low running in the last 7.5 years. My father's office was hardly 2 km from our house and he used to work from home for about half the week. He also suffered a health condition because of which he had to stop driving the car from June 2018 onwards(shifting to an automatic jazz in May 2019)

I returned to Kolkata round about the same time (may 2019) and took over the car for my use.

In the 7.5 years, the car has only done 21000kms, out of which about 6000 was added by me in the last one year.

Coming to the state of the tyres, 3 of them are the original c drives that were installed. Dad had changed to an earth 1 after suffering a bulge around the 5 year mark. So 3 tyres are 7.5 years old and 1 is about 2 years old.

The earth 1 is still in good shape. The other 3 has lot thread left on them but there are some micro fractures on the surface of the tyre.

Should I get them replaced?

[drsingh]

My Wagon R 2017 model. Apollo amazer 3g OEM tyre burst at 23k of running.

Has anyone purchased tyres online?

Would it be cheaper to get an OEM tyre replacement from Maruti ASS?

I plan to buy a new identical OEM tyre and move the spare and the new tyre upfront.

I have only rotated 4 tyres. The spare has never been used.

[indianv2]

Originally Posted by scuderiamania

In the 7.5 years, the car has only done 21000kms, out of which about 6000 was added by me in the last one year.

Hi scuderiamania,

The tyres have had their share of limited running but they have survived time and non-usage. The micro-cracks that you see are testimony to the age of the rubber showing up.

If you intend to keep the vehicle for at least 2-2.5 years more (given the uncertainties due to Corona and to ensure that your finances are diverted to the most critical amenities), go ahead and make the change.

Start scooting/calling dealers for deals on 4 tyres and make the change. The most recent tyre can be your spare wheel for a few more years to come.

Regards,

IndianV2

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by drsingh

Has anyone purchased tyres online?

Yes I have bought it twice for my ex-WagonR. Do check with the seller about the age of the tyres in stock before it is mailed to you. While buying my first set, I got 4 tyres of different ages, one of them was almost a year old. However, I didn't face any subsequent while using the set.

Would it be cheaper to get an OEM tyre replacement from Maruti ASS?

Walking into a tyre store will be a better bet. If you are interested then you can take a price quote from the tyre store and then negotiate with the MASS to match the quote.

[silverado]

Tricky question actually.
I changed tyres for Nano after good 8 years and 40k kms.
Ride had become horrible and it was starting to skid on braking.

My wego tyres looked ok visuallysince scooter being low in use didnt really care about tyres, but decided to change them before rains.

Changed at 14k and after 8 years,( Rear tyre was almost bald) i believe we should change early around 5-6 year mark for all vehicles, but it seldom does happen.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by scuderiamania

Coming to the state of the tyres, 3 of them are the original c drives that were installed. Dad had changed to an earth 1 after suffering a bulge around the 5 year mark. So 3 tyres are 7.5 years old and 1 is about 2 years old.

The earth 1 is still in good shape. The other 3 has lot thread left on them but there are some micro fractures on the surface of the tyre.

Should I get them replaced?

Yes - not because of the age of the tire alone but as per the user manuals of some of the vehicles I have read. The recommendation is to replace tires as a set of 4 as well as not to mix different types of tires.

Some manufacturers recommend changing the tires after 6 years regardless of how much tread is left as per their user manual. Some manufacturers go further, but in your specific case, you have 1 slightly old 3 very old - therefore replace all 4 with Michelin XM2 , that model arrowshot design city is quiet and needs an equally quiet tire.

[scuderiamania]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

therefore replace all 4 with Michelin XM2 , that model arrowshot design city is quiet and needs an equally quiet tire.

XM2s / yoko AE50 are obviously pretty reliable choices. However, I was thinking of giving the perfinza or the zlos a shot. Nikhilb2008 seems to have very positive opinions about the tyres. I have read other positive reviews as well. Hence the thought process.

Edit: Regarding changing over to an earth 1 tyre when the other 3 were c drives, dad had no other choice because at that time we could find c drives in any of the shops we normally check with. Hence the mix and match. I did try to pick a logical successor to the c drives to ensure minimum issues. I have also put that tyre in the front right since that is usually the tyre which stays loaded most of the time