FOUR YEAR OLD "NEW" TYRES

[Ultimate]

I've just received my Continental UHP 315/30/22 tyres from Tirerack.com and noted that the manufacturing date was indicated as "1505" i.e. the 15th week of 2005 (April 2005)

Considering we're in mid April 2009, I've just received four year old "new" tyres.

I wanted to get some advice if this was the norm.

My experience in buying tyres was receiving tyres generally not more than 18 months to two years since manufacturing date.

Appreciate your comments and experiences many thanks.

[dkl]

Ask for an exchange from TireRack...they are usually very good about that from what I've heard. Low profile tires are usually pretty brutal on sidewalls on newly manufacture ones, let alone a 4-year old.

[Ultimate]

I spoke to the service rep and he said that Tirerack had only received the stock three months back from Conti USA.

In response to my query sent via Tirerack, Conti USA responded to Tirerack that their tyres have a shelf life of five years and therefore did no see "any issues in the matter".

I then asked Tirerack if it was Conti USA's standard policy to sell four year old "new" tyres.

I was then informed that The American Rubber Association agrees with Conti's 5 year shelf life rule. I was also told that because I had ordered tyres of a "less popular" category, it took this long for Conti to sell out the one batch they had manufactured years ago.

I do not expect to receive six month old tyres, possibly up to 18 months/two years old would be the norm, but four year old tyres?

Anyone else who can share their experiences on buying Conti tyres?

Next time, I should perhaps be looking at another brand...

[mrkbbd]

If I were you, I would return them, that's unacceptable, get a different brand of tire

[dkl]

Originally Posted by mrkbbd

If I were you, I would return them, that's unacceptable, get a different brand of tire

Return them if they're unwilling to do an exchange. If the tires are already 4 years old +, that would mean that you have to wear them out within the next 2 to 3 years since anything older than 7 years is considered unsafe to use.

[anerbe]

although they are older, if you plan on using your tires within 2 years, you should be fine.

continental should have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee, so contact them if they don't plan on replacing the tires with a newer batch, you'll go for a different brand.

CCC UHP's are very nice tires, but the customer is always right.

[Ultimate]

Thanks guys for your comments.

Ihear all your comments but as I live in Singapore, I'm a little challenged (costwise) in shipping it half way around the world back to the US, and it appears that they don't have anything from a newer batch of tyres anyway.

Tirerack has just made me an offer of a 10% discount and I will give them credit for that. Presumably they can claim this back from Conti USA.

I believe the right answer should be for Continental and TireRack to clearly communicate that the tyres they have in stock and are shipping, are of a certain (older) age category, and for transparency purposes, these should be offered at a certain price discount to make the older "new" tyres attractive to the consumer. If they have newer stock, then these can be priced higher and you leave it to the consumer to decide upfront.

Has anyone else recently bought ContiCrossContact UHP 315/30/22 which was much younger than 1505?