very informative video!!

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

It's a good video but the "cryptic" code is actually easy to understand if you take the time to learn what everything means. People really need to learn more about their cars...

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=33

...Plus why is the guy buying tires from a service station

Yep. I recently sold my aftermarket 17s and threw my stock wheels back on. Tires still looked pretty decent and had plenty of tread left. Well one decided to blow on the interstate at around 80mph. The tread separated from the rest of the tire and attacked my rear bumper. The damage:

I don't know, i bought my last set of tires from a service station Mastercraft avenger touring lsr 80,000 mile tires hasn't been too bad. Just wish i could find a good all season radial instead since my car came standard with bf goodrich touring ta tires seems that's pretty much all anyone wants to sell me size 195,65,15

I think both sides have some good points, but I am a little mixed on how I see if.
I don't think that tires should be that old when they are sold.
within a year is best, however it is very hard to have absolutely every tire sold within a year, especially the unpopular/odd ball tires.

I would say that if they are sold within about 2 years, maybe 2.5 years then it is not that bad at all.

and the 6 year tire life thing is not very accurate.

It is true that as tires age, they start to dry out and the rubber and other materials in the tire will start to degrade, but that does not take into consideration many other factors.

one of the big things is how much the tires are used and where the tires/vehicle is stored.
if the vehicle is never driven or it sits for extended periods of time then yes you will have the tires start to dry out and crack very quickly. (trailer tires/motor homes/collector cars etc)
the main reason for this is that as a tire rolls and bends, the oils in the tires move towards the surface of the tire and keep the tire flexible and in good condition.
without movement, they dry up.
environmental factors play a roll as well.

spares, especially ones stored under vehicles, are something that is a bit of an issue. they never get to flex and move and are usually never washed or cleaned and have who knows what sitting on them for years on end.

I have seen tires that are 2 years old that have deep cracks in the sides facing outwards from exposure to the elements on motor homes, and I have also seen tires that are 12 years old that, although they were worn out, they were in good physical condition because the owner took care of the vehicle, and drove it on a regular basis(although not many km at a time, he had about 10 000 km a year)

There are also some products that can not be very good for the tires, like tire shine for example, yes it looks good, but it starts to pull the oils in the tires out too quickly and the tires will prematurely have cracking issues on the sides of the tires long before the tires are worn out.
will it always do it, no.
but over time it will make an impact on the longevity of the tire.
(mainly people that put it on every week of the year for a few years).

I do think that you do need to check the condition of your tires on a regular basis, usually when they are rotated and balanced(if not balanced not only do they annoy but they can also cause the tire to have irregular wear and cause them to become not roadworthy), or at least once or twice a year.

I think that people have to take the "6 year life of tires" with a grain of salt, it is a good guideline where regular inspections should occur more often as tires do not last forever, and the older they get, the more issues that can arise.

well that was a mouthful,

I would like to see how other people view this as well, hell, teach me something new and I would enjoy that too.

Oh and to Bill, check out michelin tires, prices will be higher than wally world tires, but you get a great tire for what you pay for, depending on the weather conditions, the harmony/destiny/X-Radial tires are very good(130000 km) or even the hydro-edge(140000km).
costco usually has very good prices for what they carry(usually 10-30 percent better than many other places)

(I guess I should mention that I work at a Costco tire shop right now. I am not trying to sell tires for costco, but the warranties are usually very good, and many of the tires are very well rated (some tires just don't seem to be as great as you would think they would be, but they are few are far between. And a respectable salesperson should not try and sell a tire that does not fit the persons needs))


ok ok, I will shut my trap now (typing trap I guess)

cheers
Steve

Steve i had a set of the x radials on a car i had years ago before i bought my J, matter of fact i bought them at a costco near me. I forget what the exact number was but if i remember right i think it was like $335 or between $350 and 400 for all 4 they were great tires for the time i had them, the car itself was a piece of crap but the tires were really good in fact i had a friend from virginia later tell me that michelins are one of the best tires out there. i'm not sure mileage wise how long the x radials the destiny series or the harmony series are good for but if i ever get any more tires i am probably gonna look at michelins since tires are one thing i will not skimp on, My last set of tires were actually not bought at wallyworld they were bought from an actual gas station the guy had rows of different size tires sitting on shelves close to the roof. I forget how much i paid for them but it was exorbitant i think like just a little over 400 total maybe $428 429 for all 4 somewhere in that ball park could be wrong though, have been before. Yeah for years now i have been trying to get regular all season radial tires for my car when i'd go tire shopping i went to discount tire once, they ended up selling me like bf goodrich precept touring tires, i honestly don't know why they would even put touring tires on a J but that's Just me i just had the ones i've got on there now rotated for i think like the second time and they still have a lot of tread left so they should be good for awhile. When i first got them he told me they were 80,000 mile tires i thought holy crap i'll never be buying tires again but as you stated through normal use or otherwise tires do wear out .