Tires, donuts of death!

A 20/20 investigation found some interesting facts about new tires. It turns out that Automakers have been warning consumers for ever about death donuts. Older tires (over 6 years old) can become brittle and crack even if they've never been driven on. So, next time you're in the market for new tires check them out. Look for a three or four digit number (DOT code) in an oval on one of the side walls of the tire. They will look like this...



If the number is three digit, the first two number are the week in which the tire was manufactured and the last digit is the year in the 90's. So 414 as seen above was manufactured in the 41st week of 1994, making this tire 14 years old. If the number is 4 digits it was manufactured in the 2000's. So 2402 from above was manufactured in the 24th week of 2002.

Before you purchase any tires ask the vendor if you can look at the tires and check their age. Don't take no for an answer. If they won't allow it take your business elsewhere. In my opinion if the tires are more then a year old, do not purchase them. If they are more then 6 years old, make it known to the vendor and seek tires elsewhere. According to 20/20 the largest offenders they found were Sears and Walmart.

Here's the 20/20 video if you'd like to watch it.