[hermionegranger]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on when car tyres should be replaced. What tread depth, age, or signs do you usually look for before changing tyres? Any tips or recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Lily]

Hi there again @hermionegranger! (cool username by the way).

Thanks for your question. 😊 Last autumn I published a post about this very topic that I think you might find useful, full of great tips (including the famous 20p trick). Take a look here.

Even better, in there you will find lots of tips from the other members of the forum, really useful stuff.

If you are more of a visual person, here's a great vid as well:

If you don't mind me asking, when was the last time you changed your tyres? 🤔

[NMNeil]

Originally Posted by hermionegranger

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on when car tyres should be replaced. What tread depth, age, or signs do you usually look for before changing tyres? Any tips or recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks

Some bathroom reading for you.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-insp...#section-5-2-3

[Rolebama]

Unfortunately, tyres now have an expiry time built in by way of perishing/cracking. Look for tiny cracks appearing, easier found on sidewalls, and the gaps between the treads. I can't remember the science of it, but parking on concrete exacerbates perishing, but parking on wood helps stave it off.

[olduser]

There is some argument as to is 3mm tread depth the end point or the legal requirement of 1.6mm?
Personally I have always used the legal wear level of 1.6mm if all other indicators are good.
That is, no cuts especially in or close to the side walls or no bulges in the sidewalls or tread, which would suggest delamination.

Age, the recommended maximum age ranges from 6 - 10 yrs, (depends where you look) I interpret this as, 6yrs old if not a lot of cracks showing I might use it, if 10yrs old I would not use it.

[Drivingforfun]

My car has an all included service package and they let you have new tyres at 2mm

Whether that's calculated or scientific or just a convenient round number to give customers some margin I'm not sure

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Drivingforfun

My car has an all included service package and they let you have new tyres at 2mm

Whether that's calculated or scientific or just a convenient round number to give customers some margin I'm not sure

My last few years of working we used leased company cars, our company paid for the servicing but the servicing had to comply with the manufacturers spec and the leasing company's spec.
This meant the car may not have another service for 12 months, so the question becomes will this item last/be legal in 12 months time? (the majority of our cars did go 12 months but 25% {High mileage} were serviced 4 - 6 months)
The garage used this to their advantage, they charged for all light bulbs, tyres, brake pads and disks, W/W blades, filters, injectors, belts, and some batteries.

Our management were unconcerned at this obvious fiddle so we (drivers) marked up a few components to see what had been changed.
Brake disks were changed but not pads unless very worn, filters were not changed, on the test car none of the belts were changed, nor light bulbs, 2 tyres out of 4 were changed, battery not changed.

So your 2mm tyre change would be to allow for another years wear.

[Santa]

Half a millimetre is a very small difference, so 2mm or 1.6 is pretty academic.

[Beelzebub]

Originally Posted by olduser

So your 2mm tyre change would be to allow for another years wear.

I'm not sure that's what Drivingforfun means.

When I had a leased car. the company were happy to replace tyres when they reached 3mm at any time, not just at routine services.

[Drivingforfun]

Yeah - 2mm is when you can book it in for new tyres

I imagine as the 0.4mm difference is so small it's to allow for the miles between booking and getting it in? Cynically I'd say it's to cover themselves against "you're making me drive a car with illegal tyres" from awkward customers who forget to report them till the last minute?!

[Rolebama]

When this idea came out, there was a lot of questioning about: "Why 1.6mm, not 2?" The given answer was that being 'unusual', it would be more outstanding, therefore easier to remember. Be that as it may, I do not let my tyres get that low before I change them. Around 3 to 4mm is it for me.

[Drivingforfun]

Originally Posted by Rolebama

When this idea came out, there was a lot of questioning about: "Why 1.6mm, not 2?" The given answer was that being 'unusual', it would be more outstanding, therefore easier to remember. Be that as it may, I do not let my tyres get that low before I change them. Around 3 to 4mm is it for me.

I've heard similar about speed limits, in some countries they've trialled speed limits of numbers that aren't round to see whether or not more people take notice of them

[Rolebama]

@Drivingforfun Some years ago I drove through Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincolnshire. Going through some of the villages I noticed some unusual speed limits; 26, 27 and 28mph. I was in a traffic convoy so was more interested in watching the traffic to note where, but I definitely noticed nobody seemed to exceed them.

[hermionegranger]

Thanks everyone for the helpful replies — really appreciate you all taking the time to share your advice.
I actually took the same question down to Tyreworks & Auto Care Tyres in Gloucester, and they confirmed pretty much everything said here. They advised replacing tyres once tread drops close to 3mm for safety, checking for uneven wear, cracks, or bulges, and being mindful of tyre age even if tread looks fine.
Good to have it backed up by a local garage as well. Thanks again, this has been really useful.