i30 Owners Club
GOT PROBLEMS OR ISSUES? => GENERAL => Topic started by: eye30 on September 12, 2009, 14:50:31
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OK so the car is just 24 months old but has ONLY covered 12,000 miles.
Should one be expecting to have to renew all 4 tyres now?
Tyres are - Hankook Optimo 185/65R15
Car was in for its 2nd year service. When I collected it, I was informed that I need 4 new tyres as the ones on the car are showing signs of perishing on the sidewalls, sidewalls splitting and tread lifting.
I have a "limited warranty" for the tyres which details the manufacturers compensation scheme.
The warranty indicated that up to 25% of usable tread i.e. after allowing for the 1.6mm minimum required by law, this means the tyre tread has not to be less than 5.65 mm they will replace AT NO COST to the car owner. Mine are now showing just on 5mm so I miss out on claiming 100% replacement.
Due to the tread wear I may be able to claim a "prorate" % refund based on tread left. But that would be a decision by the tyre manufacturer not the garage. Based on this I would expect to receive circa 70%.
Now that would be OK but that only covers the cost of the tyre. Fitting/balancing plus any extra cost for alloys I have to cover. So now this may not be a good deal!
Also, before the manufacturer will consider the claim I have to buy 4 new tyres of exactly the same brand and type and then send the 4 duff tyre to them for checking.
So the question of the day is:
Now how long would you expect your tyres to last, excluding tread wear?
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Bad news for such a short distance :(
Now how long would you expect your tyres to last, excluding tread wear?
Me? I will probably replace all 4 when I've covered 50,000 miles, even if they don't need replacing (I've already covered over 30,000 miles). Then again, your driving routes are different to mine, which are predominantly motorway cruising.
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I would have said that is a bit quick for that to be happening to the tyres
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Hi eye, I would go to a couple of independent tyre dealers to get a second opinion.
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as sparki30 said,see a few tyre dealers about your fast wearing tyres and even try a dealer that sells those tyres and see what they say. :idea:
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That's a bit premature.. I would have thought tyres should last at least 5 years if used regularly with limited mileage...
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They will blame it on something else I reckon - make up something like 'under inflation causing overheating of the sidewalls' Just get some other decent tyres and forget the nasty plastic things the factory puts on. I'm assuming for yu to claim anything you need to replace them with the same brand, and I bet you cant claim twice, so your stuck with the next set.
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On my previous Elantra, the Hankook got "bald" quite soon also and you could see cracks in the walls, but they didn't even think that there are problems with the tires.. It was or my driving, not enough inflated tires or the wheels geometry.. Warranty and tires..pff not an easy one :neutral:
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Is it the inside, outside or both sidewalls on the tyres which are cracking? Are they cracking, ie showing deep lines on the sidewalls, or is it just surface crazing very shallow lines? Also did they say whether the tyres were wearing evenly across the tread width? If just the inside then that could suggest that the geometry is out as mentioned above, possibly too much positive or negative toe which would cause the inner sidewall to overheat as the inner part of the tyre would get scrubbed more. This would also show as the tread blocks lifting / tearing up more readily, as the tyre isn't rotating straight.
I would be inclined to go to a reputable, recommended independant tyre fitter for an opinion, as some dealers have ties to some tyre bays, and the multi nationals are more interested in getting you to part with your cash.
Very few cars come from the factory with the settings spot on, as long as they are within the tolerances they are deemed ok, but the tolreances allow for + or - toe and camber and castor on the front, which on an i30 is not adjustable with stock suspension.
I am running an i30 with the optional 18" wheel tyre combo and lowering springs. The original Khumos where badly scrubbed on the inside as all four wheels had too much negative toe. Also with the lowering springs I have an additional negative 1 minute of camber on each wheel over standard. Got the toe corrected and the wear and inside edge temperature after a run reduced.
To get anywhere with the warranty, I think it would need to be shown that the alignment is within Hyundais given specifications, as if not then the tyre co could say their product has not been used correctly.
Mark
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Is it the inside, outside or both sidewalls on the tyres which are cracking?
I've now had the time to look at the tyre in more depth, pardon the pun, and this is what I can see, given that I'm no expert in tyre technology.
The side wall look OK both inside and out except for slight scuffing etc on the sidewall on the outside.
The tread is NOT worn on any side - it had worn uniformly across the whole width.
BUT ..... the cracking is in the groves of the tread pattern. To me they looks bad.
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i got my rims done 100kms after i bought my car and the wheel alignment was out heaps.not to good for a brand new car.imagine if i had done 5.000kms with my frontend alignment out. [bald front tyres] :mad:
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Weird. maybe worth asking the dealer to replace them under warranty (worth a go).
You might want to check when the tyres were manufctured, I think all tyres have this now (not sure):
http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/passenger/care/age.aspx
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maybe worth asking the dealer to replace them under warranty (worth a go).
Tried this one see previous post re warranty liability reproduced below.
My next step is to contact the UK distributors and give then details of the code numbers on the tyre casing and ask if there has been any recalls or other issues with this batch of tyres.
"The warranty indicated that up to 25% of usable tread i.e. after allowing for the 1.6mm minimum required by law, this means the tyre tread has not to be less than 5.65 mm they will replace AT NO COST to the car owner. Mine are now showing just on 5mm so I miss out on claiming 100% replacement.
Due to the tread wear I may be able to claim a "prorate" % refund based on tread left. But that would be a decision by the tyre manufacturer not the garage. Based on this I would expect to receive circa 70%.
Now that would be OK but that only covers the cost of the tyre. Fitting/balancing plus any extra cost for alloys I have to cover. So now this may not be a good deal!"
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What looks bad to you will not look that bad in reality.
Your garage is possibly short of work.
Put some photo's up.
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Here are photo's I took today.
The cracking is in the outer groves of the tread, not the middle groves and NOT the sidewalls:
(http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr292/eye30/car/102_2424.jpg)
(http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr292/eye30/car/102_2423.jpg)
(http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr292/eye30/car/102_2422.jpg)
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I think you need a full geometry check on the wheels. The camber of the wheels may be too great and is putting undue stress on the outer edges of the tyres causing them to be torn away from the carcass.
I'd get them changed in a heartbeat regardless of who ends up paying...
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But they sure do look perished.
Shambles (or anyone else),
Do you have the same tyre - Hankook Optimo k415 - 185/65r65?
If so what are yours like as your car is younger than mine but has covered twice as many miles. Picture would be appreciated.
Cheers.
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I have Kumho 225/45 r17 and covered 31400 miles
Click for larger pics
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/th_100_0795.jpg) (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/?action=view¤t=100_0795.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/th_100_0796.jpg) (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/?action=view¤t=100_0796.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/th_100_0797.jpg) (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/?action=view¤t=100_0797.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/th_100_0798.jpg) (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/?action=view¤t=100_0798.jpg)
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Yours look as smooth as a babies bottom - no cracks.
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Its cosmetic, dont worry about it.
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I have Kumho 225/45 r17 and covered 31400 miles
Click for larger pics
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/th_100_0795.jpg) (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/?action=view¤t=100_0795.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/th_100_0796.jpg) (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/?action=view¤t=100_0796.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/th_100_0797.jpg) (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/?action=view¤t=100_0797.jpg)
(http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/th_100_0798.jpg) (http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/ShamblesX/i30/?action=view¤t=100_0798.jpg)
you got your moneys worth out of those tyres. :cool:
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Here are photo's I took today.
The cracking is in the outer groves of the tread, not the middle groves and NOT the sidewalls:
(http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr292/eye30/car/102_2424.jpg)
(http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr292/eye30/car/102_2423.jpg)
(http://i493.photobucket.com/albums/rr292/eye30/car/102_2422.jpg)
they look like very old tyres :rolleyes:
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Its cosmetic, dont worry about it.
ps I can see the steel webbing underneath the cracking
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they look like very old tyres :rolleyes:
Car is 24 months old and covered 12,000 miles (19,300 km)
I'm wondering if they have been in stock for sometime before placing on the car.
There is no date stamp on the tyre so does anyone know how to read tyre codes, especially to find the date of manufacture?
I've looked at Hankook's web site but can't see info.
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Hi eye
This link might help, its a bit long winded but explains various date codes.
http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible.html
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look for DOT _ _ _ _
The 4 numbers mean the week and year of manufacture
Still looks cosmetic.
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Hi Eye,
I would get the geometry looked at, as one side is more worn than the other. Looking at the tread pattern in the second picture there is more tread on the right than the left. The tyres are assymetric, and the pattern is mirrored about the centre on the tyres, and on the right you can see the remainder of the groove which leads to the outside edge on the left this has worn away.
(http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/mark.piesse/images/102_2423a.jpg)
Mark
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Cheers for the link, DOT code and comments re tyre wear.
According to the DOT code the date is showing as 2607 i.e. week 26 year 2007 so they were only 3 months old when I bought my car, assuming week 1 is first week in January.
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So they are now a bit over two years old.. the cracking is just the rubber starting to dry and harden. This happens with all tyres, but some factors such as heavy UV, heat or chemical exposure can accelerate the process. It is purely cosmetic - the rubber is not the critical structural component.. that is the casing (made of polyester and steel). Obviously, if the rubber was falling off the tyre that is a different story, but hardening cracks are inevitable with any tyre.
Tyres that are more than about three years old have far less grip than new ones, which is why we replace ours every three years regardless of wear. This was especially important when using winter tyres in canada - they drastically lose elasticity and grip after a couple of years through the hardening process.
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So they are now a bit over two years old.. the cracking is just the rubber starting to dry and harden. This happens with all tyres, but some factors such as heavy UV, heat or chemical exposure can accelerate the process. It is purely cosmetic - the rubber is not the critical structural component.. that is the casing (made of polyester and steel). Obviously, if the rubber was falling off the tyre that is a different story, but hardening cracks are inevitable with any tyre.
Tyres that are more than about three years old have far less grip than new ones, which is why we replace ours every three years regardless of wear. This was especially important when using winter tyres in canada - they drastically lose elasticity and grip after a couple of years through the hardening process.
What he said.... i TOLD you..
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Yup, just what he said !
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Huh it doesn't look nice, but I had similar experiences with Hankook tires. I've had them on Elantra and the first Accent and happened exactly the same. After period of 2-3 years they started to crack and became very hard, so the driving in wet conditions wasn't as safe as before - many times you couldn't normally start (drive off), because the tires didn't have any grip. It was very dangerous when you had to drive off suddenly, because you just couldn't..the wheels just kept turning..
I would consider changing them.. Using warranty or buying them yourself..
Maybe that's not the case with your tires, I'm just explaining my experiences with "cracking" and stuff.
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I'm also not convinced that geometry is out, you will always get a difference across the width of the tyre (which will be a different difference (now I'm confused!) to the wheel at the other side due to the camber of the road. This is why we are supposed to rotate to even up the wear.
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Hi Bumpkin,
Road camber isn't a causal effect here, but the suspension geometry and wheel alignment on the car is . And as pointed out by others the age of the tyres contributing to the cracking.
The i30 set up is with negative camber front and rear, so this means the tyres tilt in at the top, ( like this / \ from in front or behind), and this puts more pressure on the inside of each tyre. Add to this the incorrect toe, either to much positive or negative and this will cause further wear to the inside of each tyre (from above, toe in / \, toe out \ /, neutral | | ). The reason for rotating is because the fronts will wear quicker than the rears, as they are carrying the weight of the engine, in a front wheel drive car they are responsible for transferring power to the road and also the steering, the rears just support the weight of the back of the car. Additionally, the outer edge on the fronts can wear due to cornering. With neutral geometry the rears should wear uniformly across their entire width, but as the i30 has a small amount of negative camber, will wear the inner edge slightly more. To balance this wear the tyres would need swapping side to side, off the rim, but even with asymmetric tyres this is not always possible as the tyres can have an outside and an inside marked on them.
I am not able to rotate the tyres on mine due to having a directional tread pattern, so can only swap front to rear to balance the wear, without having to take the tyres off the rims, which I try and get done every 6000 miles or so. Currently my rear tyres have approx 3mm tread left on the inner edges and 5mm on the outer edges, these tyres have now done 12000 miles, the last 1000 miles on the rear, the previous 5500 miles on the front. I have the lowering spings so have greater negative camber all round than a car on stock springs, so the wear to the inside is more noticable. I also get the alignment checked as well, and the the wheels are normally reset so they have a neutral toe, but as the camber is not adjustable I have to put up with the inner edge wearing prematurely to the rest of the tyre. Sometimes adjustment to the toe is required because of the shock transmitted to the suspension from the poor quality roads here in the UK.
Mark
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Called into an independant tyre service today.
They checked all tyres and basically said they were a mid range tyres - the best of that price range.
Tracking OK and wear was uniform across all the tyre(s).
Cracking was not a bit issue but said they looked more like a 5 year old tyre.
I'm still going to replace, for peace of mind especially as here in UK we are going into winter months soon - not that you would have noticed any difference between last winter/spring/summer and request the tyre manufacture for a FULL reimbursement.
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very interesting,5 years. :exclaim: :eek:
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UPDATE
Got my 4 new tyres today.
Had to buy the same brand/type etc to comply with the terms of the tyre warranty.
The garage will send them off to Hanook for testing and hopefully a "FULL" refund.
Noticed that the new tyres are embossed - MADE IN HUNGARY.
The originals - MADE IN KOREA.
I'll be keeping an eye(30) on these and checking the tread area regularly.
Fingers crossed for a FULL refund!
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Gee a full refund would be brill.. good luck!!
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UPDATE
Got my 4 new tyres today.
Had to buy the same brand/type etc to comply with the terms of the tyre warranty.
The garage will send them off to Hanook for testing and hopefully a "FULL" refund.
Noticed that the new tyres are embossed - MADE IN HUNGARY.
The originals - MADE IN KOREA.
I'll be keeping an eye(30) on these and checking the tread area regularly.
Fingers crossed for a FULL refund!
I would ring the BBC WatchDog team. They seem to like car features and usually get a good response to problems.
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UPDATE
Got my 4 new tyres today.
Had to buy the same brand/type etc to comply with the terms of the tyre warranty.
The garage will send them off to Hanook for testing and hopefully a "FULL" refund.
Noticed that the new tyres are embossed - MADE IN HUNGARY.
The originals - MADE IN KOREA.
I'll be keeping an eye(30) on these and checking the tread area regularly.
Fingers crossed for a FULL refund!
I would ring the BBC WatchDog team. They seem to like car features and usually get a good response to problems.
Watch tonight and see if I get thro'
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They are too busy talking about how bad BMW alloy wheels are.
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They are too busy talking about how bad BMW alloy wheels are.
Yes I watched.
Just been outside to check my alloy's - They are OK
Now I wonder if they will say something similar that it's due to the state of our roads?
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Got my 4 new tyres today.
Only had the new tyres 9 days and 1 has already been in for repair.
3 inch screw had gone through the tyre in between the new deep tread.
Fortunately it has been repaired with a "mushroom" type plug/patch.
Now the chap said that if I still had the old tyres this wouldn't have happened as the screw wouldn't have got "jammed" in the tread.
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... if I still had the old tyres this wouldn't have happened ...
Classic example of Murphy's law mate :rolleyes:
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Got my 4 new tyres today.
Only had the new tyres 9 days and 1 has already been in for repair.
3 inch screw had gone through the tyre in between the new deep tread.
Fortunately it has been repaired with a "mushroom" type plug/patch.
Exactly same happened to my OH's car day before yesterday, they were only 6 days old. Tenner to fix.
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Got my 4 new tyres today.
Only had the new tyres 9 days and 1 has already been in for repair.
3 inch screw had gone through the tyre in between the new deep tread.
Fortunately it has been repaired with a "mushroom" type plug/patch.
Exactly same happened to my OH's car day before yesterday, they were only 6 days old. Tenner to fix.
Snap. £10 all in
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Unlucky about the damaged Tyre eye... :'(
Any news about your refund yet? :D
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sorry to hear about the quick wear and tear with the cracks
i work for a workshop that does tyres here in Australia and what you read and posted about the week and year is correct, and you said about the tyres being made in a different country it will be interesting to see how they last.
Here the local car company's were using bridgestone RE92 from factory and people would get like 50,000 to 60,000ks from them then replace them with the same and only get 30,000 to 40,000ks turns out the factory fitted one are made slightly different and are actually harder.
anyway Cheers
Brandon
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Any news about your refund yet?
Not yet but I understand the tyres have been returned for examination.
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Update - Still no reply from the tyre manufacture.
Will be getting in touch with the dealer during the next few days to see how long it takes to test etc.
But in the meantime I noticed from day 1 that the car tended to steer to the left (RHD UK ). Initially I put it down to the camber of the road. Prior to replacing the car went in straight line.
Had tracking checked etc. Nothing needed altering. Anyway today while surfing the net I came across a posting on a tyre site which said to swop tyres from left to right.
Has anyone done this and found the car does not steer left but moves in a straight line with little or no steer to left/right?
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I'd be jumping up and down by now ... over 2 months is a long time to wait! :twisted:
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Update - Still no reply from the tyre manufacture.
Will be getting in touch with the dealer during the next few days to see how long it takes to test etc.
But in the meantime I noticed from day 1 that the car tended to steer to the left (RHD UK ). Initially I put it down to the camber of the road. Prior to replacing the car went in straight line.
Had tracking checked etc. Nothing needed altering. Anyway today while surfing the net I came across a posting on a tyre site which said to swop tyres from left to right.
Has anyone done this and found the car does not steer left but moves in a straight line with little or no steer to left/right?
You've been got at in a big way.
I just found this topic.
Regardless of what anyone else may have said, were they Dunlop, Bridgestone, Goodyear, Yokohama and several others, at least in Australia, those tyres would have been replaced on the spot, with minimum hassle to you. Although you are supposed to pay for fitting, balancing etc, almost no one would have charged you for it if a reputable dealer.
Those cracks are NOT cosmetic.
They indicate a serious problem with either the tread rubber curing process or top belt issues.
Pro rata payment is normal and fair enough really.
I can't beleive they've got to send the tyres away for assessment. Again, at least in Australia, the dealer should have enough knowledge to be able to make a decision on the spot and he should have enough of a relationship with the tyre manufacturer / distributor to be able to do so.
Ask them for a phone contact at Hankook in Britain and ring them. Or look them up in the phone book or on the web.
Please keep us posted.
Interesting set of circumstances.
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very interesting,5 years. :exclaim: :eek:
i'm surprised they did not show the date, all tyres have date of manufacture on them ( cast in the mold )
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very interesting,5 years. :exclaim: :eek:
i'm surprised they did not show the date, all tyres have date of manufacture on them ( cast in the mold )
The "5 years" was what the dealers siad they look like but the date coding (quoted in an earlier posting but copied below):
According to the DOT code the date is showing as 2607 i.e. week 26 year 2007 so they were only 3 months old when I bought my car, assuming week 1 is first week in January.
So just over 2 years old!!