Its in the tread

I had a puncture last year towards the end of August and had both my back tyres replaced. That was that for those tyres I thought and haven’t given them another thought since I only drive on tarred roads (bad as they may be) which shouldn’t shred the tyres after less than 15 000kms.

So imagine my surprise when, while reversing down my parents’ driveway, my mother frantically waved at me to stop, exclaiming “this tyre is completely bald.”

Hopping out to see which tyre was “this tyre” I was flabbergast to see her pointing at what is essentially a brand new tyre. I was even more surprised when I went to replace the offending tyre and the chap at Tiger Wheel and Tyre told me I needed three tyres replaced – the two new ones and one of the originals which came with the car when I bought, brand new, it 96 000km ago. The surprising part was that one of the originals still had 7mm of tread while the two new ones had less than 2mm left on them.

Turns out they are dated 2007 – five years before they were put on the car which means they had been hanging around, perishing for five years before I got them which would account not only for the wear but also for the chunks of rubber which had started coming off them.

So, as a women who has little interest in the maintenance of vehicles – I just want it to go when I start it – I am on a mission to find out what unsuspecting motorists like me should know about such things when trusting dubious characters with our tyre replacement – and our lives.

If you are a tyre professional, let me know what you think our motoring public should be aware of when buying new tekkies for their cars.