Tire Manufacture Date: How important it is???

[Qashqai]

I purchased a new set of Nokian Hakka R SUV tires. Today I looked at their manufacturing dates and one of them is 2008 and the other is 2009 (I couldn't read the date of manufacture for the other two. It is not usual four digit week/year style. It has letters etc). Today it is Sunday and the store is closed, but on Monday I will go an ask them to replace these old ones with newer ones.

I made a research on the internet and some says "if it is stored properly, nothing will happen". However, when I visit Nokian's website, under FAQ part, it says:

Is there a manufacturing date on Nokian tires?
On all Nokian branded tires, a four digit code shows the year and week when the tire was manufactured. The manufacturing code has four digits, for example, the code "2106" means that the tire was manufactured in week number 21 of the year 2006. The tire industry believes that tires are safe for use up to 6 years after the date of manufacture.

Bridgestone says:

"Make sure tour tires, including the spare, continue to be regularly inspected after 5 years of service to determine if they can continue in service. Regardless of the tire's condition or tread depth, it is recommended that tires more than 10 years old be taken out of service and replaced with new tires"

I also learn that some people ask for a discount if the manufacture year is two or more years ago.


So my question: Am I over reacting? I am 100 % sure they stored the tire properly (low humidity, room temperature, no sunlight etc). Do you think I should live with it or return to store and ask them to replace them with XX11 ones?

Thank you.

[kerrton]

It can't hurt to mention it to the tire dealer, based on the quote from Bridgestone it does imply that the rubber compounds degrade over time regardless of mileage. But, as long as the tires were stored in doors which I'm sure they were, i wouldn't worry too much about it. It's the UV light that has the greatest impact on rubber deterioration. Let us know what the tire shop says when you contact them, I'm interested to hear their response....

[Pescakl1]

Believe me, the tires degrade overtime, I learned it the bad way.

And it was with a subaru, but the tires were quite old, probably 6-8 years old.
They were sold to me from a friend who bought them used from someone else.
But I knew that only after my encounter with a snow bank.

No grip at all, tires cold (they behaved better after some miles on tarmac), getting out of the chalet, but thankfully for me I was going slow (cold engine).

I will never buy used winter tires again.

Qashqai, they are at least 3 years old, that is way too much for me.
After 6 years, threads still on it or not, the rubber has vulcanized and lost its property which makes it a good winter tire in the first place.
If it was for a summer tire or an all-season, I won't sweat it that much, but they are winter tires and the rubber nature is more important than the thread type.

[Qashqai]

FINALLY the warehouse sent the right tires (after three shipments of tires with a date of 2009/2008) and they change the three 2008 and one 2009 tire that they installed. I have 2500 km on the other tires, so in theory that 2500 km comes for free for me (my new tires are 2500 km less driven). I am sure they will sell those "used" tires to the next customer. Now I have 2011 tires, I am happy.

By the way, especially on the dry roads there is a woo woo woo woo noise. A rhythmic noise coming from the wheels. I know the winter tires are noisy, but the old sets and the new ones have the same noise. Do you have Nokian Hakka R's like me? do you have the same noise?

I should add this. This week we have our first snow fall. The performance of those tires were AMAZING!!!

[philipa_240sx]

By the way, especially on the dry roads there is a woo woo woo woo noise. A rhythmic noise coming from the wheels. I know the winter tires are noisy, but the old sets and the new ones have the same noise. Do you have Nokian Hakka R's like me? do you have the same noise?

I've got probably 15,000km on my Hakka R's. Bought them in 2010. Yes, the woo woo noise is normal.

I've also driven on the older Hakka RSi and Hakka 1. Both those tires had a much higher pitched noise similar to driving on grooved pavement. The Hakka R's are much better in this regard... and are probably the quietest Nokian winter tires I have owned.