At some point or another, everyone that owns a car is going to need new tires. You have the option of buying new ones or going with used tires. Tire companies have a lot of different opinions regarding new and used tires, so here is a synopsis of the collective opinion in one article. If you are thinking about getting used tires then here are a few things that you need to think about first.
Advantages
- First, the pros: the price. That’s what the advantage of buying used tires comes down to. They are so much cheaper than buying brand new tires. Even if the used set appears to be in almost new condition, they will be much lower in price than a new set. Because of this, it provides the driver with the opportunity to buy other important services like balancing and alignment. It also allows a driver to replace a tire if one blows out unexpectedly and they can’t afford a new tire. It’s a very economical way to take care of your car and after you awhile you will probably get pretty good at determining whether or not a used set of tires are decent for the price.
- Also, if everyone always bought new tires every time they needed them, there would be a ton of perfectly usable tires laying around. This would only contribute to the massive amounts of waste that we create in our world.
Now that we know the good things about buying used tires, let’s take a look at why exactly these tires are so cheap.
Disadvantages
- The main problem is that the used tire industry is entirely on it’s own. It is not regulated by any organization so there really is no one to keep the tire company accountable for all of their products. They can do whatever they want, pretty much.
- If you buy a new set of tires, there’s a chance that they will have uneven wear. This happens when an owner is not careful about regular tire maintenance. Sometimes, bad wearing is obvious but something it’s very difficult to see. Make sure to check the inside or outside grooves to see if you can see any wear or scalloping. This will help you to determine whether or not the tire has even wear.
- One of the biggest problems with used tires is that you just have no way of knowing what they have been through. At a shop where the owners and workers are less than honest, they may sell you tires that have have patches put on, bubbles or areas that are thin. It can be very difficult to see this damage. You’d also never know what kind of terrain they were used on, if they were over or under filled or over loaded at any point.
- You can’t tell how old a tire is just be looking at it. Some tire salesmen will paint the tire black to make it look newer or wet it before you see it so that it appears dark and clean. However, it is not recommended to use tires more than six years old. If you are buying used, the salesman is not going to tell you that the tires are more than six years old. After about six or seven years, the material of the tire can actually begin to break down making them very unsafe to drive. However, how would you know how old they are if you are buying used?
- It’s a lot easier to buy used when you are there in person. If you are looking online at used tires, it’s basically impossible to really tell what kind of condition the tires are in. If you really have to buy used, avoid online tire sales all together and try to find a place that you can walk into.
- Lastly, tires are also registered to the initial owner. If you buy used tires and then they are recalled, you are out of luck. No one will know how to contact you and you won’t find out if the tires that you have are recalled due to safety reasons.
Keep these things in mind and only buy used if you are very desperate and drive minimally on the used tire until you can get a new one.