One of my rear tyres has cracking around the edges as seen below:

Looking closer, it doesn't seem considerably deep but it is certainly not good condition

 

I have a 500 mile round trip coming up next week, can I expect a blowout down the M3? Or do these have a bit longer left ?

Further more, conveniently to the fact I recently had one of my fronts replaced, the nearside shows little tread on the edges compared to the inner section

 

I'm guessing this too, is cause for concern given the lack of edge tread (despite the centre section being within legal limits...how does this even happen without Diamonds Are Forever style 45° driving?)...

 

Seems I'm replacing my tyres every 6 months now on a rotating basis, do Michelin / Bridgestone tyres actually last longer or suffer the same tyre rot / damage in same timeframe?

Wow, I would not go anywhere with a tyre in that dangerous condition - get it replaced now - it is a danger to you and other drivers and pedestrians.

The date stamp on the side of the tyre says it was manufactured in 2013 so it is 11 years old and, due to age, it should have been replaced 2 or 3 years ago anyway, even without visible damage.

It was also made in ***** China,what the hell, it makes me so angry when people drive around in such dangerous vehicles

So, you need 2 DECENT tyres from a reputable manufacturer (BEFORE you go anywhere and possibly cause a serious accident) and then get a full geometry check, which includes the tracking

How did it pass it's last MOT with a tyre in that condition and in any event they should have said the tyres were too old

There is no tyre age limit for passenger car MOT.

That sort of cracking is not a fail either, unless you can see the cords anywhere.

Whether or not you feel safe and comfortable driving on it is a separate matter.

5 minutes ago, TrevorB said:

 

How did it pass it's last MOT with a tyre in that condition and in any event they should have said the tyres were too old

Only had an advisory last year: 

Nearside Rear Tyre slightly damaged/cracking or perishing (5.2.3 (d) (ii))

Seems to have worsened over the winter

1 minute ago, TomsFocus said:

There is no tyre age limit for passenger car MOT.

That sort of cracking is not a fail either, unless you can see the cords anywhere.

Whether or not you feel safe and comfortable driving on it is a separate matter.

Didn't realise it was made in China until Trevor pointed it out. Knowing that I'd probably get it changed immediately 

I would say a large proportion of tyres are made in China.
I have used:
https://www.tyresavings.com/

Only a suggestion of course but agree, even I would change it/them with that damage and I'm a tight wad! 

Out of curiosity how much do premium tyres cost like Michelin cross climate / primacy?

I think my local garages charge £85 per tyre fitted, and that's budget ! 

How much extra can I expect to pay for something decent like Bridgestone/ Michelin ?

TomsFocus - that just goes to show on how poor an MOT is then regarding safety - no way would I ever drive on tyres of that age and/or condition. Some of these so called "advisories" are really not acceptable -where it says cracking or perished means it needs replacing from a safety point of view.

A local small time tyre business near me has just been taken to task by Trading Standards for fitting tyres made in China that were 10 years old at sale time. The owner guy took his car back and they could not apologise enough (I bet they couldn't!) Fitted 4 new Bridgestone straight away and obviously no extra cost.  

Matt, to get an idea of Tyre Prices and brand costs put your reg int here

https://www.asdatyres.co.uk/

Wherever you go for new tyres do not be afraid to ask them what the manufacturing date is. Any reputable company will not sell tyres that are more than 2 years old

If you are coming down the M3, go to Micheldever Tyres and get some Michelins or Continentals, an alignment check, not Chinese Ditchfinders...............

5 hours ago, mburdett555 said:

Knowing that I'd probably get it changed immediately 

If you can wait just a couple more weeks the tyre will remove itself 🤣

That's certainly in poor shape, I'd be concerned that the tread will delaminate.

10 hours ago, unofix said:

If you can wait just a couple more weeks the tyre will remove itself 🤣

That's certainly in poor shape, I'd be concerned that the tread will delaminate.

It's still inflated - no fault found !

I've just looked at the pictures on a laptop and can see the date isn't shown on there.  That 2013 isn't the manufacturing date.  It would be interesting to see how old these tyres actually are if you can find the date stamp, it's in a small lozenge (like a Pharoah's hieroglyph!) in the format of week and year as 4 digits.  (This example is 40th week of 2020.)

I have a pair of tyres that have gone like this myself (car has been off road for a while) but one of the tyres is from 2018.  The other pair are older, but without any cracking.  It seems to be worse on newer tyres due to a change in rubber compounds.

 

Chinese tyres - could have the manufacturing date stamp in different format to others?

Cracking is normally due to age or veh left standing in hot sun - my mothers car stood for 6 months throughout the summer - 2 tyres on one side were fine other 2, on side that continually faced the sun were severely cracked (and replaced before we took it for an MOT)

22 minutes ago, TrevorB said:

Cracking is normally due to age or veh left standing in hot sun - my mothers car stood for 6 months throughout the summer - 2 tyres on one side were fine other 2, on side that continually faced the sun were severely cracked (and replaced before we took it for an MOT)

Until this week I would have agreed with you.  But I've been trying to sort out my SORN'd cars lately.  I first noticed one cracked tyre was on the sunny side of the car as it was literally being illuminated at the time, and assumed that the be the cause.  Then went round and looked at the shaded side, and was shocked to see the cracking was exactly the same on that one!  I know the shaded one was replaced the most recently as well, as I had to have it done due to an irreparable puncture.  They are both the same brand, but not quite the same model.  The other 3 were fitted before my ownership.  The rear tyres are still fine on both sides, not cracked at all.  All cheap rubbish, though I haven't checked to see whether they're all Chinese or not, will try and remember to do that later and report back.  The other car, parked next to it, in the same amount of sun for about the same amount of time, no cracks at all...

(For reference, I haven't been able to drive for a while due to health conditions, and the cars have been laid up much longer than I ever expected.  The cheap tyres were not my choice, I used to buy midrange ones myself, but they came on the car with very little wear, which was bought as a short term stopgap - back in 2018!!  If I do replace the tyres and get it roadworthy, it will only be with cheap ones again, as it would get very limited use 'if' I can start to use it again, or will just get scrapped if I can eventually accept that I'll never be able to drive again.)

looks like there are quite a number of factors to consider then Tom regarding cracking etc

Interesting results here:

The 2 tyres with cracks are made in Korea in 2018.

The 2 without cracks are made in China in 2017.

The other car has 2 made in Poland in 2019, and 2 made in China in 2020, none of which are cracked.

All tyres holding air at 28-30psi.

Probably not surprising my 12 year old tyre is finally had it then. Don't know how better my fuel economy will be with premium tyres, some say it can save 80 litres a year... 

I get 520 miles to a tank at the moment so let's see

 

I don't know if it's common to Bridgestone, but I've had some crack on the edge after only a few years on the car. We eventually replaced them with Cross-climate 2s.  They were the first tyres we've had that cracked on the tread.

Were the cracked ones subject to hot sun light and the not cracked not facing hot sunlight?

 

I am starting to get a bit tyred - think I maybe cracking up!!

Bought some Continental PremiumContact 7s. Local garages wanted upwards of £150 for Goodyear and £170 for Michelin. Got them pretty cheap at Halfords.

On 3/15/2025 at 4:44 PM, mburdett555 said:

Didn't realise it was made in China until Trevor pointed it out. Knowing that I'd probably get it changed immediately 

What's the fear of tires made in China? Everything we use now is made in China, are you saying they don't know how to make consumer goods? It will be made in large factories that use proper energy derived from coal 😂

On 3/18/2025 at 6:22 PM, StephenFord said:

What's the fear of tires made in China? Everything we use now is made in China, are you saying they don't know how to make consumer goods? It will be made in large factories that use proper energy derived from coal 😂

But some of it is too cheap sometimes comprimising on quality. 

Needless to say I've bought 4 continentals. They look good quality, tough, although a lot more shock is going to the suspension now rather than the tyres, so interested to see how much longer my coil springs last Lol

5 minutes ago, mburdett555 said:

But some of it is too cheap sometimes comprimising on quality.

Probably why China has in excess of 72% of global EV sales LOL