If you ask the "Tire Experts", that would be the pimple faced 17 year old with 2 weeks experience at a local tire store, they will tell you to replace your tires every 3 years. Why not? That's a $1000.00 sale with mounting, balancing, tax and disposal fees! Then , they can sell your 3 year old take-offs for another $300.00. Sounds like a cool business plan to me. Consumer Reports, who are generally very conservative with their recommendations wants tires replaced every 10 years, no matter what visual condition they are in. Replace sooner if any cracks in the tread root, or sidewalls. I feel comfortable with that recommendation and have been following it. Certain brands seem to crack much sooner than others. Michelin seem to be among the most expensive and crack the earliest. But they DO stand behind their product. Had a full set of 18" premium Michelin tires crack badly after only 3 years and 18K miles. All 4 cracked to the cord in the tread, and cracked on all the sidewalls as well. Michelin replaced 3 free and I had to buy 1 tire. Very fair, IMO.
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