With less tread depth than a brand new tyre, part-worns will generate less grip, particularly in the wet. That means your car will have less traction and - more pertinently - less cornering and braking grip.
Tyres removed from vehicles and re-sold with minimal tread wear are not immediately unsafe. However, there could be serious risks if there is an underlying issue with a second-hand tyre someone has bought. If you buy part-worn tyres, you should expect that they have been properly inspected and tested before sale.
With just 1.4mm of tread left, it will only last a few hundred miles (at best). For context, new tyres can last upwards of 20,000 miles. And so, the argument that part worn tyres are cheaper isn't really valid because they'll need replacing more often.
Given that a brand new, budget tyre will cost you around 60% more than a part worn, but you'll get 230% more miles out of it - it becomes a no-brainer, right? It goes without saying that part-worn tyres don't only cost you more in the long run, they have severe safety implications for you and other road users.
Drivers choose to fit part worn tyres as they're much cheaper than new or budget tyres. However, while it seems on the surface that they offer better value for money, this isn't necessarily true.
With less tread depth than a brand new tyre, part-worns will generate less grip, particularly in the wet. That means your car will have less traction and - more pertinently - less cornering and braking grip.
Because tyres are the only point of contact between your car and the road, having two different tyres on the same axle is not advised. Pairing an old tyre with a new one will cause an imbalance in rolling resistance and grip, causing unpredictable performance, steering problems and using more fuel.
A general recommendation is that your tyres are changed every 20,000 miles or every 10 years. However, they may need to be changed sooner than this if you notice any of the following: The tread is worn down.
This is because they are usually constructed with a higher quality rubber and designed with a tread pattern which can withstand wear differently to budget tyres. It is also important to bear in mind that tyres, both budget and premium, will live longer the better they are cared for.
They are simply tyres that have already been used by another vehicle. These sort of tyres are generally imported from Germany as the legal minimum tread depth for cars there is 3mm. Once tyres in Germany have reached this limit, road users would remove these tyres and buy new ones.
Generally speaking, tyres nowadays last for about 40,000km. That's a significant leap over the 32,000km they lasted for in the 1970s. However, it's hard to estimate exactly how long your own tyres will last.
An average of between 25,000 to 50,000 kilometres for drivers with normal driving styles.
It may be tentative, but tires do have an expiration date. There is a general consensus that most tires should be inspected, if not replaced, at about six years and should be absolutely be swapped out after 10 years, regardless of how much tread they have left.
Primarily, you should avoid mixing different tyre brands and different tread patterns. There are rare exceptions for approved mixed-tyre fittings, but in general, manufacturers do not recommend tyre mixing at all.
Part-worn tyres FAQs
Part-worn tyres can legally have as little as 2mm of tread left. As brand-new tyres can have up to 8mm of tread, on tread depth alone part-worn tyres can have a quarter of their life.
Budget tyres tend to wear more quickly than premium quality tyres. Grip. Budget tyres generally don't provide as much grip as high quality tyres. Especially in wet conditions, they won't stick to the road quite as well as a premium quality tyre.
The answer is ideally, yes. Replacing just the one tyre without changing the tyre on the opposite side of the axle at the same time may cause an imbalance to the vehicle – potentially leading to wheel misalignment and excessive tyre wear.
The most common reason for tyre wear on the edges is underinflation. If you've noticed wear on the inside, check the outside of the tyre too. Underinflated tyres tend to distort the tread away from the road in the centre, which results in the edges becoming worn.
All tyres (including spare tyres) more than ten years old should be removed from service and replaced with new tyres.
While one of the tires in the study was half the price of its more expensive cousin, the more expensive tire lasted nearly three times longer. Which tire is the better value for your money? A big part of what determines your tire value is how much mileage you get out of it.
It's always best to replace all 4 tires at the same time. This is because all 4 tires spin independently of one another, and different tread depths and/or styles can cause them to spin at different speeds. That could potentially damage the drive train, and possibly affect an indirect TPMS system if the vehicle has one.
It is perfectly legal to use different brand tyres on your car, however, this doesn't always mean you should. Slight differences in the tyre could end up causing huge differences in performance, which can ultimately end up damaging both your car and your wallet as a result!
The old myth is that your new tires should go on the front, but in recent times, that has been proven to be unsafe for your vehicle. When replacing only 2 tires, your new tires should always go on the rear axle!