Tyres: how long they last, how to check them, and what new ones cost

What tyres do, and what they're made of

Tyres do four jobs at once: they carry the weight of the car, transfer power and braking to the road, steer the car, and absorb bumps. All of that happens through four patches of rubber, each roughly the size of a hand.

A tyre is more than rubber. Under the surface there are layers of steel and fabric that keep its shape. The parts you can see:

• Tread: the patterned rubber that touches the road. Its grooves channel water away so the rubber can grip.
• Sidewall: the side of the tyre, with all the markings. It flexes as you drive, and it can't be repaired if it's damaged.
• Shoulder: the edge where tread and sidewall meet. Uneven wear often shows here first.
• Bead: the stiff inner edge that seals the tyre against the wheel rim.
• Tread wear indicators: small raised bars at the bottom of the main grooves, 1.6 mm high. When the tread is level with them, the tyre has reached the legal limit.

How tyres wear out, and why age matters too

Tyres wear in two ways, and either one can end their life.

Tread wears away with distance. Every time you accelerate, brake or turn, a little rubber is scrubbed off. New tyres have about 8 mm of tread. As it gets shallower, the grooves can move less water, so the tyre starts to aquaplane (float on a film of water) at lower speeds. In an ADAC test, worn winter tyres with 4 mm of tread started to aquaplane at 63 km/h, compared with 87 km/h for new ones.

Rubber ages with time. Even with plenty of tread, rubber slowly hardens and dries out from sunlight, heat and oxygen. Old tyres grip less, especially in the cold and wet, and fine cracks appear in the sidewall. Tyres that sit still age faster, which is why a car that's rarely driven can need new tyres with almost unused tread. Tyre makers recommend replacing tyres at 10 years old at the latest, whatever the tread depth.

What wears tyres faster:

• Driving style. Hard acceleration, hard braking and fast cornering.
• Wrong pressure. Too low or too high pressure concentrates wear on part of the tread (see "Uneven wear" below).
• Town driving. More turning, stopping and starting than on the open road.
• Wheel alignment. If the wheels don't point exactly straight, the tyres scrub sideways and wear unevenly.
• Heavy cars and front-wheel drive. Heavy cars and EVs wear tyres faster, and on front-wheel-drive cars the front tyres steer, brake and pull, so they wear out first.
• Heat and rough roads. Hot climates and poor road surfaces speed up both wear and ageing.

When to change them

Your maintenance level doesn't change this: tyres are replaced when they're worn or too old, not on a schedule. What matters is how you drive. Track2Drive estimates when your tyres will reach the limit, counts the 10 years too, and asks you to check them before then.

How to check your tyres

You can check everything that matters in five minutes, with no tools or with a cheap gauge. Do it once a month and before long trips.

Tread depth

• Use a tread depth gauge. It costs a few euros at any car shop or petrol station. Push the pin into a main groove and read the depth. Measure in a few places across the width and around the tyre: the lowest reading counts.
• Look at the wear indicators. Find the small bars at the bottom of the main grooves (the sidewall often has a small mark, like "TWI" or a triangle, showing where they are). If the tread is level with them, the tyre is at 1.6 mm: replace it now.
• The 1-euro coin trick. Put a 1-euro coin into a main groove. If you can see the whole gold rim above the tread, the tread is under about 3 mm. It's a rough check; a gauge is better.

Age: read the date code

Every tyre has a DOT code on the sidewall, ending in a four-digit number inside an oval: the week and year it was made. 1324 means week 13 of 2024 (late March). Tyres made before 2000 have a three-digit code, and are far too old anyway. Check it on all four tyres and on the spare: a tyre can be new to you and already a few years old.

Pressure

• Check the pressure once a month and before long trips, with the tyres cold (before driving, or after a short drive at most). Use the gauge at a petrol station or a cheap digital one.
• The right pressure is on a sticker inside the driver's door frame or the fuel flap, or in your owner's manual. It's usually higher when the car is fully loaded. The number on the tyre's sidewall is the maximum, not the one to use.
• Most newer cars have a tyre pressure warning light (an exclamation mark inside a tyre shape). It tells you a tyre has lost pressure, but not always that all four are slightly low. A monthly check is still worth it.

The tyre itself

Look all around each tyre, including the inner side if you can (turn the steering for the front wheels):

• Cracks in the sidewall or between the tread blocks: signs of age.
• Bulges or bubbles on the sidewall: internal damage, often from hitting a kerb or pothole. Replace the tyre straight away; it can burst.
• Cuts, nails or screws in the tread.
• Uneven wear: one edge, both edges or the centre worn more than the rest (see the table below).

How to read your tyre's sidewall

The sidewall tells you exactly which tyres your car needs. Take a photo of it before you buy new ones.

The approved sizes and ratings for your car are in your registration document and owner's manual. Fitting a different size, or a lower load or speed rating, can make the car illegal and affect your insurance.

Uneven wear: what your tyres are telling you

Tyres should wear evenly across their width. If they don't, the pattern points to the cause.

Summer, winter and all-season tyres

• Summer tyres use a harder rubber that grips best above about 7 °C. In the cold they harden and grip much less.
• Winter tyres use a softer rubber and a tread full of small slits (sipes) that grip on snow, ice and cold, wet roads. On a warm road they wear fast and brake worse than summer tyres.
• All-season tyres are a compromise that works year-round in mild climates. In heavy snow or a hot summer they're weaker than a dedicated tyre.

Rules differ by country. In Germany, winter conditions (snow, ice, slush) require tyres with the mountain-and-snowflake symbol, M+S alone hasn't counted since October 2024. In France, the Loi Montagne requires winter tyres with that symbol or carried chains/socks in mountain areas from 1 November to 31 March. In Spain, where an R-412 sign (snow chains required) is shown, you need approved chains or tyres with the mountain-and-snowflake symbol on all four wheels; M+S alone doesn't count. Check the rules before driving abroad in winter.

Store the off-season set cool, dark and dry, away from fuel and solvents: tyres on rims stacked flat or hung, tyres without rims standing upright and turned now and then. Mark each one with its position (for example "front left") so you can rotate them next season.

Warning signs

• Tread near the wear indicators, or under 3 mm (4 mm in winter).
• Cracks, bulges or cuts on the sidewall.
• Tyres over 10 years old (check the date code).
• Vibration in the steering wheel or seat at certain speeds: often an unbalanced wheel or a damaged tyre.
• The car pulls to one side: uneven pressure, a damaged tyre or alignment.
• The tyre pressure warning light comes on, or one tyre keeps losing pressure (a slow puncture).
• More road noise than before, or a thumping sound that gets faster with speed.

What happens if you don't change them

1. 1Longer stopping distances in the wet. As the tread gets shallower, it clears less water and the car needs more room to stop.
2. 2Aquaplaning at lower speeds. On a wet road the tyre can float on water, and you lose steering and braking for a moment.
3. 3Less grip in the cold. Old, hard rubber grips poorly in winter, even with tread left.
4. 4Punctures and blowouts. Thin, old or damaged tyres puncture more easily, and a sidewall failure at speed can cause a crash.
5. 5Fines, a failed inspection and insurance trouble. Tread under 1.6 mm is illegal: it means a fine (often per tyre), a failed roadworthiness test (ITV, MOT, TÜV, contrôle technique), and can reduce an insurance payout after an accident.

Why not just follow the manual, or wait for the warning light?

• Manuals don't give a tyre schedule. They say "check tyres" and list the sizes. When to replace them depends on how you drive and how old they are.
• The legal limit isn't a safe limit. 1.6 mm is the minimum the law allows, but tyre makers and motoring clubs recommend 3 mm for summer and 4 mm for winter tyres, because grip in the wet falls well before 1.6 mm.
• The pressure warning only watches pressure. It doesn't know how much tread is left or how old the rubber is. And age is invisible from the driver's seat: a 10-year-old tyre can look almost new.

How to make your tyres last longer

• Keep the pressure right. Check it monthly. Under-inflated tyres wear faster, heat up and raise fuel consumption.
• Rotate them. Swapping front and rear tyres every 10,000 km or so, if your car allows it, evens out the wear so the whole set lasts longer.
• Have the alignment checked if the car pulls, after hitting a kerb hard, or when you fit new tyres.
• Drive smoothly. Gentle acceleration, early braking and steady cornering save rubber.
• Avoid kerbs and potholes, and don't drive onto kerbs at an angle.
• Don't overload the car, and adjust the pressure when it's fully loaded.

How new tyres are fitted

1. 1The car is raised and the wheels are removed.
2. 2A tyre machine removes the old tyre from the rim. The rim and the valve are checked; the valve is usually replaced (or the pressure sensor serviced).
3. 3The new tyre is fitted onto the rim and inflated to seat it.
4. 4The wheel is balanced on a balancing machine: small weights are added to the rim so it spins without vibrating.
5. 5The wheels are refitted and the bolts tightened to the specified torque.
6. 6The pressure is set, and the tyre pressure warning system is reset if your car needs it.

At a tyre shop, fitting a set of four takes about an hour.

How much new tyres cost

For a typical family car (Golf, Clio or Focus size, 205/55 R16), four mid-range tyres cost about €280, at about €70 each. That's the same everywhere. Fitting and balancing take about an hour, and that's what changes between countries. Figures are estimates for an independent tyre shop, VAT included, for a set of four.

Questions people ask