Are Your New Tires Really New?
My Car, My Life: The Automotive Blog for Independent Women...
Here’s a little something you might want to keep in mind to add a little “spice” in your relationship…. The next time your hubby or boy friend says he’s going to go tire shopping, volunteer to go along for the ride. But make sure when you go, you’re totally decked out in your finest, most feminine attire. You know, put on the total girlie-girl thang.
Get Ready for Show Time
When you’re at the tire store, act like you’re kinda there, but not really. You know, look around, let him do the talking, the “wheeling dealing.” And then, just as it looks like the deal is about to be done, right after he says, “Yeah, those are the ones” -- but before the car goes on the rack -- step in and say, “Honey, you’re getting us new tires, right – you know, ones that have been made sometime this year? You’re gonna double check the “born on” date? I don’t want us to be getting any of those ‘old for new ones’, you know what I’m talking about, doncha honey.”
The look on everyone’s face is going to be worth it. But just think of the expressions when you examine each of the tires the salesman has pulled out and YOU discover that, yup, sure enough, these tires are already a couple of years old!!
After the jaws are picked up off the ground and the salesman makes some excuse about having a new warehouse guy who pulled the wrong ones, you can just smile, flip your hair and give your man a big fat kiss on the cheek.
To top it off, you can even whisper in his ear, “Not to worry, baby, I’ve got your back.” Who knows, you may get a new pair of shoes out of the adventure, too.
Check That Date
The "Born-On" date will be printed into the sidewall of the tire. It'll be hidden with all that other specially coded information that looks like a math equation from 9th grade. So here's the clue to discovering and deciphering: Look for a small oval with 2 sets of numbers, both two digits. The first pair, running from 1 to 52 indicates the week in which the tire was made. The last two digits are the year. As in the photo: (1210) indicates the tire was made in the 12th week of 2010.
