Hi derosa. Its sounds like you have found a very nice 4/4. If the tyres are over 5 years old they start to become dangerous owing to age hardening of the compound. This type of degradation would not be detectable or apparent by simply looking at them.
Yes I am a bit puzzled about what to do with the tyres. Have not been able to ascertain date of manufacture by the DOT code on the side. Both the reputable selling dealer and another dealer have looked at them and said they are in very good condition and do not appear to have hardened at all and that it depends on how long they are kept under what conditions. I keep thinking I will buy some new ones but when i ask well-informed people they look at them and say they look absolutely fine. There is a place advertising in Miscellany Mag saying they do a tyre hardness check? I have had a really close look and there seems no sign whatsoever of cracking or hardening or any degredation though I appreciate such things are not always visible. I think I will do some more work on finding out year of manufacture by taking all DOT code details to a reputable tyre place. Might contact Avon customer care as they would obviously know. I suspect I will keep mulling over this until I just go out and have new ones fitted. I do like good rubber on the road.
