For many people, buying a used car from car dealership or used car dealer or even a private individual can be a smart financial decision. When deciding on a used car or truck, most consumers don’t concentrate on the age of the tires on the vehicle, rather just look at the amount of tread left. In fact, most used car salesmen will even point out the tread depth (assuming of course it is sufficient) and tell you these are great tires with 10,000’s of miles left on them. Both facts of tires being good tires with years of use left on them may be a bold lie. No one can tell the safety of a tire from just a quick inspection. At the very least the buyer can inspect the tire for available tread depth and calculate the age of the tire by looking up the DOT numbers, but that isn’t enough to tell the real history of that tire and the abuse and possible repairs that it has endured. The tires on that used car may have multiple patch repairs and tire plug repairs only visible from taking the tire off the rim and inspecting the tire from inside. Another problem buying a used tire on a used vehicle is that it is difficult to determine the number of curb strikes, whether the tire has been ridden severely over inflated, over loaded or under-inflated and if so whether internal tire damage is present.
Other used car tire dangers are whether the tires on that used vehicle are rated for the vehicles’s weight, correct size and height, correct speed rating or whether the tires had come off another car that had been in a wreck or rollover accident. The innocent consumer of an used car is really clueless as to the real history of the tires even with the tires inspected off the rim by a tire shop worker.
Used Cars with Old Tires – Potential Hidden Dangers
- Tires on used car may be incorrect size and speed rating
- Tires may be too old to be safe
- Tire treads may be too shallow or worn out
- Tire tread patterns may be mismatched from different manufacturers
- Past tire repairs may have damaged tires
- Too many tire patches or tire plugs in tire
- Tire repairs outside the accepted safe areas or sidewalls
- Presence of flammable gas (butane, propane or isobutane) from canned aerosol tire inflators inside the tire
- Presence of a Liquid Tire Fixer, Slim, Tire Goop or Tire Fix a Flat type products used to seal a hole instead repairing or replacing tire
- Original equipment or spare tire may be rotated onto vehicle that is many years older than rest of the tire on the used car
- Tires on vehicle may be subject to tire recalls
- Mismatched placement of “better” tires in front vs. back tires
- Tires on used car may have excessive surface cracking from age, or sunlight
- Unknown history of prior tire impacts with potholes, road hazards and curbs
Lastly, as we have discussed buying an used car may have hidden tire dangers that you or even the used car salesman are unaware of at the time of the sale. The best and safest approach is get the used car dealer to agree to put new tires on the vehicle or at least reduce the price of the used car or split the cost of a new set of tires for you to buy after sale. If the used car dealer refuses, then keep looking.
Rollovers and Accidents Caused by Bad Tires on Used Cars
If you or a loved one has been seriously injured or a loved one killed as a result of tire failure of a tire that was on a used car you purchased, then call our law firm and speak with a lawyer or attorney today. Our law firm offers a free case evaluation on all aspects of tire defect litigation, SUV, Van & Truck Rollovers, roof collapse, used tires and roof crush defects and tire litigation, defective and airbag failures and seatbelt failures. Houston, Texas tire defect litigation attorney David Willis has over 30 years of experience in almost every aspect of the tire defect lawsuit process, including tire and vehicle inspections, tire defect injury lawsuits and is a Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Lawyer with top peer review ratings by Martindale-Hubble. Call for a free confidential case review at 1-800-883-9858 or through our online tire failure inquiry form.