Is there an obvious way to determine the year of manufacturer on car tyres?

Just picked up my missus’ car from an MOT on Friday and there’s an advisory for “Tyre Cracking or Perishing”.
Now, the tyres in question are Good Year Eagles, not a budget no-name and were fitted in February 2019 and have covered just 5000miles since then.

I understand that there is a way to tell the age of the tyre from the sidewall codes. There is one section on the sidewall that states “001645/2012” would that be it? 2012?

I may just need to have a word with Black Circles about selling old stock.

Thoughts welcomed…

https://www.blackcircles.com/helpcentre/tyres/age-of-a-tyre

Thanks Simon. That DOT code suggests it was a week-42 from 2018 so less than six months old at the time of fitting and still less than two years old now.
Not great to be perishing / cracking already, they’ve not been ragged (she’s a 50yr old mum not a boy-racer).

Could the tyres have been run at low pressures as this could damage the sidewalls and lead to cracking

My car failed MOT on 4 year old tyres – mine had splits on the inner side of 3 of the 4 tyres – they looked perfect, loads of tread.

You will be looking for 4 before the next MOT.

Some tyres are just shite. My wife’s car came up with ‘cracking or perishing’ at the last MOT but the tyres were 8 years old. Replaced them this year.

Cracking tyres is usually a sign of age, though not in terms of years but more in terms of exposure to a combination of UV light and oxygen attach causing the rubber to go brittle and lose its elasticity. Lots of additives are added to tyres to protect against this, however with modern tyres it takes years so unusual for tyres so young to be cracking due to this. Might be worth taking up with the outlet you got the tyres from if they were not old when fitted. I’m struggling to think of any other cause that would cause the rubber to crack and perish. Damage as Sumafunk suggests would be caused from the inside out where the internal structure of the tyre fails causing the rubber to crack and tear rather than the kind of perishing you see from UK and O2 exposure.

Classic thing is you buy new tyres but they’ve been sat on a shelf for years so can be a few years old by the time you get them on your car, so always a good idea to check the date stamp when you get new tyres. To be fair whenever I’ve asked at tyre fitters they’re aware of this and will only get tyres with no more than 6 or so months since manufacture.

Did the tester show you where the cracking/perishing was?

No unfortunately not Jim.

@somafunk Tyres pressures etc are checked pretty regularly, certainly only ever +/-10% rather than run when “soft”.

Have you checked the spare tyre? That has to be legal (if there is one)

It’s only advisory. What do you think? Have you had a look? Lots of advisories never even mentioned again next time round from the same garage. Always inspect yourself first and do so when its up on the ramp for anything. Take a hammer and a torch. Appear to be naive and they will take advantage.

Did the tester show you where the cracking/perishing was?

No unfortunately not Jim.

Ask them?

Have you checked the spare tyre? That has to be legal (if there is one)

No it doesn’t, one of the very few things that don’t get checked.

2.12 Tyres and wheels

These will be inspected to check for:

condition
security
tyre size and type
tread depth

Spare wheels and tyres are not inspected.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/car-parts-checked-at-an-mot/car-parts-checked-at-an-mot

Does the MOT Centre just happen to sell tyres too?

No it doesn’t, one of the very few things that don’t get checked

Whilst not an MOT check, the spare must be legal if carried. I am guessing that spooky was suggesting that you check the spare yourself, although being kept in the dark means that it’s less likely to perish

I had some tyres crack. Must have been a few years old but still plenty of tread. Took them back to the dealer and got a partial refund based on the remaining tread depth.

Ozone and UV are two causes of cracking in car tyres.

I had a tyres fail an MoT due to cracks – but they were 15 years old. Two years doesn’t seem right.

Mmight be best under a new thread, but I have a tyre issue too!

A recent visit to my usual specialist garage for a service resulted in a note on the bill to say 4 new tyres needed

I have a measuring tool and measured the tread across the 3 big radial groove in the fronts and the rears – they all have about 4 mm of tread across all of the big grooves

There is no evidence of uneven outer or inner wear (although those grooves are not as deep to start with)

I think they are fine for an imminent trip to France and have checked online – I thought one of you might have a useful opinion??

Most tyre manufacturers recommend changing at 3mm so the garage might have deemed yours at 4mm would be under 3mm by the next service. Seeing as most people never check their tyres it’s probably an arse-covering exercise for them but if in doubt give them a call and ask, they may have spotted something else to consider.

What miles gave the current tyres done? Most tyres start with about 7mm of tread. So assuming you change at 3mm they are 75% worn at 4mm. So if it has taken 18000 miles to wear them to 4mm they are good for another 6000 miles.

A trio to France and a few more local miles will result in new tyres just before winter when more driving is done in the wet and the tread depth really matters.