Hi

So a few months ago I bought an old VW polo from a friend (as my Mundano ate itself). It’s a 22yr old banger but allegedly got through it’s MOT with no issues or advisories.

However, I’ve just noticed some pretty magoosive cracks on one of the front tyres. Surely this would be an MOT failure?

Massive crack

no thread showing if you peel it open? should pass.

probably a good idea to change them though

I have had MOT advisories on tyres with smaller age related cracks than that on my partner’s Polo.
I would change them as soon as possible but then I am very cautious about tyres.

Only a fail when the cords are exposed

Passing an MOT does not mean a car is safe, just that it met the minimum standards to pass an MOT at the time of the MOT.

I’ve passed with cracked tyres as an advisory.

Got them replaced anyway as it was a high performance car

Should be noted but the tester is human and may have missed it, it’s ultimately down to the driver to ensure the tyres are ok.

Our elderly Astra has some small cracks in the not particularly old rear tyres. It was an advisory on the recent MOT.

The same car had passed its MOT for years with one tyre the wrong way round, nobody noticed.

Definitely change that, irrespective of Mot

It’s a fail in Germany if your tyres are over 10 years old….

It’s a fail in Germany if your tyres are over 10 years old….

Luckily the UK roads self police tyre lifespan, you’d have to be very lucky not to have a tyre punctured or damaged beyond repair in 10 years.
Unless you don’t drive anywhere.

Cracking like that is caused by long chain complex polymers that make up some of the tyre compound degrading over time. This make the remaining compound brittle and prone to further damage. It will also offer much lower grip even if the tread is still in good condition.

I’d get them changed as soon as possible.

You can tell how old the tyres are from the code on the sidewall.

Does the vehicle vibrate or make excessive tyre noise when driven? Possible that the tyres may no longer be perfectly circular if it does. I would change those but like others I’m cautious about tyres.

mine were less severe than that and it failed an mot

While I largely agree with the comments above I note the op said 22 yo banger polo and if that is just used getting around town, not ‘pressing on’ down a roads or blatting down motorways then I’d stick with the tyre over the summer and autumn. If the then 22.5 to banger is still in your life, get a pair of decent and matching part worms from a local place.

I’d worry more about them based on their age unless they’ve been left underinflated for a prolonged period and have big straight-line cracks down to the threads.

The ones on my Midget get changed based on age as they’ll never do enough miles to wear out. The last set had been sat in the shed a while and were about 13 years old, they were absolutely terrifying. You know those YouTubers that make ‘drift trikes’ by putting some PVC pipe over gokart tyres, that level of terrifying.

Just because the car came with those tyres doesn’t mean that they were on it when it was MOT’d…

Thanks guys

Hmmm, looks like the fronts are 2014 but oddly one side not as bad as the other.

I cant see a code on the rears at all?

Re replacing them – it’s tricky; this was only ever meant to be a stop gap until I start work. I **should** only be pootling on 30 mph roads for the next few months but do occasionally do motorway miles etc

Does the vehicle vibrate or make excessive tyre noise when driven?

It does but I’m not sure how much of this is due to it being a 22yr old banger?!

Luckily the UK roads self police tyre lifespan, you’d have to be very lucky not to have a tyre punctured or damaged beyond repair in 10 years.
Unless you don’t drive anywhere.

My father has just bought a 10 year old Panda. With 7k on the clock and having been stored indoors. 😎
New tyres and battery were required, other than that it’s showroom condition.

So I have questions…

Cracking like that is caused by long chain complex polymers that make up some of the tyre compound degrading over time. This make the remaining compound brittle and prone to further damage.

We’ve got a 2018 CaddyMaxiLife. Tyres are as we got it a year old, but front and rear are different so they’re not all the originals but at most are just over 4 years old and still have a decent amount of tread on them. But we’ve got some cracking on the sidewalls, which weren’t mentioned on the MOT.

Does the vehicle vibrate or make excessive tyre noise when driven? Possible that the tyres may no longer be perfectly circular if it does

So on the French autoroute a few weeks back we were getting really bad vibrations between 75 and 80 (ie at the French limit). Tried on a recently surfaced section of the M4 last weekend and didn’t get the same…

The rubber perishes over time from sunlight. If the tyre is that old and cracking, then you need new tyres.

10 years age is a fail for a minibus, bus or lorry, but only at the front. EDIT also on any wheels run as singles (i.e. not twin wheels on one hub) on a minibus

I’ve had my car fail on cracked tyres – inner edge of side wall. They were just 4 years old with 5mm plus of tread left. Outerwall perfect. Mightily hissed off. Whilst Maxxis tyres are great on the MTB, they are shoot for cars. 3 of the 4 failed…

This 22-year old banger you keep talking about, can I have her phone number?

Whilst Maxxis tyres are great on the MTB, they are shoot for cars. 3 of the 4 failed…

Had MA-P1’s on my Civic years ago, brilliant tyres and lasted 60K!

I had maxxis all seasons on my last car They lasted well . Anything less than 40k I’d have been disappointed so they can’t have been that bad

4 year old or 4 years on the car.

I’ve had tires from blackcircles before that I’ve rejected due to large amounts of their useful life being already consumed on the shelf. They argued like hell but I got them to understand in the end.

Ops tyres while don’t look to be an mot fail by the letter of the written book….they are far beyond anything I’d drive on a public road with