[Bogie]

For the information provided, that's a decent piece. All owners should be aware of tire age.

However, I'm very disappointed in the depth of the investigation. It was couched too much as "hit piece". Time would have been better spent providing more safety information and data to the consumer.

Tire age....ALONE....is not sufficient. Tire integrity is as much a function of environment as it is of age. So you can have a one year old tire that is "aged" more than a six year old tire. If they really wanted to do some good investigative journalism, they would have addressed the following issues:

Tires in general:

1. Environment: "For Sale" tires stacked out in the sun, rain, sleet, and snow, or even a humid environment of a shop, are going to age very fast and fast (respectively) compared to those in a humidity controlled environment.

2. Longevity as a function of tire compound, and tire type.

3. Manufacturer's recommendation.

As for the real danger:

4. How about some statistics on accidents attributed to tire problems? Hell, this is investigative journalism....INVESTIGATE dammit!

5. How about a survey of a cross section of users....where the tire age is checked? INVESTIGATE dammit.

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As for SKY and Solstices, not to worry. The stock tires are OEM'd specifically for our vehicles, including specific tread and compound changes based on Solstice mule tests (although it's not clear if that was RSA or the GS-1). I would be surprised if any of our stock tires are over four years old, and that's for the 07 models.

Bottom Line: Tire age is important. Be aware. But also be aware of Tire ENVIRONMENT.

Garages not only protect our paint finish. They protect our tires. Same goes for car covers....those that extend almost to the ground....protecting the tire from the sun.