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Porsche owners manual states that "under no circumstances, never drive on tires greater than 6 years old". Contact the dealer who CPO'd the car and have them pay for replacing the aged tires!
"Figured I knew everything - and could not spend an extra penny for a while. " I laughed when I read this only because I thought the same way after I purchased my 997. Within a month I had a to-do list a mile long. Of course they are all minor upgrades to make my car look a little better or me more comfortable in the car. When we talk tires, we are also talking about safety.
See the section on tires below. I guess technically as long as the tires are the same age it doesn't matter as far as this checklist goes. It would still be worth communicating to the dealer your sincere disappointment and disbelief that they thought it was okay to sell you a car with tires beyond the recommended life and ask them to spring for the tires. You might even mention checking with Porsche corporate about the matter if they balk... and do it. This did wonders for me on a BMW issue.
In either case, there is no doubt you will be amazed by the improved ride and handling you'll get with new tires!
I talked to multiple Porsche dealers about tire age when hunting for my 997 and they all stated tires need to be less than 6 years of age to certify the car. You can call Porsche NA at 1-800-PORSCHE (1-800-767-7243) to have them confirm this.
You should get new tires from the dealer who CPOed the car at their cost.
Can you elaborate? Did the tires disintegrate while driving? Cold weather car? Parked outside? Etc., etc.
Numbers in post were off, more like 3.5 years and 10k miles. Car driven year round, parked outside under cover. Just short of wear bars. When removed for replacement they (rears) were cracked between the center threads around the rolling circumference. Scary. Nearly impossible to see unless up on lift/removed. Don't know date of manufacture but they were Tire Rack purchases.
When I spoke to Porsche dealer during subsequent unrelated visit I was told the the new TPMS system is being programmed to show need to replace at 4 years regardless of mileage. I have seen no information to indicate whether this has been done or not.
Can you elaborate? Did the tires disintegrate while driving? Cold weather car? Parked outside? Etc., etc.
Just FYI: One of the influences on tire aging is heat cycling (getting the tires hot and then having them cool again). Tires on cars that are driven more aggressively more frequently, especially in hot climates, will experience more vulcanization that eventually hardens the tires.
They also age more quickly in general in hot environments (like here in Central Texas), a reason that top-of-the-line places like Tire Rack keep their tires in cooled warehouse storage.
Just FYI: One of the influences on tire aging is heat cycling (getting the tires hot and then having them cool again).
When I got my CPO 2012 4 GTS it came with the original, about 4.5 years old Bridgestone RE050s with 9,300 miles and lots of tread left to pass the CPO inspection. I got the car in the middle of winter and thought that the low temperatures (mid 30s to low 40s) contributed to them performing badly. Yet even when the temperatures went up the tires were rubbish -- no compliance even over the smallest road imperfections, bad tracking and their grip was borderline scary in wet conditions. I started to dislike driving the car (it's my daily driver) and decided to just get rid of those tires even though they visually looked fine and had lots of tread left.
I replaced them with Bridgestone S-O4s. The rubber on the old RE050 was hard as a rock. On the new S-04s it actually feels like rubber.
While having the new tires installed I also got an alignment done (used Tru-Line in Bellevue, WA; they do lot of Porsche alignments). The difference is night and day. Suddenly the car is so much more compliant, tracks perfectly and both, dry and wet weather grip, is great. Turn-in is much better too. All that while not turning the car into a couch. I had a bit of that new tire squirm, but that went away after about 200 miles.
In short, it looks like these high-performance tires really go downhill after 4-5 years even with lots of tread left. In hindsight, I should have made new tires part of the deal when I bought the car.
The dealer almost always says no. It's in their nature to do so. I might contact Porsche, if possible.
It is interesting that you brought this issue to light. With most other car brands, you could safely assume that a used '09 would have new(ish) tires if you bought it certified. But an '09 with 5k miles is more common with P-cars and this situation probably happens a lot.
Heat cycles matter much more than age. A new tire sitting on the side of your house will age much quicker in 3 years than a 7 year old tire on your car that is driven a few times a week in the same exact environment. Don't ask me how I know, it was a costly mistake.
Most important to inspect on regular basis and inspect for hardening (gets kind of glossy) and cracking. Much more important than age
My Michelin rears were dry rotted after 4 years/8k miles. Beware
Yup same here - in 2009 one of the original stock Michelin PS2's crumbled into little tiny pieces as I was pulling out of my garage one morning on a warm Florida day - lucky it happened where it did (those were 5 years old with just over 12,000 miles)
I may have to check my fronts now...I got my '09 in Feb '15 and was CPO'ed. They replaced the rears but did not replace the fronts and I believe the fronts are the original tires. Now I gotta check...
03-27-2016, 09:51 AM
