How quickly do tyres wear?

novemberrain80

I was wondering if anyone has any opinions/advice about how quickly tyres wear? I had a mobile tyre fitting company out to fix a slow puncture for me recently, but they weren't able to fix the puncture and needed to fit two new tyres instead (they said they have to be replaced in pairs and the other one was perishing anyway). I accepted that, but their report says my tread depths were lower than I think they can possibly have been and I'm confused about the whole situation.

My local garage recorded the tread depths of all my tyres at around 6mm about 10 months ago and I've driven less than 1,000 miles since then, yet the tread depths on these two tyres had apparently dropped to 2mm - is this even possible?

Thank you anyone who's able to give me any advice about this

paul_c123

They're your own tyres, did you look at the tread depth yourself?

Its quite possible they are 6mm in the centre and 2mm at the edge. If that's the case, then get the alignment done ASAP after you've replaced your tyres.

Tyres don't have to be fitted in pairs, but if the other side on the same axle is perishing, he's done you a favour.

FlorayG

It depends entirely on the quality of the tyres you buy ( cheap ones absolutely don't last as long), how you drive and how you watch your tyre pressures. Any or all of these can cause your tyres to last a very short time

Bigphil1474

It's pretty unlikely that your tyres went from 6mm to 2mm after 1k miles, but the mechanic may have just recorded 2mm because the computer needs a number and there is no option for perished. They might have been making the whole thing up as well. We can't really be definitive. My car had fairly new tyres on last year when it had its service, and they were all around the 7mm mark, when I checked a couple of weeks ago they were all around the 5mm mark with my cheap tyre depth measurer - done about 4k miles in a year. You should really be checking depth yourself then there's no surprises. You should have asked to look at the tyres when they came off and where the puncture was that couldn't be repaired - could be a great mechanic being totally honest, or be someone who just wants you to spend more money. 

novemberrain80

paul_c123 said:

They're your own tyres, did you look at the tread depth yourself?

Its quite possible they are 6mm in the centre and 2mm at the edge. If that's the case, then get the alignment done ASAP after you've replaced your tyres.

Tyres don't have to be fitted in pairs, but if the other side on the same axle is perishing, he's done you a favour.

I check them by looking at them regularly and they looked absolutely fine to me, nowhere near that low and no different to when my garage measured them - I’d checked the one with the slow puncture especially thoroughly as I was trying to find a sign of damage, etc - this is why I’m so confused. I can’t see how those measurements can be accurate, but I’m convincing myself that somehow I’ve missed something, as I also don’t want to believe the guy who came out would have lied to me.

He recorded them as 2-2-2 on both tyres 

its because of the type of tyres that they had to be done in pairs apparently - I got a really good deal on some before and needed four at that point, so wasn’t worried that it said they had to be put on in pairs…and didn’t think about it being a pain further down the line. Yeah if it was genuinely perishing I’m glad he spotted it, I’m prepared to accept I might have missed that if it was a patch I couldn’t easily see.

novemberrain80

FlorayG said:

It depends entirely on the quality of the tyres you buy ( cheap ones absolutely don't last as long), how you drive and how you watch your tyre pressures. Any or all of these can cause your tyres to last a very short time

I got a good deal on them, but they were a good brand. I mostly do local driving and I don’t rush around constantly breaking sharply. I always keep an eye on my tyre pressures. Good to know it is possible to lose that much tread depth in a short time though, thank you.

Mildly_Miffed

It's entirely possible that the centre of the tread is 6mm, but the side is 2mm, if your tracking's out.

But you do check your own tyre pressures and tread regularly, right? Same time as you check lights, oil level...? Takes a minute or two.

novemberrain80

Bigphil1474 said:

It's pretty unlikely that your tyres went from 6mm to 2mm after 1k miles, but the mechanic may have just recorded 2mm because the computer needs a number and there is no option for perished. They might have been making the whole thing up as well. We can't really be definitive. My car had fairly new tyres on last year when it had its service, and they were all around the 7mm mark, when I checked a couple of weeks ago they were all around the 5mm mark with my cheap tyre depth measurer - done about 4k miles in a year. You should really be checking depth yourself then there's no surprises. You should have asked to look at the tyres when they came off and where the puncture was that couldn't be repaired - could be a great mechanic being totally honest, or be someone who just wants you to spend more money. 

Thank you, yes it seems really unlikely, but maybe that’s it, as he didn’t note either the slow puncture or the perishing. I don’t have a tyre depth measurer, but I do check them regularly by looking at them - they still looked deep enough that I had no concerns that they were even lower than 5mm. I’d looked especially closely at the one that was losing air, to see if I could see any signs of damage. That’s why I’m so confused, but don’t want to think the guy lied to me. Yeah I’m kicking myself for not asking to see the puncture and perishing, I just trusted him and the company he worked for, but now I’m feeling pretty stupid. He said all the details would be on the service report when it was emailed over, but clearly I should have asked him go through it all with me before he left.

novemberrain80

Mildly_Miffed said:

It's entirely possible that the centre of the tread is 6mm, but the side is 2mm, if your tracking's out.

But you do check your own tyre pressures and tread regularly, right? Same time as you check lights, oil level...? Takes a minute or two.

Thank you, but he recorded both tyres as 2-2-2, so doesn’t sound like that’s it.

Yes I do, I check them regularly by looking at them - they still looked deep enough that I had no concerns that they were any lower than 5mm. I’d looked especially closely at the one that was losing air, to see if I could see any signs of damage. That’s why I’m so confused/concerned, but can’t think that the guy would have lied to me. 

Mildly_Miffed

novemberrain80 said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

It's entirely possible that the centre of the tread is 6mm, but the side is 2mm, if your tracking's out.

But you do check your own tyre pressures and tread regularly, right? Same time as you check lights, oil level...? Takes a minute or two.

Thank you, but he recorded both tyres as 2-2-2, so doesn’t sound like that’s it.

Yes I do, I check them regularly by looking at them - they still looked deep enough that I had no concerns that they were any lower than 5mm. I’d looked especially closely at the one that was losing air, to see if I could see any signs of damage. That’s why I’m so confused/concerned, but can’t think that the guy would have lied to me. 

So if you're looking at the same tyres and think they're more like 5mm than the 2mm he wrote down, I'd be interested to hear what other conclusions you may wish to come to.

novemberrain80

Mildly_Miffed said:

novemberrain80 said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

It's entirely possible that the centre of the tread is 6mm, but the side is 2mm, if your tracking's out.

But you do check your own tyre pressures and tread regularly, right? Same time as you check lights, oil level...? Takes a minute or two.

Thank you, but he recorded both tyres as 2-2-2, so doesn’t sound like that’s it.

Yes I do, I check them regularly by looking at them - they still looked deep enough that I had no concerns that they were any lower than 5mm. I’d looked especially closely at the one that was losing air, to see if I could see any signs of damage. That’s why I’m so confused/concerned, but can’t think that the guy would have lied to me. 

So if you're looking at the same tyres and think they're more like 5mm than the 2mm he wrote down, I'd be interested to hear what other conclusions you may wish to come to.

I’m split between feeling I’ve been lied to and majorly gaslighting myself into thinking I’ve somehow missed something. My rational brain knows that I know what 5mm tread looks and feels like, but my anxiety is running a different narrative. That’s why I was asking for opinions as to whether it’s actually even possible for tread to wear down that quickly.