date code on new Conti's
 

I just put a set of Continental Extreme Contact DW's on this morning, in 205-50-16. once I got home, I checked out the date code on all of them and they are 3309, 3409, and 3509, which means these tires were made 3 years ago :eek:! The tires I just replaced were the same code, This worries me a little, that these tires were made that long ago and were sitting around in a warehouse somewhere for that long. I don't think it's normal, since all the tires I've had on the car were always made that year or the previous year. Anyone ever run tires that old before? I know that the rubber compounds dry out and you should replace tires every 5-7 years, regardless of wear. By the way, where are these tires even made?

Who did you buy them from?

Return them or call Continental and see what they say or will do. 3 years is a long time to be sitting in an unkown enviroment.

I bought them at Discount Tire. I've used the same shop for 8 years with tires for the Mini and my wife's Honda. Always "fresh" tires until now. I called the 800 number on tha back of the invoice yesterday and they called the shop I went to. The store manager contacted Continental and apparently they are shipping a new set to the store today. I'm returning next Thursday for a re-install. The first thing I'm asking is "what's the date code" on them. I'm hoping 2012 or 2011 at the latest.

Glad to see it is working out for you.

I'm glad they are replacing your tires with fresh ones.
Now I know to check the date on tires, like I check the expiration date on milk in the grocery store!
Who knew?

i didnt even know there was a date on them how do you know what year they are? i was looking into getting some of thesehow do you like them?

inkspot: It's a 4-digit code with the first two digits indicating the week built, and the last two digits indicating the year. Thus, the OP's initial tires were built in August '09.

New tires stored in a somewhat temperature controlled warehouse don't age like they would on the car, but three-year old new tires do seem a bit aged to sell as new tires. They did the right thing in replacing them with fresher rubber.

Thx good to know

Ok...an update to my original post. I just returned from Discount Tire and they did right! The new tires are date coded 4611 on all four, so I think these tires were made last November. The same tech did the swap out, and he was surprised that the first set was sold as new after 3 years. BTW, what should I run them at? I would guess 31-32, which is where they're at now.

Thanks...

iirc, I ran mine at 34-36.