For those that don't know, tires actually have a date of manufacture. Most reputable places will NOT sell tires that have aged more than 2 years or remount past 6 years as this is the recommended tire life. Most of these "discount" chains, Tire Warehouse, VIP, Town Fair Tire, Walmart etc.... buy massive quantities of tires that are aged 2-3+ years and fire sale them at cheap prices, significantly undercutting everyone else for the exact same tire. Passing their savings on to the customer huh? This is both potentially dangerous and dishonest.
When working as a mechanic at a dealership we were not allowed to mount tires that had aged more than 1 year. This is to ensure the customer can take advantage of the full MFG warranty which often times expires within 2-3 years of the date of manufacture. One of the reasons discount chains try to upsell you a separate 'warranty' is they know many if not all the tires they are selling are at or already beyond the standard MFG warranty. They won't tell you this, not until you have a problem and this is regardless of how long they have been on the vehicle or mileage on the tire.
The purpose of this is to ensure the integrity of the tire as they do break down with age, it's NOT just about how much tread is visible.
The DOT has actually been lobbied to mandate an expiration date as data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows tires over 6 years old are highly susceptible to failure. Some manufacturers are already starting to stamp their tires with expiration dates on their own. Probably for liability.
I always check the date codes on the new tires that have been put on my vehicles.
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