Tonight ABC News'
20/20 program will include an investigation that was a team effort with several of its local affiliates. The investigation turned up big retailers that were selling old tires as new. The stores involved include Sears, Wal-Mart and Goodyear.
ABC News says:
In San Francisco, Calif., reporters from KGO-TV found a tire made in 1999 and two from 2002 being sold as new by Goodyear, the seventh largest tire retailer in the U.S.
In Indianapolis, Ind., affiliate WRTV-TV went tire shopping at Wal-Mart, the country's third largest tire seller, and found a tire made in 2001 and one from 1999.
In Orlando, Fla., affiliate WFTV-TV also found two aged tires dating back to 1999 and 2000 for sale at a Wal-Mart store.
At Sears, the fifth largest tire retailer in the U.S., our undercover "20/20" shoppers found nearly a dozen aged tires being sold as new as part of a special "manager's clearance sale." At three different stores in New Jersey, we found tires ranging from seven years old to one that was manufactured 12 years ago in 1996.
Learn how to tell the age of the tire on your car by reading a cryptic code on the tire sidewall.
Tirerack.com explains:
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) requires that Tire Identification Code be
a combination of eleven or twelve letters and numbers that identify the
manufacturing location, tire size, manufacturer's code, and week and
year the tire was manufactured.
[...] The week and year the tire was manufactured is contained in the last four digits of the serial number, with the 2 digits used to identify the week a tire was manufactured immediately preceding the 2 digits used to identify the year.
Examples of tires manufactured since 2000 with this Tire Identification Code format:
| XXXXXXXX 0600 |
|
| XXXXXXXX 0600 | 06 - Manufactured during the 06th week of the year |
| XXXXXXXX 0608 | 00 - Manufactured during 2000 |
And
| XXXXXXXX 0608 |
|
| XXXXXXXX 0608 | 06 - Manufactured during the 06th week of the year |
| XXXXXXXX 0608 | 08 - Manufactured during 2008 |
Here is more background on the dangers of aging tires.
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