Cheap 'New' tyres - How old????

[m40man]

When looking at obviously cheap 'new' tyres advertised on Ebay or elsewhere, I recommend that you ask for the date of manufacture code, which is one of the codes on the side wall of the tyre.

I did this on a tyre, advertised as 'new', which I spotted this week.
Answer: 5194.

That's week 51 in 1994 .

[coastaldivvy]

If tyres have been stored properly and unused they can generally be described as new upto 5 yrs old.
Once a tyre is 10 yrs old it should theoretically be thrown away, some manufacturers have lower age limits but this is a general guideline.
Obviously some tyres stored longer than 5 yrs may look in as new condition but would not last long due to fatigue in the rubber as it ages.