At what point would you change your tyres?

[Kingfisherfly]

My car is in for a service and MOT.

Tyre treads measure at between 4&5mm and have been flagged as meeding attention 'soon' The legal minimum is 1.6mm, so it sounds quite comfortable to me.

I only do c. 5000 miles pa. Will it need doing before the next MOT?

With tread depths between 4 and 5mm, I personally wouldn’t feel any urgency to replace them yet, especially at only 5,000 miles a year. That said, tyre performance in wet conditions does start to reduce as tread wears down. I’d keep an eye on them over the coming months, but they sound comfortably above replacement level for now.

I’d change them when they get to about 2.5/3mm.

They start at about 8 and are done by 1.6 mm, say 2 mm to be comfortable.
Changing them at 5 mm is wasting half the useable tread depth.

In your case, I'd keep them for now, keep an eye on the general condition like we're supposed to but hardly anyone does. Then plan to change between September and November when they're under 3 mm so they're new for winter. You can get someone to come to your house/workplace if you don't want to go to the bother of taking your car to the garage again.

I'd make sure it was done before Winter.

Do remember that they are the things your car rolls on in all weathers and conditions. Heat, cold, rain, ice you depend on the tyres for better fuel economy and better braking

Ime you’ll probably be fine until
next MOT but you can check them yourself really easily. You should really be having a good look over your car regularly anyway, a lot can change between MOT’s

If the tyres are a reasonable make then I only change when they get to just above 2 or if they have been on the car for a very long time and they are flagged as degrading.

What I like to think I'd do is keep an eye on them and providing nothing untoward happens, book them in to be changed before winter.

3mm I would change. More to the point, how old are they? If they are 8 years plus then they could start cracking.. This can then lead to a blow out at speed.

But at 5mm you will be fine. Some Goodyear tyres are only 5.5mm when new!

If the tread wear is quite even and Jo other damage I think about 2.5mm personally. I work at a car dealership, and exchange them if 3mm or below for sale. If it's a performance car or an EV keep a close eye on them as they can wear quickly or wear on the edges unevenly.

When I get mine checked I ask them to tell me how many miles they think I have left in them as I don't do a lot of mileage. If they eg say 3000 miles I will check them again after I've done 2500 and get them changed.

If I did 200 miles a week I'd check them sooner. But base it on mileage - it doesn't matter if it's winter if you have loads of miles left in them.

The car is 4yo.