Are you considering buying a set of used tires to save some money? 

If so, you probably think that used tires are perfectly safe as long as they have enough tread and no obvious damage, but Jim Smith, Editor at Tire Review magazine, reports that, most of the time, that's not the case.

In his article at TireReview.com, Smith cites the disturbing findings of a U.K-based consumer education group called TyreSafe. He writes...

Birmingham, England officials investigated the quality of used tires sold by local firms. In all, the investigators bought and checked nearly 200 tires, and found that nine out of 10 failed to meet minimum legal standards. Some 30% had physical defects (embedded nails, exposed cords, excessive wear). Some had required markings buffed off, and most failed to carry a mark identifying the tire as being used. One in particular was all of 17 years old.

And these were tires sold by tire shops - not at yard sales - by tire experts, I suspect, who pride themselves on having a keen eye for these kinds of things. Like American dealers.

Oh, it gets worse. TyreSafe did a deeper examination of six of the tires, using X-ray equipment to look for internal damage. All six showed clear signs of impact damage, exhibiting “unstable stress points” or “fatigue in components” that increase the likelihood of a blowout.

As TyreSafe noted, these highly dangerous defects would not be visible under normal inspections that used tires should undergo before [being put] on sale.