Never mount used tires on your vehicle if you are not sure of
their past use. Old, used tires and wheels may have damage
that cannot be seen that can lead to sudden tire failure and loss
of vehicle control.
Tires age even if they are not being used and can fail sudden-
ly, especially at high speeds, causing loss of vehicle control,
accidents, and severe personal injuries. Tires that are more
than 6 years old can be used only in an emergency and even
then only with special care and at low speed.
For technical reasons it is usually not possible to use wheel rims
from other vehicles. Even wheel rims from the same model may not fit
properly. Check with an authorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized
Volkswagen Service Facility if necessary.
Tire and wheel handling
Fig. 110 Tire rotation diagram.
replace or remount the tire as soon as possible in order to restore the
correct direction of rotation.
Rotating tires
To help ensure even wear on all tires, regular tire rotation according
to the diagram ⇒ fig. 110 is recommended. In this way all tires can
have about the same service life.
Volkswagen recommends that you have your tires rotated by an au-
thorized Volkswagen dealer or authorized Volkswagen Service Facili-
ty.
Tires more than 6 years old
Tires age even if they are not being used. Physical and chemical pro-
cesses reduce tire strength and performance and cause them to
harden and become brittle. Old tires can fail suddenly and without
warning.
Volkswagen recommends replacing tires that are 6 years and older.
This also applies to tires that look new (an unused spare and the tire
on the compact spare wheel) or that seem to still be usable with tread
depth that has not yet reached the legal minimum depth ⇒ .
The age of each tire can be determined with the manufacturing date
that is part of the U.S. DOT tire identification number ( 4 ) .) ⇒ Tire label-
ing.
Tire storage
Mark tires before removing them to help make sure that the previous
location (left, right, front, rear) and rolling direction can be maintained
when remounting them. Store tires in a cool, dry and preferably dark
place. Do not store tires mounted on wheels standing up.
Tires not mounted on wheels should be covered to help protect them
from dirt and stored vertically (sitting on the tread).
WARNING
Aggressive fluids and materials can cause visible and invisible
tire damage that can cause tire blowouts.
Always keep chemicals, oils, grease, fuels, braking fluids and
other aggressive substances away from tires.
