The DOT code: reading a tyre's age

Reading the four digits

The last four digits are the manufacturing date: the first two give the calendar week, the last two the year. 3223 means calendar week 32 of 2023.

DOT  XX  YY  ZZZZ  3 2 2 3
                          │ │ └─┴─ year 2023
                          └─┴───── calendar week 32

Tyres made before the year 2000 carry only three digits in that position. A three-digit date means a tyre from the last century, whatever the tread looks like.

What else is on the sidewall

That last row is frequently overlooked. Original-equipment tyres often carry an additional vehicle-manufacturer code. For buyers looking for exactly that version it is a strong search attribute — and an argument in the listing.

Selling used tyres

1. Measure and state the tread depth, do not estimate it. The statutory minimum for passenger car tyres in Germany is 1.6 millimetres; for sale as a used tyre, considerably more is customary.
2. Give the DOT code. A tyre with plenty of tread and a high age is a different thing from a young tyre with the same tread.
3. Photograph both sidewalls plus the tread. Damage, uneven wear and repairs belong in the image.
4. Name defects. Sidewall cracks, bulges, embedded foreign objects and repairs are not trivia and must be stated openly.
5. Offer as a set or pair where tread depths and age match — that is worth more than four separate listings.

Tyres in an end-of-life vehicle

Tyres are among the components to be separated from the vehicle during depollution where they are not segregated in the shredding process. For the business that means a fork: the usable tyre goes to sale, the worn one to recovery. The decision is taken at the vehicle and needs two data points — tread depth and DOT code.

Capture both at removal and you have documented the sorting decision and prepared the listing at once. How that enters the record is covered in Part identification: from removed component to sellable record.

Operating case: make tyres sale-ready at intake

User story: As a tyre or parts trader, I want every set captured at intake so selling, seasonal grouping and removal need no second search. Store the four-digit date mark with size, load and speed index, tread depth for each tyre, visible damage, repair notes, bin location and photos.

Measure it: Track complete tyre records, search time per set, questions about date or tread, returns for the wrong size and stock that ages beyond the next season. A marking then becomes active inventory control.