Somebody brings a caravan in before a summer trip. The tyres have done four thousand miles, the tread is almost new and the sidewalls have fine cracks all over them.
They are eleven years old. They look fine to him and they are the reason people have accidents towing.
The checklist
Publish these and careful owners check properly.
1. Explain that tyres age
Independently of mileage, through exposure, heat, light and simply time. It is the single fact most drivers have never been told.
2. Show where the date marking is
On the sidewall, what it means and how to read it. Owners can then check their own and will come in when they do.
3. Explain what to look for on sidewalls
Fine cracking, perishing, bulges and anything deformed. These matter more than tread on a rarely used vehicle.
4. Explain tread depth properly
The legal minimum, the practical recommendation, how to check it and why wet performance degrades well before the limit.
5. Explain uneven wear
Inner edge, outer edge, centre and patches, and what each indicates. It is a diagnostic rather than a tyre problem, which is why it is worth checking.
6. Explain the spare
That it ages too, that it is frequently ignored for a decade and that it should be checked. Almost nobody looks at it.
7. Explain the low mileage case
Caravans, trailers, classic cars, second vehicles and anything standing for months. They look best and are frequently the most dangerous.
8. Explain the storage effect
Standing on flat spots, sunlight, damp and being unused, which all shorten the life of a tyre nobody has driven on.
9. Explain pressure properly
That underinflation damages a tyre permanently, how often to check and where the correct figures are found, which sits with tyre size and fitment questions drivers get wrong.
10. Explain what you check at a service
The other tyres, the spare, pressures and anything visible, free, while the car is there. It finds real problems and it is a service rather than a sale.
11. Be honest when a tyre is fine
Because telling somebody their tyres have two more years builds more trust than selling four today. It is the conversation that produces a customer for a decade.
12. Explain the age recommendation honestly
That manufacturers publish their own guidance on age, that it varies and that an owner should consider it alongside condition rather than treating any figure as a rule.
13. Offer a free check
Advertised, taking five minutes, with no obligation. It brings in exactly the careful owners you want and finds work that genuinely needs doing, which is the honest positioning in puncture repair and tyre safety questions answered honestly.
13b. Explain the winter and towing cases
Caravans, trailers and horseboxes spend most of the year stationary and are then loaded heavily for a long motorway run. Explaining that this is the most demanding thing a tyre does, and that condition matters far more than tread for these vehicles, is advice owners genuinely act on before a trip.
14. Answer condition questions at any hour
Because owners notice cracking before a trip and worry, which is the age and eligibility clarity of deposit, age and consent questions for tattoo studios in a different trade, and the coverage clarity of answering service area questions.
Getting started
Publish how to read a tyre date, what to look for beyond tread and offer a free check, then answer at any hour. SpideyChat for automotive businesses answers from your published pages, plans are on the pricing page, and the chatbot ROI calculator works through the numbers.