Tracking what share of all owner complaints named tyres as the component, grouped by the model year of the car.
| Model years | Tyre complaints | Share of all complaints |
|---|---|---|
| 1990–94 | 3,421 | 4.7% |
| 1995–99 | 13,381 | 7.5% |
| 2000–04 | 4,826 | 1.8% |
| 2005–09 | 84 | 0.0% |
| 2020–24 | 0.3% |
13,381 down to 84
Not a decline — a disappearance. The 1995–99 model years generated more than 13,000 tyre complaints. The 2005–09 years generated eighty-four.
It's almost entirely one vehicle
The top model years for tyre complaints are the Ford Explorer: 1998 with 2,248, 1997 with 1,981, 1996 with 1,640, 1999 with 1,568 and 1994 with 1,421.
This is the Firestone tread separation crisis. Explorers fitted with certain Firestone tyres suffered tread failures at speed, and because the Explorer had marginal rollover behaviour, a failure often became a rollover. It produced congressional hearings, a recall of millions of tyres, and one of the largest product safety controversies in American automotive history.
The complaint data doesn't just show it — the complaint data is largely made of it.
What changed afterwards
The direct legislative result was the TREAD Act of 2000, which mandated tyre pressure monitoring systems on all new vehicles from 2007. Underinflation was the mechanism behind many of the failures, and TPMS attacked it directly.
So the 2005–09 model years — the first fully covered by the mandate — are the ones showing 84 complaints. That's about as clean a before-and-after as regulation ever produces.
It also explains why tyre recalls are now the fastest-surfacing category at 1.61 years: the monitoring is continuous and the failures get reported immediately.
What it means for a used buyer today
The category is genuinely solved, but the sensors aren't. TPMS sensors have batteries that die at around seven to ten years, and replacements run $50–100 per wheel. A permanently lit TPMS light on an older car is usually dead sensors, not flat tyres.
A disabled TPMS is a red flag. Some owners bypass a warning light rather than replacing sensors. That removes the very system that ended this problem.
Old tyres fail regardless of tread. Rubber degrades with age — the DOT code on the sidewall gives the week and year of manufacture, and anything past six years deserves scrutiny no matter how much tread is left. On a low-mileage older car this matters more, not less.
Check what's open on the specific car. A VIN check lists outstanding campaigns, and we found 5.9 unrepaired recalls per car on vehicles our readers actually own.
Frequently asked questions
Why did tyre complaints disappear?
They fell from 7.5% of all complaints for 1995–99 model years to 0.0% for 2005–09 — 13,381 reports down to 84. The TREAD Act of 2000 mandated tyre pressure monitoring on all new vehicles from 2007, attacking the underinflation that caused most failures.
What caused the tyre complaint spike in the 1990s?
The Ford Explorer and Firestone tread separation crisis. The 1998 Explorer alone generated 2,248 tyre complaints, and the 1997, 1996, 1999 and 1994 model years follow immediately behind.
Do modern cars still have tyre problems?
Rarely as defects — the share sits at 0.3% for 2020–24 models. But TPMS sensor batteries die at seven to ten years and cost $50–100 per wheel, and a permanently lit warning light on an older car usually means dead sensors.
How old is too old for tyres?
Rubber degrades with age regardless of tread depth. The DOT code on the sidewall gives the week and year of manufacture, and anything past six years deserves scrutiny — which matters more on a low-mileage older car, not less.
Denis Kataev is a serial solopreneur and the founder of ForCar. With 15+ years in software engineering and 10 years in SEO, he builds data-driven products end to end — backed by a sharp eye for design. At ForCar he mines proprietary vehicle datasets, turning raw numbers into buying advice you can actually trust.
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