[baum]

I had a blowout and need to know whether it's okay to replace the one tire or are the cracks on the remaining tires a sign they all need replacing. The tread is fine.

I've had the tires 5 or 6 years and they have 15-18k miles. I drive very, very little - 3,000 miles/year at most, once every two weeks.

The car is always outdoors and most of my driving is on brutal NYC streets with gigantic potholes, ruts, and rock-covered streets under construction.

Subaru Outback 2001

I got two conflicting opinions:

1) "YOU DEFINITELY NEED ALL NEW TIRES"

- from an independent tire store, incredibly helpful clerk who discussed my options for a good 20 minutes and explained about cracking and drying and the differences between models of new tires.

--> He also said on AWD you should never replace just one tire - both tires on the axle need to have the same level of tread wear. But this doesn't apply to me because all my tires are too cracked.


2) "YOU'RE FINE FOR A FEW MORE YEARS AND CAN REPLACE JUST THE ONE TIRE"

- from the Subaru dealer's repair department. The guy was apathetic and didn't explain anything; he just said I can do whatever I want. The cracks aren't dangerous now and I've got a couple more years.