Because of the countless variables involved in determining a tire’s lifespan, it’s impossible to say how long your tires will last with any degree of certainty. As a rule of thumb, the average set of tires will last between three and five years, assuming you drive 12,000 to 15,000 miles annually and keep up with your car’s tire maintenance needs.
Since tires can wear at different rates, there’s a chance that only one of your tires is in bad condition. Even so, you might still need to replace two or all four of your vehicle’s wheels. That might seem unreasonable, but a respectable tire store like Gaynor’s Automotive won’t tell you to do this to make you pay for services you don’t need. Instead, there’s a genuine reason why you might need to replace more tires than you’d expect.
Your tires are designed to work together, so they must be as similar as possible to do their job correctly. Taking that into account, your tires should match in terms of manufacturer, tread pattern, speed rating, and so on. In many cases, the most effective way to accomplish this goal is to replace multiple tires simultaneously.
While you can still mix and match tires in some cases, you’ll need to follow a few rules to do so successfully. First, the tires on each of your car’s axles need to share a brand and tread type. Beyond that, it’s crucial to put older tires on the front axle if your tires vary in tread depth. That will help your rear axle get as much grip as possible, reducing your likelihood of oversteering.