A couple days ago, a very close friend of mine asked me where to get some tires. Based on my experiences with Jake Wilson, I quickly recommended he get online, (at jakewilson.com) order up whatever tires he wanted and we'd mount them.

A day later his American Elites were on his door step, one with a date code of January 2014 (0214) and the other with a date code of October 2013 (4113). I advised him to give customer service a call and say that he'd like some tires newer than 3 and 4 years old. This guy is one of the nicest people I know, there are times I wish I could be more like him instead of an abrasive *sshole. He told me the customer service person said the tires were stored in a climate controlled warehouse and there was absolutely nothing different about the tires as compared to newer ones. Long story short, the only options offered were to keep the tires or pay to have them shipped back and pay a re-stock fee. My friend decided to keep the tires.

I've never gotten an old tire from them but based on how well I know this guy and the fact that these tires are in my work shop right now (meaning I can see the date codes) I'll never use or recommend Jake Wilson again. Just a heads up.

 

A prime example that saving a buck by buying online isn't always the wisest move. I get people in the shop every week with tires purchased on line because the pricing was " fantastic". As you stated, the production date code usually explains why. Buyer beware.

 

The only tire I've ever got from them that was a few years old was a thin whitewall American Elite rear MT90b16, a tire that hardly gets used anymore and sits in the warehouse.

 

That is pretty damn old for AE's. Not an uncommon size were they?

I bought a couple Avon's from them a couple months ago. March 16 front and Nov. 16 rear. I'll keep using JW until I have an issue with them.

 

They were indeed thin whitewalls. That may be the problem, not many people buy them.

 

All my tire purchases for the last 10, 12 years have been on line (Jake Wilson, Motor Superstore and Dennis Kirk - whoever has the best price at the time,) and my Metzelers have all been less than 6 months old so far. I suppose there's always a risk however. (Many shops hold old tires as well, particularly less common sizes.)