Thanks all again for the replies. Contacted Continental who are willing to take a look at photos via email but anything further needs to be via a tyre dealer which is only any good if I actually replace them! Certainly wouldn't buy Continental based on these and the experiences of a couple of other posters above...

Yes the white powder is just dust from the gravel driveway rather than concrete. I must be honest I would be quite apprehensive about putting oil on them. For me it's less about the appearance and more about the safety aspect.

Can't really say they have been sitting in the sun anymore than the average car tyres, driveway is north facing so doesn't get a massive amount of sun.

Used cars can sit on forecourts for months in full sunlight without a problem. Don't put anything such as oil on the tyres.

I'd like to see a side-on photo of the tyres. It looks like the cracks are at a point where delamination occurs. When damage is caused by running at low pressure, the cracks are a bit further down the tyre wall.

I had this problem on a a clio I had back in 2002. All 4 tyres cracked and were replaced FOC by continental. Was told at the time it was down to not enough anti ageing chemical in the rubber mix.

I think the suggestion was to put the oil on the concrete driveway to demonstrate how quickly it might be absorbed.

No one suggested putting oil on the tyres!

Full American Contionental warranty here http://www.automotiveforums.com/t894178-continental_tires_cracking__16k_____.html

If Europe the same this bits of interest , in section 4A "Age conditions: weather checking/cracking coverage is for a maximum period of 48 months from the date of purchase."

From the continental site, read the bit at the end re visual checks

http://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/www/tyres_uk_en/themes/tyres_safety/tyre_safety_tips_en.html

Do let us know what Conti say about this as it does appear to be excessive cracking on such a young tyre... My two penneth would be to change them, i wouldn't want the risk of something happening whilst doing 70.

yes as silver posted, I thought it was a concretee drive, and it soaks up oil so can dry up tyres, anyway amazing mileage so far

Going back to the date code 21/11, this would be week 21 of 2011, so roughly end of May. So not quite two years old yet.

Just fitted new fronts on my Octy two weeks ago, date code is 3312 on them. It would seem that they are already 6 months old when fitted.

Yep date of manufacture. So all depends how quickly they've got to a distributor, out to a garage and then sold. 6 months might not be all that unusual. Newest I've had have been two months from manufacture date IIRC.

Just to add to the evidence, I have Continental tyres on my Mercedes (date stamp 22 10 and mileage about 25,000 miles). They have cracks in them exactly like those shown in the photograph and also the tread depth is good. Judging from the tread depth, they should still have quite a lot of mileage left in them but the cracks will mean that they will be replaced shortly. I have owned cars for more than fifty years but I can't recall ever having such problems with cracked tyres before.

Was going to start a new thread but found this one, I had the same problem and the same tyres as the original poster, about 5mm tread left and tyres were cracking as shown in photos earlier. Got them changed (Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 2 which are great) and sent the tyres back to Continental, received confirmation yesterday of 65% refund. Pretty happy with the refund, not sure I'd buy these tyres again though.

Although it's possible that the tyre could eventually shed its tread don't forget the rubber you see is just part of the story, the inner carcass being steel mesh or kevlar weave so exterior cracks in the visible rubber shouldn't be an issue regarding structural integrity.

I'd be happy to use them but check frequently.

This is why it is important to always put the new tyres on the rear when you change the fronts as you have a get a rotation and always have reasonably fresh tyres all round.

Or swap back to front part when part worn and then change all 4 tyres at once.  This allows a change of tyre brand without mixing tyre types.  I have always done this.

Personally I would leave them on and let them wear down, this is becuase it would take me so long to decide what to do they will probably have worn down by then!!! That said I've had many tyres like that with "superficial" cracking, if the cracks were long and of a wide diameter then I would replace them immediately.

 

Interestingly this has only ever happened on Continentals with me too and the set of Sport 5s I've just replaced with Eagle F1's had the same problem but also were from the rear of the car.

If you get new tyres fitted ask the tyre place to send them back to Continental and if the tyres are deemed to be faulty you should get a refund of the tread thats left.

ie:- If there 50% worn you should get 50% refund. Sending them back should be no cost to your self

Hope that helps.

 

 

Dad has done this on his renault and got about 75% of the cost of new tyres back.

Another instance of 2 yo Conti Sport Contact 3's cracking in the same place on a 2010 VRS CR. Funny thing is I searched Google for "continental tyres cracks" and this was the first link in the list , go figure....