[77newell]

Bob: There are a variety of perspectives regarding tire and safety. Due to the variety of conditions it is impossible to predict in pragmatic fashion how long tires are safe, even if we could agree on the definition of "safe" which we don't due to our individual risk-taking proclivities.

As a result of all this ambiguity you need only to understand your own sense of risks associated with tires and adjust your offer to purchase accordingly. I talked last year with a man that was comfortable with the 12 year old tires on his coach, so comfortable in fact that he was planning to return to Arizona from Michigan again in the fall. The offer I made to him was based upon my unwillingness to travel with 12 year old tires that had minor checking. I just told him the offer I made was the value the coach was to me in comparison to other coaches I had considered. He turned my offer down which was OK with me and I felt no compunction to convince him that he should accept my view of tire safety. He was simply taking risks that I perceived as acceptable for me but that didn't make him wrong.

Offer the guy what the coach is worth to you and if he says "no" that's just as OK as him saying yes.