Is It Safe To Use The Original Full-Size Spare Tire All The Time?

[topgun129]

Hi,

I have a 99 Lexus ES300.

I had a bubble forming on the side of my tire and went to swap it out with the spare just to save myself from having an incident on the road while driving.

I didn't know this but the spare tire is a full size brand-new Michelin which originally came with the car.

I've been using the spare for a week now and I'm looking to buy new tires for the entire car and I'm now wondering if I should just buy 3 tires instead of 4 and then use one of the best old tires as a spare (of course not the one with the bubble . Is it safe to put this full size spare tire which originally came with the car to full time use now? It has never been used and doesn't have any cracks in it.

Thanks!

[1990LS400]

A 12 year old spare tire is not safe for daily use - no matter how good it looks. Even the optimistic "experts" say that 8 to 9 years is the maximum safe life of a tire. Some European car makers say 6 years is the safe maximum. We are going to replace all the tires on our 98 Camry, including the never used spare, this fall since the four tires in use on the car are nearing seven years old. In a way it's seems a waste since the tires have lots of tread left due to the car being driven so little but that's just part of owning a car.