How To Tell What Year A Tire Is Made | Read The DOT Code

The year a tire was made appears in the last four digits of its DOT code, with the first two digits showing the week and the last two showing the year.

Most tires give you the answer right on the sidewall. You do not need a shop scanner, a brand app, or any decoding tool. You just need to find the DOT marking and read its last numbers the right way.

That small detail matters when you are buying new tires, checking a spare, or trying to figure out whether an older set has been sitting around too long. A tire can still have decent tread and still be old. That is why the build date matters.

The catch is that the full code is not always visible from the outside of the car. Some tires show the complete date code on only one sidewall. So if the first side looks incomplete, do not stop there.

Where The Date Code Lives On The Tire

Start at the sidewall and look for the letters “DOT.” That marks the Tire Identification Number, often called the TIN. The full string may run near the rim, not in the center of the tire, so scan the whole sidewall slowly.

Once you find the DOT string, keep reading to the end. On tires made in 2000 or later, the last four digits are the part you want. Those four digits give you the build week and the build year.

• The first two digits show the week of production.
• The last two digits show the year of production.
• A code ending in 2623 means week 26 of 2023.

What You Might See On The Sidewall

A full DOT code can include plant, size, and maker details before the date portion. That extra mix of letters and numbers throws people off all the time. You can ignore most of it when your only goal is finding the year.

Just skip to the final date block. If the tire ends with four numbers, that is the part that tells you when it was made.

How To Tell What Year A Tire Is Made On One-Sided DOT Markings

This is where people get tripped up. One sidewall may show only part of the DOT code, while the other sidewall shows the full ending with the date. So if you can find “DOT” but the string seems too short or has no four-digit ending, check the other side of the tire.

You may need to turn the steering wheel for front tires or crouch behind the tire to read the inner sidewall. On a parked car with tight wheel clearance, a flashlight helps. On a removed tire, the full code is usually easy to spot.

How To Read The Last Four Digits

1. Find the last four numbers after the DOT string.
2. Read the first two as the production week.
3. Read the last two as the production year.

Say the code ends in 0819. That tire was made in the 8th week of 2019. If it ends in 4722, it was made in the 47th week of 2022. Once you know that pattern, you can read the year in seconds.

What If The Tire Has Only Three Digits?

A three-digit ending points to a tire made before 2000. That alone tells you it is old by modern road-use standards. You do not need to pin down the exact decade to know it should get close attention before any use.

This comes up most often on old trailers, stored spare tires, collector cars, and tires pulled from long-term storage. If you spot a three-digit date code, treat the tire as aged stock, not a fresh set.

Date Code Samples You Can Read At A Glance

The patterns below make the sidewall easier to decode when you are standing in a garage or crouched next to the car.

DOT Ending	What It Means	What To Take From It
0124	Week 1 of 2024	Built early in 2024
1323	Week 13 of 2023	Built around late March 2023
2623	Week 26 of 2023	Built around midyear 2023
4022	Week 40 of 2022	Built in early fall 2022
5119	Week 51 of 2019	Built near the end of 2019
0818	Week 8 of 2018	Built in late winter 2018
5306	Week 53 of 2006	Some years include a 53rd week
237	Pre-2000 date format	Old tire; not a modern four-digit code

Common Mistakes When Reading Tire Dates

The biggest mistake is reading the wrong numbers. Tires carry size markings, load indexes, speed ratings, and other molded codes. None of those tell you the year. If the numbers are not at the end of the DOT string, they are not the build date.

The next mistake is checking only one sidewall. The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association’s tire facts page says the TIN starts with “DOT,” and the last four numbers show the week and year for tires made in 2000 or later. NHTSA also says the full TIN may not be visible on both sides, which is why a second look matters.

When The Code Looks Incomplete

Road grime, curb rash, and sidewall scuffs can hide the last digits. Wipe the area with a rag and use angled light. The molded code usually pops out once the dirt is gone.

If The Tire Is Still On The Car

Turn the steering wheel to expose the front tire’s inner sidewall. For rear tires, you may need to slide behind the wheel well with a light. If that still does not work, a tire shop can read it in minutes when the wheel is off.

What The Tire Year Tells You And What It Does Not

The build year tells you the tire’s age. It does not tell you whether the tire is good or bad by itself. Age is one clue. Storage heat, sun, inflation habits, heavy loads, impacts, and plain neglect all shape how a tire wears over time.

That is why an older tire with strong tread can still deserve a hard look, while a newer tire with bad cracking or impact damage can be ready for replacement. Date, tread, and condition belong in the same check.

NHTSA says buyers should check the date code when shopping for tires and compare that with the vehicle maker’s replacement timing. You can also use NHTSA’s recall lookup to search tire recalls and related safety records.

What You Find	What It Suggests	Next Move
Fresh four-digit code and clean sidewall	Normal starting point	Check tread, pressure, and wear pattern
Old date but tread still looks deep	Low-use or stored tire	Inspect for cracks, hard rubber, and flat spotting
Three-digit code	Pre-2000 tire	Get it checked before any road use
Date looks fine but sidewall is cracked	Age is not the only factor	Have the tire inspected soon
Recent date and uneven wear	Alignment or inflation issue	Fix the cause, not just the tire date question

Signs That Call For A Closer Tire Check

Once you know the year, do a fast condition check too. That gives the date real context.

• Cracks in the sidewall or between tread blocks
• Bulges, bubbles, or cuts
• Flat spots after long storage
• Uneven wear from edge to edge
• A spare tire with an old date code that has never been checked

If you are buying used wheels and tires, the date code should be one of the first things you read. A shiny sidewall and deep tread can hide an old tire. The DOT date tells a cleaner story.

A Two-Minute Tire Date Check

Here is the simplest way to do it next time you walk up to the car:

1. Find “DOT” on the sidewall.
2. Read the last four digits.
3. Use the first two for the week and the last two for the year.
4. Check the other sidewall if the full code is missing.

That is all you need to tell what year a tire was made. Once you know where the DOT ending sits, the code stops looking cryptic and starts reading like a date stamp.