The previous owner was a little old lady who just flew it to church and back.

I've seen a couple of pilots kick the front tires when they do their "pre-flight walk-around," and it makes me think of someone buying a used car. I don't think it's part of the procedure, but lacking an obvious dent, leak or gaping hole in the side of the plane, it's the guy-way of thinking, "She'll do, she's got good rubber." 

Personally, I'd rather they wiggled the wings or ran a PlaneFax on it. As a passenger, I've never been all that concerned about the tires.