First Flat

[VTAK8k]

So my wife has to drive past a metal recycling yard to get to and from work. Over the years I've had to pull chunks of metal out of her tires and plug them.

Of course now that she has a brand new car, she picked up a 2 inch wide piece of metal through her tire that is not repairable.

The dealership quoted me at around $170 out the door for a new tire. Discount Tire was $150 so I ordered it and it should be here in a few days.

The bright side of this is I found out how easy it is to change the spare on the Corolla. The handle of the jack works much better than the one on my Honda and requires barely any effort to lift the car. Another bright spot is when I went to the scrap yard to complain, they took a picture of the damaged tire and metal and said they might be able to reimburse me some cost. They said they had an employee lose a tire due to spilled metal too, so fingers crossed on that.

 

[mojospapi]

Do you also have TPM? I've wondered how that comes into play with a replacement DIY tire.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[Cdsetxo]

That's brutal. I would contact the city and complain. Maybe start documenting when this happens, and after a few times take it to the city.
Or maybe I'm just being petty

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

The price your local tire store gave you for the tire + installation is much better than what you were quoted from the online discount store, where you will have to pay for mounting and balancing of the tire, which wont be cheap.

Also, purchasing tires locally you'll have a warranty and free rotations.

How many miles are on the other three tires? It's usually not wise to replace only one tire as this can cause the car to pull and not track straight.

-- B.F.Goodrich T/A Certified Tire Specialist

 

[VTAK8k]

There are less than 1500 miles on the car, so I hope it won't be an issue with mismatching. The TPMS light is lit up on the dash since there's no sensor in the donut. I really am hoping the scrap yard will reimburse me some cash but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

I recommend you cancel the order from the online discount tire store and go with your local tire store. They will provide you with a lower total price and provide better service too, (free rotations). Also, you can purchase a road hazard warranty on all the tires and have them protected so if this happens again, the tire is covered.

You can expect to pay considerably more than $20 for mounting, balancing and disposal of the old tire. Go with your local tire store.

It is not safe to plug a tire and can lead to a violent blow-out.

Make sure the replacement tire is the exact same brand, model and size.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

Also, the doughnut/space saver tire is meant for only temporary use. Most of them are 50 miles maximum. Plus, driving the car around with one mismatched tire size will lead to uneven handling, braking and can result in a spin and a crash, especially in an emergency stop where the brakes have to be applied suddenly. This is yet another reason to go with your local tire store as they can replace the damaged tire immediately and you wont have to wait days for the UPS truck to arrive with one tire.

 

[VTAK8k]

I recommend you cancel the order from the online discount tire store and go with your local tire store. They will provide you with a lower total price and provide better service too, (free rotations). Also, you can purchase a road hazard warranty on all the tires and have them protected so if this happens again, the tire is covered.

You can expect to pay considerably more than $20 for mounting, balancing and disposal of the old tire. Go with your local tire store.

It is not safe to plug a tire and can lead to a violent blow-out.

Make sure the replacement tire is the exact same brand, model and size.

Discount Tire is a national chain tire store with multiple locations in my area, they are called American Tire in California for some reason. This is where I'm getting the replacement tire. It will be the exact same tire that came on the car. The $150 they quoted me included balancing and mounting, the Dealership was at $170. I have bought most of the tires in my life from Discount and had very good experience.

I just read your second post Scott. It's not a tire they keep in stock so it had to be ordered. My wife works 2 miles from our home and I've informed her to keep it slow while the donut is on.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

No one has a tire for a Toyota Corolla in stock aside from the Toyota dealer?

 

[VTAK8k]

Tire Rack did but they are too far away, Ill just wait 2 days. I would rather have it done at the closer shop that I do all my tire business with. I just bought a full set of tires for my Honda and wanted to get them from Tire Rack but when I called, they told me about thier weird hours, only open till 4 during the week and only a few hours on Saturday. They would be a hassle.

 

[VTAK8k]

My Si takes the same tire size as the wife's S. When I called about tires for it, most shops only had generic grand touring tires in my size. I had to special order the Goodyears I ended up buying for it.

For the Toyota, even the dealership would have to order the tire I need. I guess most people in my area just use the cheapest tire they can find.

 

[Corolla Cop]

I have "Tires for Life" from my dealer, so I don't have to worry about finding tires. They are always in stock.

 

[VTAK8k]

I have "Tires for Life" from my dealer, so I don't have to worry about finding tires. They are always in stock.

They tried to sell me the tire insurance but I declined it. I would have to buy 4 tires to equal the cost of the insurance over our lease. I've never had to replace a tire due to damage before, so I didn't think there would be a problem.

 

[fishycomics]

Tirerack.com awesome place to deal with they deliver to your shop.

I got a blow out due to Mother nature dumping snow, creating a Pothole that the City repaired eventually. thousands of thousands of potholes.

I gone to a local tire shop prior, that plugged tires. I plug my own tires, it is not hard to do, and will not do what the mod says, it is not good to plug a tire that is close to the sidewall, that is what the Mod may be saying. Scott tires can be plugged, and they will do their job, not all plugs last, and that I agree.

I got a quote for a New tire and it includes everything except tips.

$130.00, everything. I would shop around, get to know your local shops.

FOr miss matched tires, you may want to place two identical tires not a single, and when you place that new tire on Scott did not mention that you must Place this new one to your front FWD drive axel, to compensate for the difference in diameter , that will throw off your traction system, a well ABS system

I do not use google search for my info Lol

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

They tried to sell me the tire insurance but I declined it. I would have to buy 4 tires to equal the cost of the insurance over our lease. I've never had to replace a tire due to damage before, so I didn't think there would be a problem.

I thought you had said it's not uncommon for you to be plugging tires that have been punctured from pieces of metal in the road from some business near your home?

A Goodyear store should have the tires you need right in stock and if not, they can round them up the same or next day and you can buy the road hazard warranty for them too. If you use the road hazard warranty just once, it's more than paid for itself.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

Tirerack.com awesome place to deal with they deliver to your shop.

I got a blow out due to Mother nature dumping snow, creating a Pothole that the City repaired eventually. thousands of thousands of potholes.

I gone to a local tire shop prior, that plugged tires. I plug my own tires, it is not hard to do, and will not do what the mod says, it is not good to plug a tire that is close to the sidewall, that is what the Mod may be saying. Scott tires can be plugged, and they will do their job, not all plugs last, and that I agree.

Sure, a tire can be plugged and we can also drive around with only one lug nut tightened down and the other three loose. However, that doesn't make it safe.

The problem with tire plugs is that they can ineed seal the air leak in the tire, but they don't completely fill and seal the hole in the tire on the outside, in the tread area. This allows water to get inside the tire between the steel belt and the rubber tread of the tire. Over time this causes the steel belt to rust, expand and have a very nasty, dangerous blow out.

The correct repair for a punctured tire is to use a patch/plug repair, where the tire is dismounted and repaired from the inside out which allows the tire to be completely sealed. In auto centers I've managed, we could not use a plug in a tire because it is so dangerous and would leave the company wide open for the legal liability of performing an incorrect repair, with a resulting lawsuit when someone was hurt or killed from a blowout due to a plugged tire.

Be safe and repair tires correctly.

-- B.F.Goodrich T/A Certified Tire Specialist

 

[VTAK8k]

I have plugged tires in the past and will continue to do so when possible, the damage was too severe this time. The cost of the insurance would still be more than I will likely spend in 3 years on tires.

 

[Corolla Cop]

They tried to sell me the tire insurance but I declined it. I would have to buy 4 tires to equal the cost of the insurance over our lease. I've never had to replace a tire due to damage before, so I didn't think there would be a problem.

"Tires for Life" is not tire insurance. It means, when your tires need replacing after being worn out, they replace them for free. It comes free with all purchases of cars from my dealer. As long as I own the car they will replace them for free.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

I have plugged tires in the past and will continue to do so when possible, the damage was too severe this time. The cost of the insurance would still be more than I will likely spend in 3 years on tires.

Then you're putting your life on the line by plugging tires. It's very, very dangerous to do so. Just a FYI.

Most road hazard warranty plans are 10% of the cost of the tire, so for the $150 tire you need, it would be about $15 each to cover them, or only $60 for the set. Not a bad deal at all. :thumbsup:

 

[VTAK8k]

"Tires for Life" is not tire insurance. It means, when your tires need replacing after being worn out, they replace them for free. It comes free with all purchases of cars from my dealer. As long as I own the car they will replace them for free.

Dang it, my dealer only gave us free car washes for life. In a crappy soft touch at that.

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

I didn't get tires for life :-(, but I'm looking forward to the OEM ones wearing out and getting Yokohamas anyway.

I worked at a tire shop in high school. I've replaced tires with plugs that appear to have been there for quite some time and the tire was replaced due to treadwear ... but I've seen tires come in shredded because the guy that plugged it didn't know what the hell he was doing.

I've plugged tires a few times, but that is only when I am near the tread wear indicators and plan on replacing it soon anyway (and it seems like the ONLY time I get flats is when the tires are close to dead anyway).