Had to buy a tire

[Bmi48219]

Last Tuesday I jumped in the car to go for one more gallon of paint. Right front tire was almost on the rim. Lucky not low enough to break the bead seal. My 12 volt combo tire inflator/ light is on its last leg, shut down three times getting the tire up to 35 lbs. Of course this was less than a week after wife said tires were the next shortage and maybe we should buy a set ‘just in case’.
Vehicle has 20,000 miles and tires were in good shape. Also has a pretty good looking econo-spare, actually looks like a real tire but not a Pirelli Scorpion Zero 245 / 60 / R18 H105. Took a while but I found a pin hole on the tread. Not blowing hard but enough to go down to 10 lbs overnight.
Dealer wanted $245 in advance to order tire plus install and tax. Local tire store same $$, just not in advance. Nearest discount tire shop is 60 miles, same $$ and they’d have to order too.
I call the family independent auto repair two miles away. They could get tire for $0 up front, in 2 days, $235 out the door. I stopped by Friday around 4 pm. Tire had just arrived but they couldn’t get to me until Monday, as they were closed Saturday. He did say he’d cut the price to $200 OTD for the delay.
Monday morning I was there at 8:30. The guy said he could plug the tire but I’ve had mixed results with plugs. Also have a couple road trips coming up and only a good looking econo-spare for my backup.
Had the new tire mounted and kept the old one, figuring I could get it patched internally for future use. While my car was on the lift I noticed a gouge in a rear tire tread. A flap of rubber roughly 3/4 inch square and 3/8” thick sticking out. Didn’t bode well for long distance highway driving. The replacement should be in Thursday. I’ll have new tires up front.
There must be a decent markup on tires to be able to cut the installed price 15 % and still make a few bucks.
Years ago they used to vulcanize a patch inside a tire. Anyone know if they still do that? Im thinking the tire pressure sensor stuff ended the ‘put a tube in it and call it good’ repair.

[Thundermaker]

The tire shop was going to charge me $950 for the same set of tires that I paid $650 for three years ago. I got them for $488 online. They'll mount and balance them for $75. I don't know why they're gouging right now. I understand that the mom and pop shop has to charge a little more than the big online retailers, but $387? Yeah, I'd say there's a pretty good markup.

[Gewehr-Guy]

I hate the different odd tire sizes they put on our vehicles now, used to be able to go to the local station and easily find an old tire to fit. Then after they were too smooth for a car, they would be used on old farm wagons and implements.

[DougGuy]

Last set of tires I bought are Michelins LTX Defenders. I thought YOU DID WHAT???? When I found out what the total was but I had the money and I don't know about you but I got dead tired of buying cheaper tires only to find out how much out of rounds they are, and you cannot balance this "added feature" out despite the dealer claiming "that will balance out" and now you got this uneven ride for all the money you "saved."

The Michelins are a hard compound, they claim 70k miles (I'm like YA RIGHT!) at this point, but so far been the BEST tire decision I ever made. Whodathunkit?

[metricmonkeywrench]

I feel for you, our car has an extra special wrinkle, its full time All Wheel Drive (last one I'm ever getting). All the tires have to be fairly matched in diameter to avoid damaging the system. The last big $$ occasion was about halfway thru the life of the tires Mama backed onto a badly sawed parking sign stake/post and shredded the tire. We had to replace all 4 as note of the local used tire shops had one in that size. Whenever i do tires on it anymore i keep one of the old tires around just in case.

I have my issues with externally installed plugs, I've seen enough fail to make me wary though i keep a kit in the truck/trailer just in case. A proper internal patch job will last the lifetime of the tire and my old truck had multiple patches in the tires over the years. My favorite local tire shop uses a hybrid patch/plug system where the patch includes a plug that is installed from the inside also sealing the tread area.

[TyGuy]

I patch tires all the time. We are not allowed to plug tires. We pull the offending road hazard out of the tire, ream the hole, and cement in a plug-patch from the inside. For those who are unfamiliar with them they look like a rubber toadstool with a very skinny stem. The “stem”passes through the hole and the “cap” is the patch. It’s the best of both worlds and will generally last the lifetime of the tire. The only issue is you can’t be too close to the sidewall due the how much that area flexes.

MetricMonkeyWrench, I have always heard the same thing about AWD vehicles but in my 16 years working as a Honda tech, I have never seen unevenly worn tires cause an issue with any AWD component. Completely different tire sizes, bad! But different tread depths on the same size tires, nope. My opinion is that’s a wives-tale that, while based on a true concept, is exaggerated to sell tires. Other manufacturers may have more issues but I have yet to see it.

[contender1]

I'm having a pair of tires put on my truck today. Since I'm only doing a pair,, I can't change sizes & go "up a size" like I wanted. Why not do all 4 tires you ask? Gol-dern prices of these things now.
Oh, and my truck was bought new,, and it's the tires from the factory,, (Generals) that wore down to the cord. I saw the wear pattern a few months ago,, and realized that my new truck has a front end alignment issue as well. We'll see how it goes today.
Oh, my bill for the pair of tires will be over $600 for the tires, mounting, balancing & front end alignment. OUCH! (I spent that much on similar tires for 4 of them just about 2-1/2 years ago. Inflation only 8-1/2%,,, yeah,, right!

[metricmonkeywrench]

I patch tires all the time. We are not allowed to plug tires. We pull the offending road hazard out of the tire, ream the hole, and cement in a plug-patch from the inside. For those who are unfamiliar with them they look like a rubber toadstool with a very skinny stem. The “stem”passes through the hole and the “cap” is the patch. It’s the best of both worlds and will generally last the lifetime of the tire. The only issue is you can’t be too close to the sidewall due the how much that area flexes.

MetricMonkeyWrench, I have always heard the same thing about AWD vehicles but in my 16 years working as a Honda tech, I have never seen unevenly worn tires cause an issue with any AWD component. Completely different tire sizes, bad! But different tread depths on the same size tires, nope. My opinion is that’s a wives-tale that, while based on a true concept, is exaggerated to sell tires. Other manufacturers may have more issues but I have yet to see it.

Didn't state it quite right, with my vehicle (Dodge Journey) has an Electronically Controlled Coupling (ECC) System. I cant add a single new full tread depth to 3 half worn tires as the diameter difference can be enough to trigger the AWD/anti skid traction control system which is also tied to the ABS. If it cant reconcile the issue it will throw a code and disable the 3 effected systems. I can put 2 new tires on the same side and the car will think its in a perpetual turn (ready for Nascar) with the differential's eating the difference. There is a +/- allowable tolerance in the system to accommodate manufacturing variances and tire wear. My brother is a master Tech for Dodge and we've been over this a couple times.

[TyGuy]

That sounds like a poor design to me. On the newer Hondas a new tire with worn ones can throw off the tire pressure monitoring system which can in turn disable traction control but you can just recalibrate the system to the new tire(s) and it will adjust for the slight differences in diameter. That’s a real bummer!

[45DUDE]

The club president bought a set of Michelin's for his pickup and has 75000 on them now an still 1/2 tread. He gets his oil changed at the same place and free rotation and flats fixed for the life of the tires at 5000 miles. The owner has got to hate to see him drive up. He averages about 500 miles a week on a straight road going to work.

[gwpercle]

Next time your wife tells you something ... you just might want to listen to what she says .
All that could have been avoided if you had simply did what she told you ...buy a set just in case !

A man has to learn when his wife is smarter than he is ...then he has to be smart enough to listen .
Gary

[shooterg]

Been riding for 16K miles with an internal boot . As far as them danged tie pressure sensors, the readings never match the gauge I use - and I trust the gauge !

[popper]

hybrid patch/plug system where the patch includes a plug that is installed from the inside also sealing the tread area. They work.
Was thinking of an all wheel drive Ford for next car, maybe not now.

[snowwolfe]

Plugged several tires in the last 5 years. One plug was on a sidewall. All plugs held air 100% until tread wore out and tires were replaced.
Had a few flats on my performance cars. Those go to the tire shop to have a patch installed on the inside.

[Fishman]

As a young man I used a lot of plugs on tires that should have been recycled, but it was all I had. None of the plugs ever failed, new leaks were always the culprit. I still use plugs as needed today, I have a kit and inflator in my nice expensive newer truck. It saved my bacon a year ago out in the boonies. Last week I used it to plug a boat trailer tire that somehow picked up a screw in my driveway. Anyway, point is I have never seen a plug fail, and they are really handy when you need to fix a tire right now in the middle of nowhere.

[Scorpion8]

At least the dealer didn't try to con you into the "it's AWD so you have to replace all FOUR even if just ONE tire is bad" crap.

[Bmi48219]

The Michelins are a hard compound, they claim 70k miles (I'm like YA RIGHT!) at this point, but so far been the BEST tire decision I ever made. Whodathunkit?

I bought a new set of Michelin ZX radials in 1972 for an Opel GT. Sold that car with 68,000 on the tires and they still were in great condition. The guy that bought it was still driving on them two years later.
Have had Michelins since but they were 30,000 mile tires at best.

[MT Gianni]

2015 Subaru Forester $754 for 4 tires, 60 K warranty, medium tread pattern, 4 tire alignment, and local disposal fee. Local shop gets tires twice a week from Billings.

[megasupermagnum]

There are a lot of junk plug kits, but tire plugs themselves are awesome. I've used quite a few with 100% success. I even plugged one tire that someone had obviously run over a pallet or something (of course they had no clue they hit anything). It had 6 holes fairly close together. That tire ran perfect the rest of its life like that.

Get a genuine Safety Seal brand plug kit. I trust them more than a trust a new Chinese valve stem.

[remy3424]

I think the OP got taken, when he didn't spend $20 to patch a pin hole in the tread of the tire. Sounds like he was due for at least one anyway. Our local tire guys charge $20 to fix leaks in tires, that includes patches or cleaning the bead of corrosion on alloy rims and $25 to install and balance if you bring your own in....I assume they charge more in the cities for the repairs...or maybe they just sell you new tires there.