Can Kwik Fit Change my damaged tyre?

[AndyEVTM3]

Got a screw in the rear passenger side wall so think this tyre will need to be changed.

Tesla quoted £248 for new tyre but can’t do it until 4th July !

Kwik fit have got a tyre and job will be about £20 less.

But feel a bit queasy about them jacking car etc.

Does experience show they are competent? And is it worth getting the acoustic tyre?

Thanks for any advice/ help.

 

[Leejmoff]

I would go Tesla, we did and they did it on the spot.

 

[speedyranger74]

I don't know nothing about kwik kit, but the kit what I bought from Amazon fixed 3 times my tires. Job done by myself without jacking the car.

 

[Medved_77]

Depends how competent the people working at the Kwik Fit branch. It's a very large company, standards will vary depending on where you go, who's working at the time, how well the store is run etc. My local one has a great team, but alas, too far for you to travel on three wheels.

As they're a large company, they should be well insured against mishaps. Ask them if they have the correct adapter for lifting the car and gauge their reaction. I suspect most garages now will have the correct style of puck.

I'm running 4 tyres with no acoustic foam and can't tell the difference.

 

[SFBanks]

had tyres on my M3 a few times from Kwik Fit. no problems

 

[looseend]

Had mine done at a KwikFit, they knew about jacking etc. Tesla is pretty common nowadays so I'd be surprised if they didn't

 

[Lee Davis]

Had Kwikfit mobile put a new tyre on the car in my driveway. They have their own pads in the van. He said EVs are so common these days that all vans carry them.

 

[Bantam]

I got my two back tyres changed at my local kwik fit last year with no problems at all. As mentioned above they had their own jacking plugs, etc and from what I could observe from the waiting room they did it all correctly, I did print out the instructions from the manual in the event they started scratching their heads when I turned up in my newfangled driving machine, but it wasn't required

 

[AndyEVTM3]

Thanks all booked for tomorrow I’ll let you know how I get on

 

[Jason71]

Thanks all booked for tomorrow I’ll let you know how I get on

probably less of an issue these days but most early adopters carry a set of jack pads. If you ever get a puncture and get towed to a random garage or something its good to be able to offer them to them to use. I have been to garages that don't have any

 

[M1tch]

Show them the jacking points and it will be fine. It’s almost definitely not the first EV they will have worked on so they will know the intricacies of jacking. After that, it’s just a tyre on a car.

 

[AndyEVTM3]

Cheers I’ve just printed the relevant jacking instructions from the manual just in case.

 

[AndyEVTM3]

Are puck / jack pads available from Tesla or a third party?

 

[debrooker]

Had kwik fit look at my tire a few months back - very professional. As my car was booked in i was straight in on time, they tried to see if a repair could be made, when it couldn't they showed me the tire and explained why and replaced. They knew all about teslas and had pucks ready, and seemed to know their way around a tesla

Was a much better experience than i expected

 

[Irata]

These concerns are fast becoming a non-issue nowadays. Tesla's are now rather common, they've been on our roads for a while with many tyre changes and MOT's done. The exception now is the MY, but it's the same process as any M3.

I did worry about this a few years ago, but I find now they've always had experience.

I even had an alloy wheel scuff repaired and the local guy had jack pads with him, that wasn't even a national company.

 

[Jason71]

Are puck / jack pads available from Tesla or a third party?

You can get them on ebay etc

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Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 4Pcs Jack Pad Point Adapter Safety Increase Lifting For Tesla Model 3/S/X/Y UK at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Type2]

Are jack pads/pucks really necessary? I’ve had several tyres changed at my local independent tyre place and they’ve never used anything. Just jacked the car up like they would any other. No damage done, and my first tyre change was over 3 years ago.

No doubt the doom mongers will tell me my battery has been destroyed or my car will fall to bits around me. Or I’ve been lucky but next time will be a catastrophe. Except my car seems just fine to me.

Have there been any documented cases of a car being damaged during a tyre change?

 

[Jason71]

Are jack pads/pucks really necessary? I’ve had several tyres changed at my local independent tyre place and they’ve never used anything. Just jacked the car up like they would any other. No damage done, and my first tyre change was over 3 years ago.

No doubt the doom mongers will tell me my battery has been destroyed or my car will fall to bits around me. Or I’ve been lucky but next time will be a catastrophe. Except my car seems just fine to me.

Have there been any documented cases of a car being damaged during a tyre change?

Depends on the design of the jack used and how carefully it is placed. The jack pads locate on the jacking points making it impossible to jack on the wrong point and spread the load but a flat topped jack positioned correctly should be fine.

 

[Irata]

If the cars were designed to need jack pads, they would either be supplied with the car or sold by Tesla.

They are simply a precaution and if done properly as per the manual, like jacking up any car really, there is no issue.

The concept of correct jack points for a car has been around far longer than Tesla.

 

[Jason71]

The concept of correct jack points for a car has been around far longer than Tesla.

True and if you accidently jack up on the floor of an ICE car you could damage it which would be unfortunate but an ICE car does not have a Lithium Ion battery spread across the whole floor that if deformed or punctured could cause a thermal runaway event resulting in the entire car, and possibly the garage it is in going up in flames.
So there is that.