Nail in tire = Tesla or Discount Tire

[JulienW]

First time in my life (I believe) that I've got a nail in my tire. Probably been this way for a while and maybe since I bought. Notice over the first few weeks the rear passenger was getting a little lower than the others. But even after a month is was something like about 45/42 to 38 for it. Finely got down to about 35 and got warning. Didn't think much since I had for about a month so aired all up to 45. About 2 weeks later I looked and it was done to about 39. Started looking at tire each time I parked but never saw anything. Went down to about 35 again got warning and aired up. Thought it may be valve stem. Just did Summon and looked and found a small nail.

Made an appointment with Tesla on 26th. Wonder if I'm better off just going to Discount Tire.

Does anyone know the about price for Tesla vs Discount Tire?

 

[dailo]

Discount tire repairs flats for free. I bring all my cars there for anything tire related.

 

[insaneoctane]

Be sure wherever you go uses a patch and not a plug and you should be fine.

 

[jdcollins5]

Please don’t waste the SC’s valuable time on patching a tire.

 

[jebinc]

Any good tire place; not Tesla SC.

 

[WillisW555]

I tried 4 different tire places in San Francisco and none of them would patch my tire. I had a TPMS error since delivery, so I took it to the SC and they patched it and fixed the error. Tesla charged me $50.

 

[Federico]

Tesla will charge you around $70 to $75 + tax to patch that tire, other places will charge you $15~30 for the same patch.

 

[jackhodges]

I concur with using Discount Tire. Drywall screw in right rear last week. Called to see if Mobile Ranger was in area and said it would be a couple of days. Dropped car off at local Discount Tire and it took a couple of hours to get it done. NO CHARGE. They are very profession and courteous. I highly recommend them.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

It depends. When I first took delivery of my car, it had a warning about low tire pressure. I took it into Tesla and they found a screw in it and it was non-repairable. I had to pay for a replacement tire but they gave me a discount since the car was brand new and basically had the low tire pressure since I took delivery. A few weeks later, I got another screw in a different tire. I took it to Discount Tire and got the tire certificates (warranties on the tires, even though I didn't get them from Discount Tire). After buying the tire certificates, they took a look at the tire and said it wasn't repairable. They immediately ordered me a replacement tire. Unfortunately, they didn't have it in stock. A few days later, I was at the Tesla Service Center for a due bill fix and Tesla was able to fix the tire for free. I drove another 30,000 miles on it and never had an issue with it.

If you do go to Discount Tire, definitely considering getting the tire certificates and be sure to ask if they know how to lift a Tesla. All of our local shops now know how to handle them but three years ago, many shops wouldn't touch a Tesla.

 

[BOBEDIGITL]

Discount Tire / America's Tire I believe are the same company. I took my car in early June for a nail and they removed it and patched it up no problem. They never gave me a price or anything, it didn't really matter considering I needed it to be fixed prior to a road trip I was going to that weekend. As soon as they finished, they let me know there was no charge for the service. I ended up tipping the guy who changed my tired and was on my way.

 

[gaswalla]

ANY tire shop - definitely not the service center. And, ask for plug and patch

 

[JasJ]

Another vote for Discount tire. $0, Tesla is $50+

Both numbers from experience. These days the service centers are too busy, so I always use Discount now - We average about 5 nails/screws a year in our two cars from all the post-Hurricane Harvey construction in my neighborhood.

 

[Swampgator]

In my area, SW Florida, nobody knows how to patch acoustic foam tires. I would call before going anywhere and make sure they know how to do it.

 

[Mongenel]

I take all of my vehicles to Discount/America's Tire (same company, different states). For a small fee, they add insurance to the tires you buy, and fix flats for free (depending on ability to fix). The insurance has paid for itself in my case. I also got great service from a chain in SoCal when I lived there called Mountain View Tire. They had the same sort of setup, but obviously limited in locations.

 

[BOBEDIGITL]

ANY tire shop - definitely not the service center. And, ask for plug and patch

I definitely wouldn't go to the service center either but I definitely wouldn't go to just ANY tire shop. Just make sure they've worked on Teslas before. Even here in Los Angeles, before going with America's Tire, I called a few different local shops and they wouldn't even touch my car because it was a Tesla.

 

[BerTX]

I like the Service Center, but never, ever will I have them do anything related to tires. They charged me $190 to do a rotate and balance that I had just had done at Discount tire for free. So I did not ask for the rotate and balance, and they undid the rotate (kinda).

Good news is they refunded half the cost.

 

[RayK]

Tesla Service Center (Santa Clara, CA) charged me $42 to repair a puncture back in Nov 2018. A second time on the same tire (with a much larger bolt) meant a new tire. Well, actually two new tires as I opted to replace both rears. That was about $700. I've since decided that next time I need new tires I'm going to go back to my usual shop (Wheel Works) and get something other than the factory rubber.

 

[Saghost]

When I got a bolt in my tire further outboard than yours, no one was confident about patching it. I eventually opted to replace the tire, which would have been ~$650 at the local tire shop and required waiting a day. The service center had them in stock and did it while I waited for slightly over half that. That was back in 2016, though.

 

[JulienW]

Went online to book appointment with Discount Tire. It said "walk-ins welcome". One not far so I decided to drive over on my way home. I needed air anyway and could just book it there. Said they can have it done in about 1 hour. Knew Tesla's and said it's a little more work because of the foam but they had done 100s of them. There was even an X sitting outside either waiting or done. They even used a jack puck and was done in about 50 minutes. So weird not having to pay at all much less "through the nose".

 

[gaswalla]

Thanks for the update op