-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Small nail in tire
- Thread starter davraker
- Start date
A nail/screw puncture in the center of the tread area can usually be repaired. Take the vehicle to another tire shop. They can patch the tire from the inside; first cutting away a section of foam from around the puncture. After the tire has been repaired with a patch the foam that was cut away can be glued down into place. If they don't want to do this it is because they are either Costco or just lazy.
jcanoe "nailed" it. Read the 2 threads below for other first hand accounts of people who've encountered the same thing.
Brand new Y with flat tire - my journey
Tires! A Cautionary Tale
Brand new Y with flat tire - my journey
Tires! A Cautionary Tale
Update. Took it to another shop and they seemed to have no problem patching the tire. So far so good. $20 vs. $255. I’ll take it.
73Bruin
Member
I hate it when vendors lie to line their pockets. Companies like this should go out of business.
Costco repaired my nail punctured tire about a month ago. They told me in advance that they would repair it just like you described (except for gluing back in the small piece of foam they removed). I have not noticed any difference in how the tire handles or sounds. Costco charged me $10.99 out the door with a reminder to come back for a free recheck of the torque on lug nuts. The only downside was the wait. Took the MY in at 9:30 and picked it up at 2:00pm. Had my daughter come pick me up and take me back.
I recall that some of the Costco stores either don't service Tesla vehicle tires or won't repair tires with the foam inserts. Either way, my bad.
73Bruin
Member
I can only speak to my experience at the one store. Other stores as you pointed out may have or have had different policies. There may also be a difference by state. Tesla was the number 6 best selling brand across all models and over 38,000 M3s were registered in the state. That's a lot of potential tire buyers, Costco probably doesn't want to offend. It may also depend on if you are a member and have purchased tires there previously. My wife and I have been buying tires and batteries for all of our cars from Costco for at least 20 years and maybe 30.
My lesson learn is that, always ask if they had experience doing the repair before letting them do it. I took it to Sears (when they were still in business). Sears made the attempt but still leaks. I than took it to discount tire, they wont touch it because Sears already touch it. Took it to Big-O-Tire...they won't touch it either because of someone else already tried. Ended up buying a new tire because no one is willing to repair it.
MY lesson today: I plugged a tire on my son's Prius (Friday night). Took it to Discount Tire to have them plug/patch it with a mushroom shaped plug/patch. NOPE. Firestone. NOPE!!!
The guy at Firestone, older guy (like me), walked out to the parking lot with me, told me, "NO major chain shop will re-do a previous plug. Period. I agree, it's ridiculous, I've been doing this for 30+ years, what you're asking is totally reasonable, but the perceived liability prevents us from doing it. Take it to a private shop, they'll do it for $10! You won't have a problem."
Did what he advised. Done.
The guy at Firestone, older guy (like me), walked out to the parking lot with me, told me, "NO major chain shop will re-do a previous plug. Period. I agree, it's ridiculous, I've been doing this for 30+ years, what you're asking is totally reasonable, but the perceived liability prevents us from doing it. Take it to a private shop, they'll do it for $10! You won't have a problem."
Did what he advised. Done.
I just had the joy of going through a similar experience.. I discovered I had a slow leak after getting my car back from being detailed. I could have easily drove to a local tire shop but decided to put in a service request via the Tesla app.
My tire was delivered to Tesla SC and they told me it was not repairable (nail in outer
tread approx 2” from the sidewall). One new tire would cost around $570 cdn.. agh
My friend suggested I call his contact to see if he can do anything.. turns out he’s one of a very few local Tesla approved tire vendors... he checked the tire and confirmed it was repairable, then delivered and installed my tire plus returned the loaner tire to the SC for just under $60. Yep I’ll gladly pay that! The nail was tiny, so it was super annoying I was told it was not repairable..
Keep in mind: Tire repairs create a level of liability for the repairer. The reason chain auto stores won't make borderline repairs (where the tread meets the sidewall) is there is the POSSIBILITY the repair won't hold. That doesn't mean it's not repairable.
Private shops will sometimes repair a tire that has been refused by Discount Tire, Firestone, or a dealership. Are you taking a chance? Yes. Are you saving a ton of money? YES, especially if you have to replace TWO tires, when that axle's tires have 15-20k miles on them, and you have to replace both.
Private shops will sometimes repair a tire that has been refused by Discount Tire, Firestone, or a dealership. Are you taking a chance? Yes. Are you saving a ton of money? YES, especially if you have to replace TWO tires, when that axle's tires have 15-20k miles on them, and you have to replace both.
This scenario just happened to me yesterday and the small nail was in the main meat of the tire. I called 5 major stores and all said if it has foam they wont touch it. Found a smaller shop that said no problem, watched the whole process, pulled the foam back patched and glued foam down. The whole process took about 35min start to finish at a cost of $35. They were very fermilure with the process and exactly how to fix Tesla foam tires.
I only have 2,500miles on the car so tire replacement seemed silly. Had I had 10-12k on the clock I would have replaced the tires.
I only have 2,500miles on the car so tire replacement seemed silly. Had I had 10-12k on the clock I would have replaced the tires.
roblab
Active Member
Yes! It's a waste of money going to a tire shop to have them charge you for something you don't need. I have plugged many tires, many on vans and trucks I owned in my previous businesses, and I considered them permanent. And they didn't leak, ever. The foam on the inside of Tesla tires does not interfere with a plug, either.
So now a day after the repair I am getting the TPMS fault error. The strange thing is the repaired tire is showing the psi but the rear tire that was not touched is not showing.
tried rebooting the car 3 times, deflating and inflating, error still shows.
Any thoughts?
I have a feeling the repair place messed the sensor up. As a note Tesla patches for $90. I scheduled a service appointment.
tried rebooting the car 3 times, deflating and inflating, error still shows.
Any thoughts?
I have a feeling the repair place messed the sensor up. As a note Tesla patches for $90. I scheduled a service appointment.
Similar threads
