Okay, I'm fuming right now.

I just got in from having my first oil change and tires rotated at Bobby Rahal Scion. When I got home I came in from work and changed into comfortable clothes to go out and do errands.

Upon go around my car to put something in my front seat I see this nail/screw sticking out of my rear passenger tire. I was livid instantly!!!

I can only assume that the mechanics there a) didn't see it when rotating my tires or b) I got it upon pulling into my apartment complexes parking lot.

I would hope answer a) is out of the question as they rotated my tires!!

Which leads me to believe b) is the answer because getting out of my car I saw within a minute about a half dozen screws/nails/other sharp metal objects. Also this wouldn't be the first time it happened to me since living in this complex.

Needless to say I'm going to the manager of the complex tomorrow and demanding they pay for any repairs that are needed.

However here is the ____ty part. I don't know if the tire can have a plug put in it due to where the screw/nail is....judge for yourself and any feedback would be appreciative.







Oh yeah...and has anyone else gone to Bobby Rahal Scion in Mechanicsburg? They 'washed' my car today for me and there are oily hand marks everywhere on the car...

Not a good day for me!!

 

That might be tough. You'd have to have it looked at. It's kind of the corner of the sidewall, I'm not sure if a patch would stick there... or if a plug wouldn't fall out.

As for how it got there... Good luck getting anything out of the complect for it... it would be tough to pinpoint where it really came from.

 

The dealership is 10 mins away and I was on highway the entire way home until I got off....I picked up a handful of nails/screws in the parking lot around my car...

I know it's probably a losing batter but I'm extremely ____ed...

 

from the looks of it, im 99 percent sure that it cant be fixed. But there is that 1 perecent that has a slight chance of it being in just fat enough to be repairable. (BTW i work at tires plus)

 

that can be plugged, no worries.

 

plug it!

 

I've plugged many a tire like that (including my own) and never had a problem.

 

thats wut she said...

 

if you p[lug it make sure u use the brand safety seal plugs you can not patch the tire it is in the last inch of the tread so you can not patch it you will have to replace the tire and that is bad customer service if they did not get all of the grease prints off of your car i work for a dealership here in cali -

 

saf t seal plugs are guarenteed not to leak

 

ive seen worse get plugged... just go out a but a plug kit, its cheap and good to have around anyway...

 

it's within less then half and inch of the sidewall...I dunno if it can be plugged...I'll find out tomorrow.

Keep ya posted.

 

Well this sucks...went to two different tire places this morning and both say I need a new tire because it's too close to the flex part of the tire...

Anyone know any places that stock the Yoko's besides TireRack? Just to compare prices....thanks.

 

That can be plugged with no problems. Oh, by the way, nails don't have slotted hex heads. It's a screw.

 

Yeah I know...but I was just ____ed when I started typing this last night...wasn't thinking straight.

Anyways I took it to two places this morning and both said it was too close to the sidewall. I don't want to plug it because I can end up having problems later.

Also had a buddy here at work that knows a lot about cars and said it was too close.

However, some decent news.

I called another local Scion dealership and they gave me a great option...$166.95 for a tire that comes from port. Essentially only used during production and then removed at port when someone orders the rim upgrades. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

He said it's basically new, they just cannot sell them as new because they aren't.

Good thing I called around.

 

With a standard plug kit, it can probably be fixed, but you'll be doing it yourself. You won't find many tire sales places that will be able to do it for you, though. Most of the national retail stores (that are corporate owned anyway) use a patch/plug (which is generally considered to be a safer repair), which requires a flat surface to seal. That screw is too close to the shoulder to seal the patch.

 

It should be able to be fixed... I had a nail in almost the exact same spot on the driverside rear... yeah Discout Tire and even the Dealership said that it was too close... I took it to NTB and they fixed it... They plugged and Patched it and that was over 5 months ago.. I have yet to have problems with keeping air in the tire or anything... Good luck though.. Oh and 170 dollars for the same tire is a rip... I'd get a better cheaper Tire at Discount or NTB... the Potenzas suck... I'd pimp the one tire being diffrent if it saved me 50 bucks...

 

It can be plugged but don't use the do it you self plugs they stink. AT my shop we use tech Plugs. I'd plug it for you w/ no worries but i'm in MD.

 

sorry to hear that man, i'd consider yourself lucky though:

on my '92 camaro i came out of work and there was HALF OF A CHAIN LINK embedded in my rear tire. i mean like havy duty chain. 2 punctures prolly 1/4" each. my tire was flat and didnt have a spare

it seems your tire still holds air and could quite possibly be fixed. good luck!

 

Before you go out and get a "used" tire, check a couple of things. First, is the tire leaking now? Easy to find out. Spit ( or use a soapy solution ) on it and see if it bubbles. If not, then proceed.

Try taking the screw out. You may be in luck and the threads are not that long. It may just be a couple of threads and the head of the screw. Back it out slowly and see what you get. Try the above method again to see if it leaks. If not, then your good to go.

The other option is, if its not leaking now, just leave it there. The head will wear off ( or grind it off ) and you wont have to replace the tire. Given the location of the screw, it can not be fixed with a plug.