2010 HL flat tire - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

kittykattoy · 11-15-2010, 10:43 PM

hi all

i'm a newbie..plz be nice to me

HL is 6 mos old....got a flat tire over the weekend...ran over a 3 inch nail...took the tire to a local shop, hoping it's patchable/repairable...they plugged the hole, inflatted the tire, and tested in the water...found out the air is leaking a bit......was told cannot be plugged and i need to get a new tire ...

my question is, is the tire under warranty in any ways, since the vehicle is still considered new? i didn't purchase any kind of warranty it was offered. am i out of luck? my family suggested i should call the dealer for a replacement.

anyone out there in a same situation or maybe can shed some lights?

thanks in advance

PhotonDreams · 11-15-2010, 10:51 PM

I had a nail cause a flat in the original '08 tire at around 10,000. Sorta doubt that tire flat is covered. Surprised that if it was a simple nail in the tread area they could not fix it. If it was in the side surface that can end a tire's life even if it's new. Best of luck with the situation.

PhotonDreams · 11-15-2010, 10:57 PM

Oh, one other thought on the warranty. I did not buy it when I bought the car. But given the cost of just about any repair, if you intend to keep the HL beyond the 3 yr or 36,000 warranty that comes with it, I'd say you could pick it up any time before you hit the 3 yr or 36,000 mile point. Check this site for info on the price, it ranges wildly from dealer to dealer and you can buy it online from any Toyota dealer. Around $800 to $1,500 for the same coverage. I bought it around 20,000 mile mark.

***TrailDust*** · 11-15-2010, 11:02 PM

kittykattoy, can you post up a picture of the plug/tire damage? The two reasons a tire is usually considered unrepairable is because either the sidewall was penetrated or the hole is simply too big to plug. Sometimes repair shops, garages, whatever, will make an attempt to plug a tire and not exactly make a heroic effort at it hoping to sell you a new tire. A properly plugged tire should be reemed out, rubber cement applied to both the reeming tool (after the actual reeming but before insertion of the plug, in order to properly lubricate the hole for plug insertion) and also the plug. I've been plugging tires with this method for 30 years now and never had a plug leak or fail.

kittykattoy · 11-16-2010, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrailDust

kittykattoy, can you post up a picture of the plug/tire damage? The two reasons a tire is usually considered unrepairable is because either the sidewall was penetrated or the hole is simply too big to plug. Sometimes repair shops, garages, whatever, will make an attempt to plug a tire and not exactly make a heroic effort at it hoping to sell you a new tire. A properly plugged tire should be reemed out, rubber cement applied to both the reeming tool (after the actual reeming but before insertion of the plug, in order to properly lubricate the hole for plug insertion) and also the plug. I've been plugging tires with this method for 30 years now and never had a plug leak or fail.

Here you go:

http://s1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ttykattoy/Car/

plugged is in brown color

thank you

***TrailDust*** · 11-16-2010, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kittykattoy

Here you go:

http://s1197.photobucket.com/albums/...ttykattoy/Car/

plugged is in brown color

thank you

Going by the photos, I'd say the mechanic at least doubled-up, and maybe even tripled-up, on the plugs for that hole. Also, looks like he didn't use any rubber cement. Nevertheless, if he had to use that many plugs to try and plug that hole then it is too big and a tire replacement is probably necessary.

Bargamon · 11-16-2010, 08:02 AM

IM not expert on Warranties as I usually don't purchase them, but I do recognize there are warranties for Tires seporate and even the best bumper to bumper warranties don't cover tires.

THta was some large plug on that picture!!!!

Tire damage happens. I suppose you have to get two tires? Keep the good one in the basement. Never know when you need it. OR a tire swing!

No blow outs are good!!!

JMSinMD · 11-16-2010, 09:15 AM

Toyota's 3yr/36k nor TFS Vehicle Service Agreement will cover the replacement of a tire.

When I purchase new tires (Merchant's/Tire Kingdom/NTB) I purchase a road hazard warranty that they sell that averages about $25 per tire. Covers plug/patch, replacement, lifetime rotation and balancing of the tires.

If I were in your shoes I would upgrade the damaged tire to a better quality tire and mount it as the spare and put the full size spare as the 4th tire on the road. When your 4 wear out you won't have to worry about replacing your spare.

Just my .02 cents.

MikeyD25 · 11-16-2010, 11:53 AM

What about a tire patch? They take the tire off the rim and apply the patch from the inside. Once you get that done use your spare as the replacement tire and the patched tire as the spare. If the patch doesn't hold then you buy a new tire and make it your spare and do as JMSinMD suggested above.

MD

Yazon · 11-16-2010, 03:51 PM

That's a horrible plug job. Normally when you plug a tire, there is nothing like that blob hanging out. In fact - i think he could have done more damage to the tire by doing such a bad plug. Now it may be too big to be plugged at all. Normally a nail puncture is a very simple and easy fix.

***TrailDust*** · 11-16-2010, 05:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yazon

That's a horrible plug job. Normally when you plug a tire, there is nothing like that blob hanging out. In fact - i think he could have done more damage to the tire by doing such a bad plug. Now it may be too big to be plugged at all. Normally a nail puncture is a very simple and easy fix.

Agreed. Frankly, with the size of the hole I'd suspect a bolt instead of a nail. The guy who repaired that tire made no effort to cut down the plug and left the whole bundle hanging out so it can be tugged around by tire contact with the ground. It was a sh***y job indeed.

Dman1 · 11-16-2010, 07:30 PM

Agreed. Horrible plug job, unless the nail was actually a landscaping spike or something similar. I got a nail in one of my tires when my HL was around 3 weeks old (April 2009), put a plug in it, and it has been fine ever since. I would suggest using a different tire shop next time. Good luck.

kittykattoy · 11-16-2010, 09:28 PM

agreed with all your comments about a horrible plugged....it was a chain shop i brought the tire to, starts with p and ends with boys

never again i would go back to them....

yeah, i saw the mechanic was having problem pulling out the nail....so he has to take it out and use the metal cutter to cut the nail....didn't see him applying anything to the tire, just saw him using force to pull the plug through....you guys are probably right about him making it worse.

right now, i'm using the spare as the 4th tire....and probably try to bring it to another tire store to see if i still have hope in repairing it. crossing my fingers

thanks to all for your contribution

Yazon · 11-17-2010, 10:31 AM

The thing is - to fix it now, they would have to unmount the tire from the rim and use a plug+glue+surface patch on the inside. And i'm just not sure they will be willing to do that much work to fix a flat.

My advice for you to get flat repair kit and in future fix them yourself - at least you will know it's done right. I've plugged 2-3 tires in the last 2 years and it's not a big deal really.

***TrailDust*** · 11-17-2010, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kittykattoy

agreed with all your comments about a horrible plugged....it was a chain shop i brought the tire to, starts with p and ends with boys

never again i would go back to them....

yeah, i saw the mechanic was having problem pulling out the nail....so he has to take it out and use the metal cutter to cut the nail....didn't see him applying anything to the tire, just saw him using force to pull the plug through....you guys are probably right about him making it worse.

right now, i'm using the spare as the 4th tire....and probably try to bring it to another tire store to see if i still have hope in repairing it. crossing my fingers

thanks to all for your contribution

Yah, run, don't walk, to your nearest exit when dealing with chain store mechanics...as a rule. If you're interested you can perform tire plugs yourself as they're actually cheap and easy to do. I can supply you with a how-to thread I wrote up in the General Discussion forum if you'd like to learn about plugging your own tires. Hope you get a successful plug, and let us know how it turns out.