There is a nail or something in one of my tire. Oh and does it matter what dealership you bought your car at? I bought mine at Hurst but there is a dealership in Arlington.

 

I don't believe road hazrads are covered.

 

well that sucks...oops..I just realized I put this in the wrong board.

 

I know Sam's club will fix flats forfree (assuming it is in a fixable location).

Joe Conklin
joeconklin@gmail.com

 

Tires are not covered by Mazda. You should have received a booklet from the tire brand (Dunlop or Bridgstone) spelling out the tire warranty. Look in your glove box. I haven't looked, but I would be very suprised if they cover road hazards such as nails.

Americas Tire will fix repairable flats for free if you are a regular customer there.

If the nail is sticking ut the sidewall, it cannot be fixed and you will need to buy a new tire.

 

When you buy the new tires, you may want to inquire about a "road hazard warranty". That is exactly what you are looking for here, but it doesn't come with the car unless you specifically purchase one.

 

Most punctures can be repaired though for little money

 

Well thats good then. The nail is still in the tire.

 

Keep it in until you get it fixed. Sometimes if it doesn't go all the way thru the inner tire and it's just in the tread.

BTW - I just had mine fixed today - 10 bucks CDN.

 

You could buy a plug kit for 10$ or less and have 4 to 5 plugs for the price of 1 (usually includes an auger, a plug tool, 4 to 5 plugs, and some adhesive). Plugging tires is very easy (since you don' have to remove the wheel or the tire). Patching is a better solution (IMO) but requires the removal of the wheel and the tire.

Never try to plug a sidewall (I've done it once in a pinch on a trip but the plug material isn't made to seal rubber by itself, it needs to go through the steel belting, and the tire needed air at one hour intervals).

 

I've already picked up 2 nails. First one cost me $25 to fix. The second one cost me $308! It went into the side wall, so I had to buy a new tire. Only had the car since 3/31/04. Dealership told me I should have purchased the "Road Hazard Warranty" from them. I said they should have offered it and I would have. I also had to use the IMS to get the car to the tire shop. When I called the dealer to inquire how much it would cost to replace it, they quoted me $83. I said is that for the whole kit with a new air compressor or just the white crap? They called me back and said that was just for the white crap. Told them they were crazy. Anyone else try to buy the IMS? Is the dealership wrong? Thanks for the help.

 

My dealer sold me a 5yr/75k warranty on my tires and wheels for $250. The only fine print was that there has to be >3/32 inch of tread. We have some wicked potholes around here, so that's cheap piece of mind even if I never need it (what are the odds). And it sounds like even one use pays for itself.

Would the fix-a-flat kit in the trunk handle a nail in the tread?

 

You could do a huge burnout throwing the nail out of the tire and the melting rubber filling in the hole. That would be sweet and easy fix, but we have no torque so just get it patched.

 

The tires are a high traction (soft) compound that in my opinion won't make it past 25K miles - 75K is out of the question....

 

Quote:

You could buy a plug kit for 10$ or less and have 4 to 5 plugs for the price of 1 (usually includes an auger, a plug tool, 4 to 5 plugs, and some adhesive). Plugging tires is very easy (since you don' have to remove the wheel or the tire). Patching is a better solution (IMO) but requires the removal of the wheel and the tire.

Plugging from the outside is dangerous and a lot of states prohibit shops from doing this to a customers tire. A plug from the outside is much more likely to eject itself compared to one installed from the inside and could be disasterous at high speed. I have used an outside plug many years ago on an older car with tires I didn't really care about and it was tricky to install without having a slow leak. If you mess it up you will make the tire unrepairable as well. I would not advise anyone to do this to a new car they care about that has fairly expensive tires.

 

i have plugged two tires and the plugs lasted the duration of the tire without any leaking. plugs were installed from the outside (without removing the tire).

 

I got the same warranty from my dealer. Did you buy from John Kennedy Mazda by chance?

I'm curious to see if the warranty covers premature wear. I've got 9k on my original Dunlops and they look like they're wearing fast. If it doesn't then I'll probably drive on them until winter when I get snows. Then I'll worry about replacing them in the spring.

 

$10 to do it properly is cheap insurance against a ~$30K vehicle capable of 148 MPH

 

Ive got 5" treadleft on all 4 POTENZA tires w/only 16000 miles on them. Okay--- Ill admit I havent been babying the car for theyear that Ive had it butI never did any burnouts or tookthe car to the track. I dont even have a 6spd this is an automatic. I usually take some wicked fast turns at least three times a week --not including weekends-- but like Ive said in other posts I bought this carto have some fun init and flaunt its capabilities. However 16000 miles w/only 5" tread left is disgusting to me. If Imake it to 20000 miles w/thesebastards I swear itll be a friggin miracle.

Onlyproblem is I dont knowwhat brand Ill use to replace these tires. I wasgoing to buy some slightly used OEMs from someone on here w/low miles but I dont to end up replacing those as well in another 20000 miles. Yet Im afraid that the car might not handle exactlythe same if I buy a different brand. Not sure what Imgoing to do