UK Breakdown Cover & Flat Tyre

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Stu

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
Messages
63
Location
UK
Hypothetical situation:

You've got the standard UK roadside assist cover that comes with the car. If you get a flat tyre would you call the breakdown number in the hope they could attend and repair the tyre at the roadside or would you try the repair kit in the boot, potentially knacking they tyre?

I'm in two minds over what I would do.

Many thanks in advance.

Cheers
Stu
 
Talking to a Dutch AA person: "never use that kit! Call us.".... FWIIW.
I don't know about the UK, but over here the Mitsubishi service will put your car on a truck and transport it to the nearest dealer, whereas the AA will try and plug your leak or help you get another tyre ASAP.
 
I think you have to look at it in the same way as any other form of insurance.
Q. What is the worst case cost of failure? - the price of a brand new tyre (say £200)
Q. Can you afford this without destroying your quality of life? - probably or you couldn't afford the car in the first place.
Q. What is the chance of it happening? - low, when was the last time any of us got a sudden puncture?
Q. Can you put up with the temporary inconvenience? - only you can decide

Yes, I would prefer to have the convenience of a spare tyre but it takes up space and weight and do I really want the bother of changing one at my age? - no.

So do I wait for the breakdown service (say up to an hour) in the hope that they can "save" the tyre - presumably by repairing it (never really liked driving around with plugged tyres, so would always use the repaired one as the spare) at a cost (?) or do I just shrug off the cost of new tyre, use the repair kit, get on my way (and the rest of my life)? Probably .

BTW - I've got a tyre inflator that plugs into the lighter socket (is their one on the PHEV? - must check) to deal with the more common slow puncture situation.
 
My phev came with a plug in charger. BTW I got a puncture less than 24 hours after receiving the car - luckily i found it at home and was still able to drive it to the local Kwik fit and get it repaired. Tyre had only done 15 miles so hopefully still good as new now.
 
Stu said:
Hypothetical situation:

You've got the standard UK roadside assist cover that comes with the car. If you get a flat tyre would you call the breakdown number in the hope they could attend and repair the tyre at the roadside or would you try the repair kit in the boot, potentially knacking they tyre?

I'm in two minds over what I would do.

Many thanks in advance.

Cheers
Stu

Id call a mobile tyre fitter!
 
greendwarf said:
I think you have to look at it in the same way as any other form of insurance.
Q. What is the worst case cost of failure? - the price of a brand new tyre (say £200)
Q. Can you afford this without destroying your quality of life? - probably or you couldn't afford the car in the first place.
Q. What is the chance of it happening? - low, when was the last time any of us got a sudden puncture?
Q. Can you put up with the temporary inconvenience? - only you can decide

Yes, I would prefer to have the convenience of a spare tyre but it takes up space and weight and do I really want the bother of changing one at my age? - no.

So do I wait for the breakdown service (say up to an hour) in the hope that they can "save" the tyre - presumably by repairing it (never really liked driving around with plugged tyres, so would always use the repaired one as the spare) at a cost (?) or do I just shrug off the cost of new tyre, use the repair kit, get on my way (and the rest of my life)? Probably .

BTW - I've got a tyre inflator that plugs into the lighter socket (is their one on the PHEV? - must check) to deal with the more common slow puncture situation.
Yes, the car comes with an inflator and a can of foam. In reality I would put the chance of success at the roadside far under 50%. A slow leak will be indicated by your tyre pressure indicator so you will not have it on the road, and the catastrophic failure that may happen whilst driving, like a tear, cannot be repaired by such a kit. I have fitted the car with tyres that have some run-flat technology, enabling me to drive on a bit - slowly.
 
jaapv said:
....

Yes, the car comes with an inflator and a can of foam. In reality I would put the chance of success at the roadside far under 50%. A slow leak will be indicated by your tyre pressure indicator so you will not have it on the road, and the catastrophic failure that may happen whilst driving, like a tear, cannot be repaired by such a kit. I have fitted the car with tyres that have run-flat technology, enabling me to drive on a bit - slowly.

Interesting - what flat-run tyres did you fit? I was thinking of that but the dealer told me that there wan no suitable option available.
 
Continental has a range. The tyres I fitted are not completely run-flat, but the sidewalls, according to my dealer, are robust enough to be able to limp to safety for some distance.
Conti Crosscontact UHP.

They also sell complete full runflat systems, but those are quite expensive, as they involve metal support rings inside the tyre.
In general all tyre manufacturers sell run-flat tyres, here is a list of the suffixes to look for:

banden.jpg


I find it a real omission that Mitsubishi did not see it fit to fit really good tyres from the factory. The Toyo-s it comes on are decent, but not in the league of A-brand tyres.
Porsche, BMW and probably some more brands without spare fit run-flats as standard. Your dealer's answer reflects "I can't be bothered" IMHO. What does he think BMW X3 and X5 run on?

It fits in the general air of bean-counting that the car exudes. Like fitting Xenon lights, but just halogen main beams, no LEDs for the other lighting, keeping the interior trim from the seven-seater, no light in the window control panels, even down to providing just one hook to hang your coat over the rear doors... :roll: And of course a sunroof and windows without remote closing.
 
jaapv said:
It fits in the general air of bean-counting that the car exudes. Like fitting Xenon lights, but just halogen main beams, no LEDs for the other lighting, keeping the interior trim from the seven-seater, no light in the window control panels, even down to providing just one hook to hang your coat over the rear doors... :roll: And of course a sunroof and windows without remote closing.

Don't forget the drive train is more expensive that a conventional one. Given that in a lot of markets, the key selling point is how its price is comparable to the diesel version, a lot of cost cutting must have been required to achieve that goal.
 
I've had a bad experience of run flat tyres on my BMW. Kwik fit mobile fitters which my lease company uses doesn't operate after 6pm or on Sundays. They won't fit a tyre if you are not present either. The AA can plug the tyre which they guarantee for up to 50mph for 200 miles. Either way you can be sat by the roadside for longer than it would take to change a spare. For what it's worth I will call the AA If I get a puncture.
 
After it's been plugged can you take it to a tyre centre and have it repaired the old fashioned way?
 
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