The truth about tyre repairs.

The truth about tyre repairs.

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So

Original Poster:

26,271 posts

221 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all

Over the years I've had some marques refuse to repair tyres at all. Conversely, I used to have a repairer who could repair anything you couldn't get a fist through.

Today I've had a tyre centre refuse to repair a 6k mile Pirelli with two holes centre tread because "they are in the same quarter of the tyre". One was tiny, the other about 5mm.

I bought a new tyre, but I suspect it could have been repaired without endangering my life. Am I right or wrong about that?


Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
Personally I have no problem whatsoever with repaired tyres - there's a lot of crap (see posts below for sure) spoekn about repairs and how you'll die when they inevitably fail. But they don't.

The regulations appear to be massive overkill and risk aversion.

Pica-Pica

13,625 posts

83 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
Dog Star said:
Personally I have no problem whatsoever with repaired tyres - there's a lot of crap (see posts below for sure) spoekn about repairs and how you'll die when they inevitably fail. But they don't.

The regulations appear to be massive overkill and risk aversion.
Maybe, but for £100 or so, I would choose a new tyre. I have probably had about 3 of these ‘repairable’ punctures where tread depth MAY have been worth it in over 500k miles of motoring. That makes it an easy decision for me.

thebigmacmoomin

2,796 posts

168 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
Work colleague had a tyres with 3 repairs in, no issues. The only issue then was that on the 4 repair, they only did it as they didn't have the correct replacement tyre in stock and did it a temporary measure until the next day.

NotBenny

3,917 posts

179 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
rightly or wrongly, you'll never get a sensible answer. The "experts" are the manufacturers or retailers who want you to buy more tyres, and don't want to get a bad rep for fixing tyres that subsequently fail. They play it safe. No, not all "dodgy" repairs (overlapping patches, same quarter of tyre, close to sidewall) will fail, but some will. You might want to take the risk, some people won't.

My philosophy is that st happens. I've had 2 punctures in about 15 years of driving, neither repairable, so my total motoring costs are about £250-300 more than they otherwise would have been. Drop in the ocean really.

Dog Star

16,079 posts

167 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
Pica-Pica said:
Maybe, but for £100 or so
How would you feel if they were £300 or so.....



Gojira

899 posts

122 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
NotBenny said:
rightly or wrongly, you'll never get a sensible answer. The "experts" are the manufacturers or retailers who want you to buy more tyres, and don't want to get a bad rep for fixing tyres that subsequently fail. They play it safe. No, not all "dodgy" repairs (overlapping patches, same quarter of tyre, close to sidewall) will fail, but some will. You might want to take the risk, some people won't.

My philosophy is that st happens. I've had 2 punctures in about 15 years of driving, neither repairable, so my total motoring costs are about £250-300 more than they otherwise would have been. Drop in the ocean really.
"Dodgy" repairs do fail...

SWMBO uses a walking stick a fair bit now, because a tight git overlapped patches on a bike front inner tube, and the tube split in the middle of a bend at 50, back in the late 70's, leaving her with a broken ankle that almost healed fine...

A "dodgy" repair might not fail, but if it does, will you be happy to face the possible consequences?

996TT02

3,308 posts

139 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
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Majority of punctures. Hole through which air escapes. Prevent air from escaping. You may now proceed.

ARHarh

3,705 posts

106 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
About 3 years ago I had a split in the sidewall of my land rover tyre repaired. I didn't think it would be possible but they sent it away and 3 days later it came back with an invisible repair. About a 6mm split and no issues since and it has been over some pretty rough terrain. So I guess if they want to help they can. It might help living in a farming community as they tend to have a lot more expensive tyres, not to mention tight farmers.

Rich Boy Spanner

1,291 posts

129 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
Have had numerous repairs done over the years, and all fine except for the last which developed a slow puncture. I was surprised it was ever repaired as it was so close to the sidewall.
We'd all have less punctures if the UK had less potholes and more street cleaning to remove all the random screws and nails all over the place.

nitrodave

1,262 posts

137 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
Gojira said:
NotBenny said:
rightly or wrongly, you'll never get a sensible answer. The "experts" are the manufacturers or retailers who want you to buy more tyres, and don't want to get a bad rep for fixing tyres that subsequently fail. They play it safe. No, not all "dodgy" repairs (overlapping patches, same quarter of tyre, close to sidewall) will fail, but some will. You might want to take the risk, some people won't.

My philosophy is that st happens. I've had 2 punctures in about 15 years of driving, neither repairable, so my total motoring costs are about £250-300 more than they otherwise would have been. Drop in the ocean really.
"Dodgy" repairs do fail...

SWMBO uses a walking stick a fair bit now, because a tight git overlapped patches on a bike front inner tube, and the tube split in the middle of a bend at 50, back in the late 70's, leaving her with a broken ankle that almost healed fine...

A "dodgy" repair might not fail, but if it does, will you be happy to face the possible consequences?
A car tyre repair is a bit different to the inner tube in the front wheel of a motorbike. The former I would do - the latter certainly not

Gojira

899 posts

122 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
nitrodave said:
Gojira said:
NotBenny said:
rightly or wrongly, you'll never get a sensible answer. The "experts" are the manufacturers or retailers who want you to buy more tyres, and don't want to get a bad rep for fixing tyres that subsequently fail. They play it safe. No, not all "dodgy" repairs (overlapping patches, same quarter of tyre, close to sidewall) will fail, but some will. You might want to take the risk, some people won't.

My philosophy is that st happens. I've had 2 punctures in about 15 years of driving, neither repairable, so my total motoring costs are about £250-300 more than they otherwise would have been. Drop in the ocean really.
"Dodgy" repairs do fail...

SWMBO uses a walking stick a fair bit now, because a tight git overlapped patches on a bike front inner tube, and the tube split in the middle of a bend at 50, back in the late 70's, leaving her with a broken ankle that almost healed fine...

A "dodgy" repair might not fail, but if it does, will you be happy to face the possible consequences?
A car tyre repair is a bit different to the inner tube in the front wheel of a motorbike. The former I would do - the latter certainly not
Oh, I agree...

It was the dodgy repairs I was objecting to, rather than the ones the maufacturers are happy with.

Every cloud has a silver lining though - I've been actively encouraged to make sure I had decent tyres on every motor I've had, even when the motors were clapped out Maxis!

So

Original Poster:

26,271 posts

221 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
What about the two repairs in the same quarter thing? That was new to me.

DaveCWK

1,980 posts

173 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
Get yourself a tyre puncture repair kit if you're finding garages being difficult - plug repairs for screws etc are really not hard to do at all & there's really no much to go wrong - pushing the tool with the rubber strip through the tyre is about the hardest part, but no problem if you're powerfully built.

Pica-Pica

13,625 posts

83 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
Dog Star said:
Pica-Pica said:
Maybe, but for £100 or so
How would you feel if they were £300 or so.....
It would be nearer that for me now, and to me the same principle and statistical frequency, and proportional costs apply.

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
I had the rear tyre on my Audi R8 repaired with no issues at all.

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
nitrodave said:
Gojira said:
NotBenny said:
rightly or wrongly, you'll never get a sensible answer. The "experts" are the manufacturers or retailers who want you to buy more tyres, and don't want to get a bad rep for fixing tyres that subsequently fail. They play it safe. No, not all "dodgy" repairs (overlapping patches, same quarter of tyre, close to sidewall) will fail, but some will. You might want to take the risk, some people won't.

My philosophy is that st happens. I've had 2 punctures in about 15 years of driving, neither repairable, so my total motoring costs are about £250-300 more than they otherwise would have been. Drop in the ocean really.
"Dodgy" repairs do fail...

SWMBO uses a walking stick a fair bit now, because a tight git overlapped patches on a bike front inner tube, and the tube split in the middle of a bend at 50, back in the late 70's, leaving her with a broken ankle that almost healed fine...

A "dodgy" repair might not fail, but if it does, will you be happy to face the possible consequences?
A car tyre repair is a bit different to the inner tube in the front wheel of a motorbike. The former I would do - the latter certainly not
Also that was about 45 years ago....I suspect things have improved somewhat since then.

PaulPGreen

192 posts

53 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
Most of the time I always get a new tyre fitted.

Not worth the risk

A1VDY

3,575 posts

126 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
DaveCWK said:
Get yourself a tyre puncture repair kit if you're finding garages being difficult - plug repairs for screws etc are really not hard to do at all & there's really no much to go wrong - pushing the tool with the rubber strip through the tyre is about the hardest part, but no problem if you're powerfully built.
Yes, they are simple to do but... you'll need to remove the tyre to do it. I'm a powerfully built muscle bound ape but I still couldn't remove a tyre from a rim without a tyre machine to do it. The two spoon method doesnt work btw.. 😊

Ardennes92

606 posts

79 months

Tuesday 12th November 2019
quotequote all
DaveCWK said:
Get yourself a tyre puncture repair kit if you're finding garages being difficult - plug repairs for screws etc are really not hard to do at all & there's really no much to go wrong - pushing the tool with the rubber strip through the tyre is about the hardest part, but no problem if you're powerfully built.
Trouble is, unless you remove the tyre you don’t know if there is any damage to the inner surface of the tyre or any residue from whatever caused the puncture travelling around inside