Finding a tyre flat when you come back to the car is a different problem from one failing on the move: the car is already parked, so the questions are where it is and whether we can reach it.
Dudley is about 102 miles in a straight line from our only base at Brent Cross, NW2 (further by road). We have no base or van stationed nearby. Call and we will tell you straight away whether we can take the job; if we can, the arrival time is given on the call. If the car is unsafe where it is, your breakdown cover may reach you sooner.
None of this needs tools, and it helps us tell you on the call whether a repair is likely.
Russells Hall Hospital, the Castle Gate leisure park and Port West Retail Park all have car parks run by an operator. If the car is in one of them, check that a fitter may work on it there, and tell us which car park and where in it. The visitor car parks at the zoo and castle and at the Black Country Living Museum work the same way.
A drive, or a residential street where the car is legally parked, is the simplest place for the work. We do not work beside busy through roads such as the A459 or the A4123, and on the M5 the car must leave at junction 2 before we can help.
Give us the street and postcode, or the nearest station, such as Coseley, Tipton or Cradley Heath, so the fitter can find the car.
Only change a wheel yourself if the car is on firm, level ground well away from moving traffic. If the car is beside a fast road, leave the wheel alone.
If the spot is safe:
Most punctures from a nail or screw in the middle of the tread can be repaired. The decision is made with the tyre off the wheel, because the outside of a tyre does not show everything. BS AU 159, the British Standard for car tyre repairs, sets out which damage can be repaired and how the repair must be done.
The shoulder and the sidewall are never repaired. They flex with every turn of the wheel, and the sidewall has no steel belt behind it for a repair to hold against, so a patch there can let go without warning.
A tyre that has been driven while flat is the other common reason. Even a short distance on a flat tyre can crush the inner wall, and that damage is often invisible until the tyre is off the rim.
The tyre is replaced rather than repaired when:
Call or WhatsApp with where the car is, the registration and the tyre size from the sidewall. Say whether there is a usable spare.
You hear what the job involves and the options for your car. Nothing is booked until you say yes.
The fitter comes to your home, your workplace or a safe place to park, raises the car on a jack and does the job beside it.
Before the fitter leaves, the wheel is checked for security and the tyre pressure is set to the maker's figure.
“Good communication, excellent work and takes the initiative. Happy to go the extra mile, highly recommended if you're in a tyre-related bit of bother!”
“Faultless experience. Great communication, attitude and service.”
“Good and reliable service in all conditions.”
Cars and light vans need at least 1.6 mm of tread across the central three-quarters of the tyre, around the whole circumference.
For a car, each illegal tyre can bring a fine of up to £2,500 and three penalty points; the maximum fine for a van is higher.
Push a 20p coin into the main grooves at several points around the tyre. If the outer band of the coin is visible, the tread may be close to the limit and should be measured properly.
A tyre is also illegal with a cut longer than 25 mm or a tenth of its section width, whichever is greater, that reaches the ply or cord, a lump or bulge, exposed cords, or the wrong size or type for the car.
The last four digits of the DOT code on the sidewall give the week and year of manufacture, so 2319 means the 23rd week of 2019.
Rubber hardens and cracks with age even on a tyre that has done few miles, and many tyre makers advise replacing any tyre ten years old or more.
There is no fixed figure that suits every car, so the price is built from a few things and told to you before you decide.
The price is the same at any hour. Asking for a price does not commit you to anything.
When you compare prices, compare like with like: the same brand and pattern, the same load index and speed rating, and whether balancing and a new valve are part of the job.
These are the neighbourhoods, postcode districts and main roads on record for this area. Whether we can take a particular job depends on the diary and the distance from our base, so the call always decides.
Yes, if the site allows it. Supermarket, retail park and station car parks are private ground, so the owner's permission comes first. Places of this kind in this area include:
TPMS warning light: what it means and what to do
That horseshoe-shaped dashboard light is your tyre pressure monitoring system. Here's what it means, the steady vs flashing difference, and how to respond.
Is it safe to drive on a flat tyre?
Driving on a flat tyre is dangerous and can wreck your wheel. Here's what happens, what to do instead, and how far you can safely go (almost nowhere).
School-run flat tyre: what to do
A flat tyre on the school run throws the whole day. Here's the safe way to handle it without changing a wheel in the road with kids in the car.
Stay safe, keep off the flat tyre and tell us where the car is. The price is given on the call.
