If a tyre fails on the A45, your safety comes first and the tyre second. We never work on the carriageway of a motorway or main road, on a hard shoulder, in a smart motorway emergency area or on a slip road. Once the car is safely off the road, we can come to it.
If the car is stuck somewhere dangerous, call your breakdown cover, or 999 in an emergency.
Road operator: Birmingham City Council west of M42 J6; National Highways from Tollbar End to M42 J6 and from M1 J16 to Thrapston. For its sections, the National Highways contact centre is on 0300 123 5000; in an emergency, call 999.
This advice follows the Highway Code rules on breakdowns and incidents (rules 274 to 287). Read the rules on GOV.UK.
| Stretch covered | Northampton to Thrapston and Coventry to Birmingham |
|---|---|
| Meets | M1, A14, A43, A46, M42 |
At its nearest measured point, the A45 is about 51 miles in a straight line from our only base at Brent Cross, NW2. 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.
| Junction | What it serves |
|---|---|
| M1 J16 (Northamptonshire) | M1, Upton, Northampton west, Daventry via the A45 west |
| Sixfields (Northamptonshire) | Sixfields Stadium, Sixfields retail park, Weedon Road |
| Queen Eleanor (Northamptonshire) | A508 Northampton centre and M1 J15, Delapre |
| Brackmills (Northamptonshire) | Brackmills industrial estate, Hardingstone |
| Great Billing and Riverside (Northamptonshire) | Riverside retail park, Great Billing, Weston Favell |
| Wilby Way (Northamptonshire) | A509 Wellingborough, Kettering, Wilby |
| Chowns Mill (Northamptonshire) | A6 Higham Ferrers, Rushden, Rushden Lakes, Bedford |
| Raunds (Northamptonshire) | Raunds, Stanwick, Ringstead |
| A14 J13, Thrapston (Northamptonshire) | A14, A605 Oundle, Thrapston |
| Tollbar End (Coventry) | A46 Warwick and Leicester, Coventry Airport, Whitley |
| Fletchamstead Highway and Kenilworth Road (Coventry) | A429 Kenilworth Road, Warwick University, Canley, Tile Hill |
| Stonebridge Island (Solihull) | A452 Meriden, Balsall Common, Kenilworth |
| Birmingham Airport and NEC (M42 J6, Solihull) | M42, Birmingham Airport, NEC, Birmingham International station |
| Swan Island, Yardley (Birmingham) | A4040 Outer Circle, Yardley, Sheldon, Acocks Green |
| Small Heath and Bordesley Circus (Birmingham) | A4540 Middleway, St Andrew's, Small Heath, Clean Air Zone boundary |
| Digbeth (Birmingham) | Digbeth, Birmingham city centre, Custard Factory |
Not every junction allows every movement, so follow the road signs.
Every job below is done at the car, once it is parked somewhere safe and legal away from the traffic.
The fitter brings the new tyre to your home, your workplace or a safe place to park, fits it, balances the wheel and sets the pressure.
Tell us the size from the sidewall and we can talk through budget, mid-range and premium options for it.
A nail or screw in the main tread can often be repaired. The fitter takes the tyre off the rim and looks at the inside before deciding, because a small hole can hide bigger damage.
Damage in the shoulder or the sidewall, or a tyre that has been driven flat, cannot be repaired safely, and you are told why before anything else is done.
A flat tyre does not always mean a new tyre. Whether it can be repaired depends on where the damage is and how far the car was driven flat.
If the spare is missing, flat or a space saver you would rather not rely on, the repair or the new tyre is brought to the car.
A burst tyre, a bulge in the sidewall or a deep cut from a kerb or pothole cannot be repaired. The fitter replaces the tyre at the car and checks the wheel while the tyre is off.
Send a photo of the damage and the size on the sidewall so the right replacement can be found.
We work evenings, nights, weekends and bank holidays when the diary allows, at the same price as a weekday job.
Out of normal working hours, where the car waits matters more: somewhere lit, legally parked and away from passing traffic.
Lost, broken or rounded key? The nuts are removed at the car with extraction sockets made for locking nuts.
Plain nuts or a new locking set go back on, and the tyre can be sorted on the same visit.
Call or WhatsApp with where the car is, the registration and the tyre size from the sidewall.
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.
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 given on the call. 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.
Supermarket, retail park and station car parks are private ground, so the owner's permission comes first.
“A pleasure having them come down and save me. Big shout out to Hiwad, really responsive, recommend him to anybody.”
“From start to finish, Hiwad was incredibly professional and helpful.”
“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.
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