Hi guys,
Collected my car today from the local main dealership. Upon inspecting the vehicle prior to driving away I noticed a nail right beside the sidewall in my front tyre. I notified the dealership staff immediatly - the nail was not pushed right in and was not flush with the tyre tread so had not been there very long, and had obviously not been driven far, if at all, with the nail in tyre.
The nail was removed from the tyre (It was between two tread blocks) and although there was a hole from where it was removed, the tyre has not suffered any loss of pressure. The dealership said I should just 'keep an eye on it'.
Is this safe? I'm more than happy to ignore this issue if its safe. However, if its not safe, should the dealership be footing the bill for the replacement tyre or should I, bearing in mind it was picked up in their car whilst being moved around their workshops.
The tyre itself is literally brand new - it has less than 200 miles on it and is an expensive 235/40/18 Eagle F1.
What do you guys think?
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Can you prove that the nail entered the tyre on their premises?
If not, I can´t see how you can hold them responsible, unless they admit to having driven over it.
I would break into the 1000 quid emergency kitty and fork out for a new one. Don´t take the risk.
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They accepted it happened on their premesis - from the way it was in there is no way the car had been driven any more than a few hundred yards with it in, so it simply couldnt have happened anywhere else.
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If its not lost pressure in a few days, then its not going to. How many little flints and stones have we removed from tyres (that have left 'little holes') without detriment?
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No loss of pressure equals no hole in the tyre. Don't worry about it, its not punctured and there is about 0.01% chance of you having any problem in the future due to this particular nail.
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Don't worry about it
Agreed.
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Can you prove that the nail entered the tyre on their premises?
If not, I can´t see how you can hold them responsible, unless they admit to having driven over it.
I would break into the 1000 quid emergency kitty and fork out for a new one. Don´t take the risk.
Barchettaman, are you really saying that in this case, where a nail has been removed from the tread area (not the sidewall), on a tyre with a few hundred miles on it, and no loss of air, that you would go and buy a new one?
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2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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"they accepted it happened on their premesis - from the way it was in there is no way the car had been driven any more than a few hundred yards with it in, so it simply couldnt have happened anywhere else."
Bobby what as known in the trade as a "cough"
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PU, yeah but that was posted after Barchettaman had said buy a new one!
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2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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I'd squirt some bicycle tyre repair kit rubber solution in the hole just to keep the elements out.
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A slight variation: I found a nail in a rear tyre which was holding its pressure as normal. I did the spit test and saw no bubbles. I didn't pull it out and it stayed in for maybe 15000 miles. When I got two new tyres, that tyre still with nail but say only 4mm of tread, got put in the spare wheel well.
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The last time I heard the dreaded click-click-click from a tyre, I found a screw sticking out. I pulled it out, only to hear a hiss. I promptly hammered it back in, and used the foot-pump to pump it back up to pressure, and drove immediately to the local tyre repair place who removed the wheel and tyre, and repaired the puncture.
I'm a lazy pink fluffy dice, although I did check I could undo the wheel nuts after.
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The last two nails I've had in a tyre have proved, after driving to a local tyre centre, to merely be nail heads. Embarrassing, but better safe than sorry.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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If it was me I would play safe and take it to a tyre centre and have them fit a mushroom-shaped plug from the inside. Forget about where or why it happened, just get it mended.
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L\'escargot.
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Kwikfit charge £17.50 for a puncture repair. This is almost as expensive as a budget priced new tyre for some cars.
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>>If it was me I would play safe and take it to a tyre centre and have them fit a mushroom-
>>shaped plug from the inside. Forget about where or why it happened, just get it mended.
Isn't that just defeating the object somewhat. The tyre is currently okay and not punctured so what you are saying is that you would rather take the perfectly servicable tyre to a specialist, then get them to drill a hole in it, just so they can pull a plug through it to seal the puncture that they have just created? Madness or what? There is more chance of it leaking after they have repaired it, than there is by leaving it be.
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>>The tyre is currently okay and not punctured
Preventative maintenance.
When you've had a nail enter a tyre the difference between no leak and a leak may only be thousands of an inch of rubber which could fail at any time. Rather than have an actual puncture appear at an inconvenient time I'd sooner see to it now. It's not as if a puncture repair is expensive.
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L\'escargot.
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>>the difference between no leak and a leak may only be thousands of an inch of rubber >>
No, almost certainly a steel belt, nothing to worry about.
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>>I found a nail in a rear tyre which was holding its pressure as normal. I did the spit test and
>>saw no bubbles. I didn't pull it out and it stayed in for maybe 15000 miles.
If I had of been you then I would have pulled that nail out rather than ran on it for another 15000 miles. As the tyre tread wears down slowly but surely the contact of it with the road surface will push the nail further and further in. So if it wasn't punctured at the outset, it could develop a puncture further down the line.
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>>I found a nail in a rear tyre which was holding its pressure as normal. I did the spit test and
>>saw no bubbles. I didn't pull it out and it stayed in for maybe 15000 miles.>>
That is dangerous could cause a blow out.
Though MichaelR has nothing, zero, zilch to worry about.
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.......Barchettaman, are you really saying that in this case, where a nail has been removed from the tread area (not the sidewall), on a tyre with a few hundred miles on it, and no loss of air, that you would go and buy a new one?.....
See what you mean. I didn´t realise the tread area was less vulnerable than the sidewall, and reinforced by a steel belt. Learn something new every day!
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But, if the nail is right beside the sidewall, they won't repair it and a 235/40/18 Eagle F1 is probably Z rated and any repairs are not approved on these anyway.
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But in a 50 mile journey you can run over 100's of thorns, flints, even nails and screws without knowing it, it is only a problem if the tyre is damaged, deflates or the item is embeded in the tyre having penetrated the belts.
None of this applies in the OP's case.
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funny that , just had my car main dealer first service today,and on walking in to the reception picked up 3 screws, on the report it said the rear tyre had a nail init,. my theory is blame it on those double glazing plastic window fitters, you see how many screws they leave all over.
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