I had a slow leak in a tire, all 4 purchased at Costco. I am an hour drive from there and suddenly the leak got fast enough that I wanted to get it fixed quickly. A quick search and I found a small nail. My only option to drive to Costco was to simply put a plug in the tire and drive to them to have it patched. Honestly I would have been fine with just a plug but the kit I had was cheap and the rubber cement was dried up. I didn't realize that until I pulled the nail.

I could have driven on the donut but at 50 MPH that would not have been a fun drive. So I plugged the hole with a dry plug and then it I was only losing 1 lb of air every 10 hours. Made the appointment online and went tonight.

First I explained exactly to the tech checking me in that it was plugged already and simply needed a patch. He takes the car and says he will relay the info to the person doing the repair.

About 15 minutes later the tech calls and says they can't repair a tire that's already been plugged. WTF. We had some argument back and forth, I lost my cool and used some choice words. But I'm sorry, when I worked in tire places we would plug and patch bad holes. There is no reason they can't grind a plug down or even push it out. Heck it's better than pushing a nail out of the tire.

After that they said they wouldn't honor the road hazard if it's been plugged. WTF again. Manager relented (without my even asking). But the tires have 40K on them and it's all wheel drive. I didn't want to pay the prorate and end up with 1 new tire. I just took the car, and then went into Costco and bought $550 worth of meat. A costly endeavor.

I'm going to just get a better plug and glue and fix it myself (which is what I should have done in the first place).

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
After that they said they wouldn't honor the road hazard if it's been plugged.

Seriously, how would they know? Do they keep some type of record of this?

They said exactly what I would expect any tire shop chain to say. I once went to an NTB store with a slow leak. My normal service station couldn't find it. The NTB tech found it in about five minutes. But it was between the last tread and outside of the tire.

The NTB tech said he couldn't repair it. But said take it to a service station and they would probably plug it for you. He even marked the tire with a grease marker to make sure the service station could easily find it.

The little Indy tire shop I used in college, that was his method.
Plug the hole, dismount & trim plug and patch it on the inside, remount/balance.

Just to back up, I’d try to plug it yourself. Yes I did read where your supplies were compromised.

Some shops are like that, liability worries, others may want to sell new tires.

I’m a fan of plugging, when done carefully. I’ve never had one leak, done a few in the ‘shoulder’ area.

Plugs have never let me down, probably have done at least 30 over the last thirty years

I keep them on hand at work and at home, never know when my wife or kids will have a need. I just did one last week for my youngest son

If you are a Sam’s member they will repair tires at no charge even if you didn’t buy tires from them. I have used the service twice.

We plug semi and dump truck tires all the time at work. If done right they last a long time. I would never plug a front tire on a semi or big quad or 5 axle dump but wouldnt hesitate on a light duty vehicle. With all the off road stuff we do, it’s a simple fix and they last.

This also reminds me I need to get a new plug kit.
No spare in the Mini, that I'm aware of.

So, will you buy your tires from Costco again?

i had a similar experience with Costco & went across the street to Tire Discount. I had a leak that would only last about 10 minutes and the closest repair was Walmart. They refused to plug the tire and did not have a replacement in stock. I miss the old days when I was in charge of my personal decision making.

quote:

Originally posted by Paten:
So, will you buy your tires from Costco again?

I don’t think so. I bought these because they had a good sale. But 2 out of 4 valve stems had slow leaks and needed to be fixed. They gouged my aluminum rim a bit when making that repair. They were supposed to rotate the tires and only rotated one side (directional tires so can only go front to back so I knew when the tire marked for repair was in the same location).

Just ordered some new plugs and a can of glue so I’m better prepared.

Just a tip here and that nail has to be in the near middle of the tread but many times the best thing to do with a nail in the tire is to leave it in place and just drive the car to the repair center. Because that nail can slow the leak enough to make this possible. Note if that nail is at the edge of the tread then this will not work due to the offset loading wiggling the nail at each rotation and magnifying the leak rate.

quote:

Originally posted by Scooter123:
Just a tip here and that nail has to be in the near middle of the tread but many times the best thing to do with a nail in the tire is to leave it in place and just drive the car to the repair center. Because that nail can slow the leak enough to make this possible. Note if that nail is at the edge of the tread then this will not work due to the offset loading wiggling the nail at each rotation and magnifying the leak rate.

Yeah my bad. It was dead center, not near sidewall. I should have left it in.

Go to an independent shop and see if they will patch. Sucks to pay extra but better than buying new tires.

Had something similar happen with my winter tires on my performance car. They were only on the car, from new, for several months when I detected a slow leak. Took it back up to Discount Tire and had the manager inspect it. He said he wouldn’t repair it, but I had road/hazard warranty, ordered me a new one, replacement cost was something like $39.

Pull plug, insert nail, ask again.

I just had a tire lose ten pounds overnight. Took it to Discount Tire. Fixed. Free!
Turns out the tire had picked up a razor-sharp shard of granite. A rock damaged the tire! Which was new info for me. DT dude says its a common occurrence. Now I am paranoid, since the tread pattern on these tires picks up many, many small pebbles.
But the tire fix was free... So all is good!

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
I just had a tire lose ten pounds overnight.

Diet and exercise are good, but ten pounds overnight is amazing! It usually takes about a month.

My experience is that Discount Tire won’t patch a tire that has been plugged, either. At least at their store on Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.

quote:

Originally posted by Perception:
Pull plug, insert nail, ask again.

My thought, too. I would have also asked to see that in the written policy.