Poll: How Often Have You Had A Flat Tire?

[Midpack]

A flat tire is more than a nuisance if you are stranded in the wrong spot. Say the AZ desert in summer without sufficient water. . . I am including "in town" here too where most do not carry a lot of water. Or buy a busy free way where your car will be hit if left for hours. Not uncommon.

Proof by exception. Again we disagree. No biggie.

 

[freedomatlast]

Not speaking for the OP, the thread is a poll on exactly the question you dismissed in your reply.
The topic is “How often have you had a flat tire”, so saying the question isn’t how often…

Correct. The poll is "How often have you had a flat on average?"

However, the context of the question is that OP recently discovered the cars he bought don't have spares and he's considering buying spares for them even though there's no place to store them.

So it all come's down to gambling that he'll never need them and not buy them, or buy them in case he needs them some 'dark and stormy night'.

For me, it's easiest to just buy a car that has a spare and never have to worry about how often people get flats and what the odds are, etc.......

Much like many things in life, you access the risk and act accordingly as to what makes sense to you. No right or wrong answers. Just opinions. Everyone decides for themselves and it's perfectly okay to disagree with the responses.

 

[Aerides]

A flat tire is more than a nuisance if you are stranded in the wrong spot. Say the AZ desert in summer without sufficient water. . . I am including "in town" here too where most do not carry a lot of water. Or buy a busy free way where your car will be hit if left for hours. Not uncommon.

But these days since you'd have a phone, and means to get out of there, it's far less of an issue that say 30 years ago.

I wouldn't base my decision on what car to buy on if it had a spare or not. I'd just have a plan B for that issue every few years at most.

 

[Yipper]

Very dark and stormy night... hit a massive pothole on an interstate highway that caused both driver-side tires to decompress fairly quickly - only made it about another 1/4 mile when it was obvious things were not well.

Even though I had a full sized spare, I surely didn't have TWO of them so had to wait for the flatbed. It was an expensive pothole as one of the very expensive German wheels was irreparably cracked and needed to be replaced along with all 4 tires. :-(

That was around 2004 so it's now been 20 years since without any incidents.

 

[mystang52]

Had one at home (discovered the flat while car was in driveway) 3 or so years ago, and another in a rental car about 5 years ago. That rental car flat was a doozy; I pulled on to the shoulder of the Interstate, and tried calling rental agency. On hold forever, with trucks whizzing by very close.
Way too scary, I drove on the flat to the next exit, and then to the rental agency. That was when I learned they expect the renter to be responsible for cost to replace the tire. More importantly, I learned that whatever car I am driving, I will never stop on the shoulder of an Interstate again; if it ends up having to pay for a new tire and/or wheel, my life is worth it.
To the OP's question, I won't buy a car without a spare tire, be it space saver or full size.

 

[38Chevy454]

Trailer tires for me are the main problem. My dual axle car trailer gets more than would seem normal frequency. My theory is the leading tire knocks the nail/screw/whatever up and the trailing tire gets punctured. I always check air pressure, so it's not form under inflation. Ever notice along the highway, more times than not it is trailer tires and not tow vehicle tires that are the problem? Or even on a single car, it's the rear tires that seem to be more likely to pick up a puncture.

 

[aja8888]

My worst experience with a flat(s) was years ago in south New Mexico when I was trying to find an oil well with a potential buyer and the well tender and we were in a company pickup riding along on caliche roads. It was at least 100 F with low humidity.

There are few paved roads in many oil & gas production areas in West Texas and New Mexico..

We were 50 miles from "anywhere" and had TWO blowouts from sharp rocks when going down a steep grade. We had one spare and a can of Goo. The can of Goo was worthless. We called the seller's field office via cell phone (Thank God there was service in the area) and they sent out a spare tire. We had sat in the hot truck for maybe three hours waiting for the spare to arrive.

 

[Spock]

Depends on the vehicle (which determines the type of tire). 1/2 ton pickup hasn't had a flat in 23 years. My Mazda3 had 3 sudden (while driving) flats in 10 years. Always the driver front and that's with periodic full alignment checks.

 

[Walt34]

But these days since you'd have a phone, and means to get out of there, it's far less of an issue that say 30 years ago.

It depends on where you are of course. Here in the hills of WV, cell phone coverage can be "spotty" and that's being charitable. Several years ago we took about a three-hour drive to Elkins, WV to go on a family trip for the Polar Express train ride to the "North Pole". (Bet you didn't know there was a railroad to there, did you?) Anyway, on the drive more often than not everyone's cell phone read "no signal" during the trip. And this in a area where you'd see another car about every 30 minutes or so.

I'm sure there are lots of places like that all over the country. If one looks at cell phone coverage maps it of course clusters around cities. But I really think it would be foolish to place oneself in a position to be dependent on cell phone coverage. At least around here for sure.

 

[old medic]

I might consider a plug kit and inflator as an alternative.

When I worked construction, was constantly picking up nails.... Have carried plug kit ever since. When I got a new set of tires, they counted 11 plugs. Our last flat was on our camper in 2019. Our worst run was 3 days between changing flats..
Blew out a tire on our new to us camper going to the campground, And if you want to talk about luck... the truck lug wrench didn't fit... and literally across the road I spied a 4 way lug wrench leaned up against a tree.. LOL
But the luck didn't last... Picked up a large something crossing a set of tracks, you could hear it hitting the road... As we slowed down it flew out denting the inner rear fender and the tire was flat before we got stopped. I could put my pinky in the hole so no plugging that!

Thinking about it.... I have changed way more flats for others than for myself.

 

[Ronstar]

My worst experience with a flat(s) was years ago in south New Mexico when I was trying to find an oil well with a potential buyer and the well tender and we were in a company pickup riding along on caliche roads. It was at least 100 F with low humidity.

There are few paved roads in many oil & gas production areas in West Texas and New Mexico..

We were 50 miles from "anywhere" and had TWO blowouts from sharp rocks when going down a steep grade. We had one spare and a can of Goo. The can of Goo was worthless. We called the seller's field office via cell phone (Thank God there was service in the area) and they sent out a spare tire. We had sat in the hot truck for maybe three hours waiting for the spare to arrive.

I had a similar dilemma. I was surveying a new interstate highway under construction. The right of way was cleared of trees, farm buildings, etc. but no grading was done yet. I surveyed a couple points and found my jeep with 2 flat tires.

Don’t know why, but I started to change one of them. I only had 1 spare. Broke a lug stud. Luckily this happened just after getting my first cell phone. I called the tire/towing company that we worked with and they came and loaded up the jeep on a flat bed and took it to their shop. Impressive considering I was about a mile off road.

Took a couple days to fix - guess to get a new lug. That was an expensive day.

 

[MarieIG]

I voted more than every three years, which is a guess-ti-mate average.

It will be less now that I am retired and not driving as much.

Most of my flats involved travel for work. I can think of two flats on the Lone Island Expressway (one at night when a piece of rebar ended up on the road - and resulted and a line of vehicles ending up on the shoulder); a second time driving East to Riverhead (someone stopped and changed my tire); one on the service road of the Long Island Expressway (due to a massive pothole) which also snagged another vehicle (a mechanic driving by stopped and changed my tire); one in front of my office (a nail, I called AA since it was not an issue to wait for them) . . . My most scary flat was on the Triborough Bridge driving into the Bronx, when I was stranded next to the divider separating the directions of traffic.

I can also recall TWO in Virginia. DH's vehicle does not have a spare, and he also got a flat while driving through Virginia a few months ago. It was a pain getting a tire which would actually fit his vehicle. (Luckily Volvo was very helpful and a dealership located a tire that someone had ordered but for some reason didn't need. He had his vehicle towed to a Volvo dealership and the tire was replaced. It delayed him six hours, but worse case he would have been waiting up to two days for that tire to arrive.)

 

[Midpack]

Ordered a 120/12V tire inflator on Amazon and I’ll buy a plug kit as well. If I have a flat I can’t handle with that, I’ll have to get a tow. With only 1 stuck on the side of the road flat (vs a slow leak or flat at home) in over 50 years, I’ll take that chance. At my age I wonder if I can even push a plug in anyway - since it won’t be an ideal angle, especially on a back tire?

 

[H2ODude]

I picked more than three years apart. That's my best guess of the average over 56 years of driving. There have been times when I've had a rash of leaks that were easily repairable, likely because of construction in my areas of travel (nails, drywall screws). The one time in memory that I had a true "can't drive on" flat was in Cayman that hit a pothole. Two tires completely blown out, fortunately wheels OK. They were very unforgiving tires (low profile).

 

[old medic]

At my age I wonder if I can even push a plug in anyway - since it won’t be an ideal angle, especially on a back tire?

Get a small tube patch kit.... The glue makes it easier to push the plug in. Also the kit with the T handle style tools.

 

[freedomatlast]

Shouldn't have to "take a chance" on going without a spare. If consumers would get educated as to what cars come with spares and refuse to buy vehicles without spares, the manufacturers would soon get the message and return to providing something as basic as a spare, jack and lug wrench. . The issue with plug kits and inflators is they don't address the issue of blown out sidewalls that are more common now than ever before due to the new craze of super low profile tires that provide an uncomfortable ride and little protection on potholes and large debris in the road. And even though the sidewalls are harder, run flat tires are just as susceptible to sidewall issues as any other type of tire.

Every year, one of our vacations involves a 700 mile SUV trip. During the trip this past August, there was a guy and his family in a new Audi Q5 with a shredded run flat tire and ruined rim sitting in a McDonalds parking lot in Massachusetts with North Carolina plates, trying to get someone to tow him in and replace the tire and wheel. He wasn't having much luck. I offered him the spare from our Passport but the bolt circle and offset were too much different. Audi used some odd size tire, nobody had in stock. The rims were on backorder. I suggested contacting salvage yards which he hadn't thought of. He was complaining that he just spent some crazy amount of money on the vehicle and had no idea spares were no longer included. I'm inclined to believe this will be the last vehicle he buys without a spare tire.

 

[Car-Guy]

Get a small tube patch kit.... The glue makes it easier to push the plug in. Also the kit with the T handle style tools.

Absolutely agree... Even so, there are two things to know. (1) Even with a T style handle, some steel belted tires are much, much tougher than others and are almost impossible to push the tool through to plug them. (Ask me how I know) and (2) Buy new tubes of glue every year or two. They "tend" to dry out even if unopened. (Again, ask me how I know)

 

[Midpack]

Shouldn't have to "take a chance" on going without a spare. If consumers would get educated as to what cars come with spares and refuse to buy vehicles without spares, the manufacturers would soon get the message and return to providing something as basic as a spare, jack and lug wrench.

That ship sailed a long time ago.

Again, "about 10 percent of the cars tested by Consumer Reports came with a full-sized spare. About 60 percent came with a temporary (aka space saver) spare tire, and about a third of new cars today do not come with a spare tire, though they might also be equipped with a compressor and sealant kit to temporarily fix a flat tire. Some cars without a spare come with a run-flat tire, which is designed to operate for a limited distance after losing air from a typical puncture."

I think you overestimate today's driving public. Most don't know how to change a tire even with spares and tools, and wouldn't do it even if they knew how. They just call someone, even many with spares. Goes for cars, home repairs, appliances, consumer electronics, etc. - there's little interest in fixing anything, despite being shown how on YouTube - a resource we didn't have before.

I've known lots of people who never checked their spares, and when they needed it, the spare was flat or rotted out.

 

[freedomatlast]

I think you overestimate today's driving public. Most don't know how to change a tire even with spares and tools, and wouldn't do it even if they knew how. They just call someone, even many with spares. Goes for cars, home repairs, appliances, consumer electronics, etc. - there's little interest in fixing anything, despite being shown how on YouTube - a resource we didn't have before.

I've known lots of people who never checked their spares, and when they needed it, the spare was flat or rotted out.

True enough and good point. Sometimes I forget how it seems no one can do anything for themselves anymore, even with the vast amount of resources available today, that we didn't have in years past.

Then again, even if you call someone and they come out, and you don't have a spare tire, there's a possibility you'll need to be towed instead of a quick tire and wheel swap and be on your way again.

 

[badatmath]

Kind of a derail, but do you all replace your tires due to age? I checked my tires due to this thread and found the born on date to be 2017 though by wear they are not yet needed. (All those WFH days helped!) Theoretically, this is "too old". Not planning any long trips but I do live in AZ with extreme summer heat.

 

[Texas Proud]

Kind of a derail, but do you all replace your tires due to age? I checked my tires due to this thread and found the born on date to be 2017 though by wear they are not yet needed. (All those WFH days helped!) Theoretically, this is "too old". Not planning any long trips but I do live in AZ with extreme summer heat.

I have never hit an age problem with tires... but I have read anywhere between 8 to 10 years are OK...


I just changed tires at 7 years but the tread was low...

 

[Route246]

Darn, just had one last week. Probably get a nail or screw repaired once every year or two. There is a lot of construction going on where we drive and those loads of construction waste dump tend to dump a lot of self-tapping sheet metal screws out of the back of trucks and trailers on the roads here.

 

[dixonge]

Not so frequent long-term-average, but the number increased quite a bit when we RV'ed in 2020-22. Lots of miles on dirt roads and back roads and highways.

 

[Midpack]

Kind of a derail, but do you all replace your tires due to age? I checked my tires due to this thread and found the born on date to be 2017 though by wear they are not yet needed. (All those WFH days helped!) Theoretically, this is "too old". Not planning any long trips but I do live in AZ with extreme summer heat.

...

While we recommend replacing your tires at 6 years of age, you can’t just assess your tire’s life based on how old it is. A tire’s lifespan is determined just as much by the conditions a tire is exposed as it is by calendar years. Temperature changes, sun exposure, storage conditions, usage and maintenance schedules all contribute to how a tire ages.

It’s impossible to determine a tire’s exact life expectancy because there’s no way to account for the level of influence any one of these factors may have on a tire. But you can defer to the vehicle and tire manufacturer replacement recommendations:

Vehicle manufacturers recommend tire replacement at 6 years.

Tire manufacturers' warranties expire at 6 years.

Tire manufacturers recommend replacement at 10 years, regardless of tread depth.

Tires should also be replaced if they are over 6 years of age and showing signs of dry rot or have significant visible damage.

 

[CRLLS]

I can recall maybe 2 flats over the course of 56 years. One of them was less than a year ago. I voted over 10 years since I am in retirement and my memory might begin to be failing. I have had a handful of slow leaks, valve stems and rim leaks, even an inner tube, if you can remember those.

14 years ago I bought my 1st new car that did not have a spare. It had the tire goo and a pump. I bought a used wheel and a used tire to carry a full-sized spare, Just in case. I never had to use it. My current cars, one has a min-spare and the other has none.