Caught Out By No Spare

[Blisteringblue]

Flat tyre on Wed and finished work after kwikfit shut. Dilema was 65 miles home or 110 miles to the hotel I was booked into as working down south yesterday.

Trouble was I drove a couple miles before realised it was flat. Decided not to use the Lexus Compressor and gunk but headed to the hotel slowly (60/65) and stopped at every services (£1 minimum vend for air :megaangry: ) and topped up. Was losing about 5 psi every 30 miles.

Anyway whether right, wrong or dangerous I made it, and next morning tyre was pretty flat but repeated exercise and got it to kwikfit.

3 new tyres later (flat was an puncture they couldn't repair but I probably knackered the tyre walls anyway).

Having never had a car without a spare or at least a space saver it was a bit of a pain.

What is the score with the gunk compressor? Are they single use? How much to replace if you do use. It looked such a contraption I just didn't even contemplate using.

Ps. on plus side the dash tyre pressure warning was pretty spot on.

[bluenose1940]

Sorry to hear of your woes BB.

This is exactly why I invested in a spacesaver. Total peace of mind and it should get me to my planned destination.

Not too sure but I think the gunk is single use. Don't know how much to replace I'm afraid.

[Blisteringblue]

I know my boss said I should just get a spare and leave in the boot. Trouble is I've only got the SE with 16" wheels, will probably get another 300h next time too but a better model so would only fit this one. Law of averages says I've had my bad luck with this one :luck:

[DJP]

I'm also pretty sure the canister is single use and it usually ruins the tyre too, so I'm told. There was a thread here a while back about how the breakdown companies are taking the wheel off, shooting down to the local kwikfit (or whatever), having the tyre repaired and then refitting the wheel. That is exactly what happened when my wife's Jazz hybrid got a puncture. Took the lovely man from the AA about 30 minutes and cost a few pounds for the puncture repair. Brilliant service, although obviously not always a practical solution.

[Steve44]

The gunk is single use and, depending on the nature of the puncture, the tyre should be repairable, but the tyre company guys don't like cleaning the gunk out of the tyre as it takes time and is a messy job, so many claim they can't and thus flog you a new tyre. Quicker and more money in it for them. You can push them to do it, but many will complain bitterly .

Another alternative would be runflats, but given the vitriol of abuse the guys on the bmw forum give them, not sure it would be worth the expense and sacrfice to ride quality.

Couldn't you have rung Lexus breakdown line?

[Roscobbc]

The gunk is single use and, depending on the nature of the puncture, the tyre should be repairable, but the tyre company guys don't like cleaning the gunk out of the tyre as it takes time and is a messy job, so many claim they can't and thus flog you a new tyre. Quicker and more money in it for them. You can push them to do it, but many will complain bitterly .

Another alternative would be runflats, but given the vitriol of abuse the guys on the bmw forum give them, not sure it would be worth the expense and sacrfice to ride quality.

Couldn't you have rung Lexus breakdown line?

Gunk doesn't help you with a hole in the tyre. Just accept that the tyre is knackered and continue driving slower (illegal perhaps but you stand a chance of getting home)

I had 17" runflats on my previous 'daily' a 120D Sport - I thought they were fine in terms of ride and really any car manufacturer should be more than capable of optimising the suspension for comfort and handling - however, and this is a big however - run flats are very heavy compared with non-runflats owing to the steel reinforcement in the sidewalls. The wear pattern on the rear tyres on the BMW was such that the innermost part of the tyre thread would wear down first unnoticed and would easily break in to the canvas. Fact is that run flats are no more use than non run flats - the reason? - they are supposedly rated to take you some 30 miles at a maximum of 50 mph. What you are not told is that if you do this it will ruin the tyre - tyre places will refuse to repair the tyre. I didn't think that the BMW tyre sensors worked quick enough. The sensors work off the ABS system and only pick up potential loss of pressure by comparing wheel rotations against each other. It was only really when cornering or running through potholes did it work quick enough. In one case the sensor only indicated that I had a pressure loss on the offside rear wheel at exactly the same moment as when (at high speed) I entered a sharp bend and the deflated tyre caused the rear end of the car to 'hang-out' (luckily saved!)

[Blisteringblue]

Couldn't you have rung Lexus breakdown line?

I suppose I could have, Not sure what more they could have done? As a lease car it's covered anyway. Figured just a tyre so might as well try and inflate again. Would look a complete numpty if breakdown called for a flat! Male macho bravado and all that.

[wendle]

Flat tyre on Wed and finished work after kwikfit shut. Dilema was 65 miles home or 110 miles to the hotel I was booked into as working down south yesterday.

Trouble was I drove a couple miles before realised it was flat. Decided not to use the Lexus Compressor and gunk but headed to the hotel slowly (60/65) and stopped at every services (£1 minimum vend for air :megaangry: ) and topped up. Was losing about 5 psi every 30 miles.

Anyway whether right, wrong or dangerous I made it, and next morning tyre was pretty flat but repeated exercise and got it to kwikfit.

3 new tyres later (flat was an puncture they couldn't repair but I probably knackered the tyre walls anyway).

Having never had a car without a spare or at least a space saver it was a bit of a pain.

What is the score with the gunk compressor? Are they single use? How much to replace if you do use. It looked such a contraption I just didn't even contemplate using.

Ps. on plus side the dash tyre pressure warning was pretty spot on.

it costs around the £100 mark to replace the the tyre filler

[para999]

if you phoned lexus helpline you will get the AA as we have the contract for lexus at the moment.the patrolman could plug the tyre or take the tyre to the tyre outlet ( if open) arrange to take you a reasonable distance and get the tyre repaired in the morning. during office hours the wheel could be taken by us to the tyre dealer ( all except one company who I can't name) they don't like us taking the tyre without the vehicle because they lose the opportunity to sell something else.

runflats I would not personally recommend as not only are they £300 plus to replace most garages will not repair especially if they've been driven on ( which is what your able to do) and members have a lot of problems on 5 series and sometimes 3 series, although not so often. when they go they end up taking the alloy wheel as well because of the hardness of the sidewalls on these types of tyres.

on another thread I replied to, over the same issue, I said the AA are experimenting with a "one size fits all" spacesaver which has different spigots to fit different fitments and the idea is that the patrol will replace the tyre with the spacesaver and either follow the member to the tyre garage to retrieve his spacesaver or if out of hours let the driver continue and a prepost paid service means the member just leaves the spacesaver at the tyre garage and they post it back.just rememember obviously the flat tyre does take up room in the boot moreso than the spacesaver. I know this is obvious to some but not always to others.

[C Mclean]

I'm thinking about getting the kit of plugs, adhesive and installation tools that can be picked up cheaply. If you can see where the hole is, install a plug and use the compressor to re-inflate the tyre to get you home or to a tyre shop.

[Blisteringblue]

on another thread I replied to, over the same issue, I said the AA are experimenting with a "one size fits all" spacesaver which has different spigots to fit different fitments and the idea is that the patrol will replace the tyre with the spacesaver and either follow the member to the tyre garage to retrieve his spacesaver or if out of hours let the driver continue and a prepost paid service means the member just leaves the spacesaver at the tyre garage and they post it back.just rememember obviously the flat tyre does take up room in the boot moreso than the spacesaver. I know this is obvious to some but not always to others.

What a good idea, worth knowing if and when it isn't just an experiment.

[para999]

I don't think its that far away as one of the other providers are using it

[Tel]

I have Superguard Tyre Gunk supplied with the car,the Lexus repair system & a Prayer Mat because Continental Driving is a whole new ball game in the Alps for example!

Tel