Anyone had a puncture?

darrude · March 13, 2018

I'm weighing up the pros and cons of buying a space saver spare wheel, so I'm wondering if anybody could share there experience of using the repair and go kit.

Is it worth the hassle of carrying round a spare wheel in the boot?

I was going to replace my tyres with contiseal, but don't think they do them in the correct size for the IS?

rich1068 · March 13, 2018

I don't have your model but if a spare is an option then I'd certainly go for that. Apart from the ease of changing quite a few repair places refuse to touch a tyre once you've fill it with goo.

sorcerer · March 13, 2018

And I'll go the exact opposite of Richard

For the best part of about 15 years I've never carried a spare wheel due to the fact that every car I've had in that time ran on LPG and the LPG tank was in the spare wheel well. I carried a can of goo for small punctures and would have called out the breakdown people if it was too big a puncture for the goo to handle.

I'm happy to say that in all that time we never had a single puncture so I've never had to use either method, but there are many instances over on the LPG Forum where members have used the goo and no one has ever had a problem getting a tyre repaired after being 'gooed'. Some tyre fitters are lazy and don't like cleaning out the goo, but there's no practical chemical or physical reason other than that why a gooed tyre can't be repaired.

rich1068 · March 13, 2018

Luck of the draw isn't it? After one or two balancing issues but largely because of the sheer number of nails and screws I seem to pick up I'm on first name terms with my local Protyre staff. I'm always happier with a spare. And in my IS it's full size too so even better.

I think it's because after a tyre change I can just carry on with what I was doing or where ever I was going. Limping to a garage with a tyre full of goo or having to wait for recovery seems an enormous inconvenience.

Blisteringblue · March 16, 2018

Yes, almost a total disintegration of my tyre on a dual carriageway. Couldn't even use the gunk not that I even attempted to do this.

It probably is the luck of the draw as mine is a company car so the AA came to recover me and took me to Kwik-Fit in Grimsby. Probably took 90 mins from the first call.

Different story I guess if that was at night rather than in the day, but I still won't buy a spare or space saver.

I also once drove from Stoke to High Wycombe with a puncture, didn't travel over 60mph and stopped at every service area to pump up. Now that one was at night, but luckily I was stopping on a service area hotel so managed to limp around to the petrol station there to pump up for the final 10 miles of journey direct to Kwik-Fit where I left the car and went to work.

Forgot to say, I also have a 12v inflator in my boot at all times. Just a Halfords special.

paulrnx · March 16, 2018

Yes, definitely personal experience isn't it. On a number of occasions in the past I've had to change a punctured tyre and carry on with my journey, always whilst on my way to a work meeting I might also add. Never with a Lexus though and I've always been acutely aware that were I to suffer a puncture or blow-out that the gunk couldn't seal I would have to abort my journey and possibly even cancel a work commitment until I could get the tyre replaced. I think it's a retrograde step not having spare tyres in cars nowadays to be honest. More so given I don't get paid if I don't work.

rayaans · March 16, 2018

I hope I don't get a punture after reading all these

Just spent £400 on new front tyres!

paulrnx · March 16, 2018

32 minutes ago, rayaans said:

I hope I don't get a punture after reading all these

Just spent £400 on new front tyres!

Ouch! Worth it though, only thing that keeps a car on the road in extreme situations is the tyres. The one area I try and steer clear of is recycling centres. You see so many nails and screws and other sharp things on the ground around the bins that I always think they are a breeding ground for punctures. I just get the missus to take everything in her car....

rich1068 · March 16, 2018

We live in an area where everyone is forever on some sort of home improvement exercise and there are skips outside houses regularly. When the skips are picked up there are always nails and screws left behind by careless builders.

malcolmw · March 16, 2018

This is Malcolm's law of builders.

If you have any building work done (even if it doesn't involve screws or nails) go round and sweep up all the sharps spewing from their vans. I picked up 13 nails from my drive when I had the soffits and fascias replaced on my garage.

sorcerer · March 16, 2018

3 hours ago, paulrnx said:

On a number of occasions in the past I've had to change a punctured tyre and carry on with my journey, [...] and I've always been acutely aware that were I to suffer a puncture or blow-out that the gunk couldn't seal I would have to abort my journey and possibly even cancel a work commitment until I could get the tyre replaced.

Like I said above, I've done almost 15 years without a spare tyre due to running on LPG. What I didn't say above is that that also includes our summer holidays when we've driven to, and toured around, Poland/Czech Republic/Slovakia (averaging about 4,000 mile round trip) with nothing but a can of goo and a breakdown telephone number. I know you were talking about work but really, the chances of punctures these days are relatively slim.

paulrnx · March 19, 2018

On 3/16/2018 at 3:44 PM, sorcerer said:

Like I said above, I've done almost 15 years without a spare tyre due to running on LPG. What I didn't say above is that that also includes our summer holidays when we've driven to, and toured around, Poland/Czech Republic/Slovakia (averaging about 4,000 mile round trip) with nothing but a can of goo and a breakdown telephone number. I know you were talking about work but really, the chances of punctures these days are relatively slim.

Back in 2013 we had a family holiday to France. Two cars, 8 people in total. We left my house to get down to a Ferry crossing into France and got 1 1/2 miles up the road and my brother-in-law had a puncture. Luckily he had a spare which we fitted and then got to a garage and he got two new tyres fitted because the punctured tyre was not repairable. Delayed us by about an hour in total and we still made the ferry in time albeit we had to give dinner beforehand a swerve. Had he just had gunk and a compressor we'd have probably missed the ferry no question because the gunk wouldn't have sealed the tyre and it happened at 5pm so we'd be waiting for a call-out. I've had two punctures on the way to a work appointment both of which were with 100 miles to go. Had a third on the way home late at night. All with spare tyres fortunately. You've been lucky, I've been unlucky and I don't like having a car without a spare tyre because of my experiences.

LexusFsport · January 4, 2023

Just had a puncture on my is300h (I’m a taxi driver), took the repair kit out, never realised you can’t use this as just an inflator, has to be with the sealant as well (new sealant £50 to replace found on eBay, god knows what Lexus charges), plugged in and waited 20 mins, nothing!, waited another 10 mins (it says max 30mins), called breakdown was told 90 mins so stupidly I slowly drove 3 mins to garage to get new tyre, mechanic showed me the tiny hole in the sidewall so not sure why the sealant never worked. I can’t fault my Lexus at all, it’s an amazing car and my customers love it too but this tyre repair idea is a nightmare, definitely gonna look for a space saver wheel if that’s an option

Would love to know if anyone has used it with success ???

LenT · January 5, 2023

7 hours ago, LexusFsport said:

Just had a puncture on my is300h (I’m a taxi driver), took the repair kit out, never realised you can’t use this as just an inflator, has to be with the sealant as well (new sealant £50 to replace found on eBay, god knows what Lexus charges), plugged in and waited 20 mins, nothing!, waited another 10 mins (it says max 30mins), called breakdown was told 90 mins so stupidly I slowly drove 3 mins to garage to get new tyre, mechanic showed me the tiny hole in the sidewall so not sure why the sealant never worked. I can’t fault my Lexus at all, it’s an amazing car and my customers love it too but this tyre repair idea is a nightmare, definitely gonna look for a space saver wheel if that’s an option

Would love to know if anyone has used it with success ???

This video is the Lexus view of how it should work!

I have a SpaceSaver which I have had occasion to use - and in circumstances in which a sealant kit would have been useless. Of course there may be situations in which it could be dangerous to change a wheel (eg on a motorway), in which case it could be just as dangerous to get out to use an inflator.

In such an eventuality, I would then walk away from the road and call on the motorway emergency services!

As for your sealant failing to seal - how old was it? This product has a definite expiry date, after which it may well fail to distribute around the tyre. Or even fail to get past the valve in the first place.

I don’t doubt that sealant kits can work for some people in some circumstances. But few owners are aware that the sealant - unlike a SpaceSaver - needs to be renewed even if it hasn’t been used.

royoftherovers · January 5, 2023

7 hours ago, LenT said:

This video is the Lexus view of how it should work!

I have a SpaceSaver which I have had occasion to use - and in circumstances in which a sealant kit would have been useless. Of course there may be situations in which it could be dangerous to change a wheel (eg on a motorway), in which case it could be just as dangerous to get out to use an inflator.

In such an eventuality, I would then walk away from the road and call on the motorway emergency services!

As for your sealant failing to seal - how old was it? This product has a definite expiry date, after which it may well fail to distribute around the tyre. Or even fail to get past the valve in the first place.

I don’t doubt that sealant kits can work for some people in some circumstances. But few owners are aware that the sealant - unlike a SpaceSaver - needs to be renewed even if it hasn’t been used.

Would have been a good idea to explain what and where the A PILLAR is Len.

Many Male Drivers have never head of it and many more female drivers likewise.

Phil xxkr · January 5, 2023

1 hour ago, royoftherovers said:

Would have been a good idea to explain what and where the A PILLAR is Len.

Many Male Drivers have never head of it and many more female drivers likewise.

I do recall being taught about Anton Piller orders years ago. 😊, and yes I agree, I don't suppose for one moment it enters the general discourse 😅

Bounce75 · January 5, 2023

I bought a second hand space saver & it sits nicely in the boot under a mesh cover. I don't like the idea of being stranded.

royoftherovers · January 5, 2023

1 hour ago, Phil xxkr said:

I do recall being taught about Anton Piller orders years ago. 😊, and yes I agree, I don't suppose for one moment it enters the general discourse 😅

seek and ye shall find, my Lord.🤣👍

Phil xxkr · January 5, 2023

10 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

seek and ye shall find, my Lord.🤣👍

Precisely John, assuming you have a Court order beforehand 😎

LenT · January 5, 2023

5 hours ago, royoftherovers said:

Would have been a good idea to explain what and where the A PILLAR is Len.

Many Male Drivers have never head of it and many more female drivers likewise.

If I have sinned by omission, John, I can only put it down to my blind spot caused by the A Pillar. 😊