Tire plug/patch?

[jltimm]

My wife had a flat this a.m. on her car and had to take it to the local tire shop. They charged her $18 to fix it as it had a screw in it according to them. Is $18 a "little" steep? I usually plug them myself, but I was at work and she had to get it fixed right away.

[jwhjr]

Did they plug it, or patch it from the inside? I've had a few tires patched over the years and the price keeps on going up. I think it was around $25 the last time I had it done.

[deadeye]

That sounds about right to plug it. Patching usually costs a bit more since its a bit more work.

[CaptainBly]

The last time I had a tire fixed I believe it was around $14. It was patched, I don't really like plugs. I had a couple plugged before and they seem to leak over time, haven't had a patch fail yet.

[Jeremy airjer W]

$18 is pretty cheap!

[jltimm]

$18 is pretty cheap!

Especially when they tried to sell her new tires!

[SkunkedAgain]

I've plugged tires probably 30 times in my life and never had one leak. You need to rough out the opening, use the cement, and get that plug in there good. I also have discovered that it's important to wear a set of goggles when pulling out the nail/screw/etc because the air pressure can shoot something into your eye. I had something shoot out and hit about 1/2 inch from my eye once, scared me silly.

$18 is reasonable for the work. To pull off the tire, plug it, reinflate to the proper pressure, and put the tire back on is at least 15 minutes of a mechanic's time. What's the going rate for mechanic services these days, $75/hour? So that's roughly $18 for fifteen minutes of work.

[jeffreyd]

most tire shops anymore will use a combo patch plug. while you will see the plug coming out the hole, there is a patch on the inside. one thing is about a plug only, which i do not know any more if it is legal to serve as a true repair or a simple emergency only type thing. i carry a plug kit in my truck for that oh [PoorWordUsage] but usually my spare is new and full so just dropping it down and changing it is the issue.