How does the saying go? If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all?
Here's the story.
Just about a month ago, while driving my GT, I started hearing this whack whack, whack, whack... I quickly stopped the car to take a look. I didn't see anything, so I started again, slowly. The noise started again, so I stopped the car again. Upon closer inspection I noticed a bent thick-gauge wire stuck in my rear tire. I nipped off the excess, and because my car has the optional 19" wheels/Brembo brakes, I used the supply of fix-a-flat that comes with the car (no spare is supplied when you get the Brembo package). I then drive my car to my local Ford dealer to get the tire repaired. The good news: The tire was punctured in the fixable tread area. The bad news: Once you use fix-a-flat the tire sensor in the tire is ruined. Tire sensor replacement cost? 80 bucks. Ouch! Okay, but at least it saved me the price of a tow, and the tire was able to be fixed. Whew!
Fast forward 30 days. This morning I start to pull the car out of the garage. I'm thinking why does the car feel so strange? Like the emergency brake is on. As I get to the end of the driveway I look at my gauges. "Low tire pressure" is illuminated. I stop and look at my tires. Yep, the driver's side rear tire is flat. Damn! I pull the tire off and take it to my local Ford dealer again. At least this time I won't have to buy a replacement tire sensor. The Ford tech leaves me to inspect the tire. He returns a few minutes later. "Bad news: The nail we found in your tire hit the tread area, but, unfortunately, it's too close to the sidewall of the tire. So we can't warranty the repair = we're not allowed to fix it".
Now the more bad news: OEM tire replacement cost = $392.56, from the Tire Rack (includes shipping). So now I'll have one brand new tire and three others with 12,000 miles (and one with a plug in it.)
Here's my plan. When it comes time to replace my other three tires I'll replace all of them. And I'll save the tire I just replaced and keep it for a spare, just in case. At least right now that's the plan.