Nail in tire - unfixable???

Holes where the sidewall meets the outer tread are usually not repairable because the patch won't stick.

They always suggest you need new tires.. even when they still have 10,000 miles left on them. It is their job to sell tires.

Yeah but this guy was telling me it was about 2/3 the way out on the tread. Sounded fishy.

I'm gonna check out the mark he says he put on it and see.

I posted here awhile back, about a tire shop that was doing an oil change for me and told me that my head gasket was "leaking pretty good".

They gave me a $2000 written estimate to repair it.

BUT I checked my coolant levels and it's been a few months now and they're the same!

I get tired of people wanting to blow smoke up my...er...skirt and rip me off.

I would try a different shop.

Discount Tire and other big chains define a pretty narrow area of the tire as fixable. Smaller shops will often repair a flat that the big guys define as unrepairable. Good luck. jor

A lot depends on what type of tire it is and exactly where the puncture is located. Sometimes a nail or screw will go through right at the edge of the tread and the typical cheap-and-dirty plug won't stay in the puncture. But if they dismount the tire and use a patch on the inside, it will be okay. The problem is that the tire flexes a lot more at the edge than in the middle of the tread.

Tire stores aren't really in business to fix flats, they don't make any money on a tire repair. Most of them will do simple jobs that don't take a lot of time hoping you'll come to them when you buy new tires. But if they spend 1/2 hour on the repair and charge you $25, they just about broke even.

Depends on where it is. If it's close to the sidewall then a plug or patch won't stay.

If it is in the flat part of the tread, it should be repairable.

Stop taking your car to tire shops. Find an independent general mechanic. Ask everyone you know if they have a shop they've been pleased with for a long period of time.