Flat tyre causes damage to the car.

Not all punctures are caused by nails or screws.

One of the jobs I was called out too, was the Skoda Octavia in the photo.

The owner had very little warning apart from a loud bang followed by further loud noises. He immediately pulled over to the side of the road and found that a strip of tread had come away from the main carcass of the tyre. It had spun round with the wheel and caused damage to the front bumper (you can see the split inside the front area of the wheel arch). It also smashed the inner lining of the front wing as well as deflating the tyre. The owner abandoned his car on the side of the road, and called out Hometyre.

I had some free time between jobs, and was able to pick up a replacement tyre locally. I met him at his car, and soon had it jacked up and the wheel taken off. It was then taken into my van where I changed the tyre, fitted a new valve, and balanced the wheel before fitting it back on his car. I then checked all of the other tyres on his car, inflated them all to the correct pressures. Before completing a report & invoice.

There was no obvious sign of any puncture that may have been responsible for this damage. The only conclusion could be that it was a poorly manufactured tyre, and the tread had just delaminated from the casing. This is a rare occurrence, but it does happen occasionally.

In the last 10 years I have been out to 3 cars where this has happened. If we at Hometyre have supplied the tyres and think it could be a manufacturing fault, we will send the tyre back under complaint. The tyre will be inspected, and if it is a fault, the manufacturer will refund the cost of the tyre. In this case the customer just wanted us to replace the tyre, he was then going to take the old tyre to the tyre depot where he got it, to discuss his options with them.

This is one of the reasons you should stop as soon as possible if you think you have a puncture, as a flat tyre can come off of the rim and cause serious damage to your car.

The resulting repair costs can be ££££'s rather than ££'s for a new tyre. Not only that, but if a puncture is detected early enough, it may be repairable as long as it is in the central ¾ of the tread area.

For more info on punctures and repairs click on the link here or give us a call at Hometyre on 03334445454.