Tire repair $$$$$$

Joined
Jan 4, 2019
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I had a slow leak in one of my tires . I got tired of putting air in it twice a week so this morning I went to a local shop had it repaired . They found a small screw in it , and patched the tire . Total out the door price was $39.00 !! I know everything is going up but the last tire repair was around $25 less than a year ago . If I had seen the screw I would have removed it and plugged it myself . Oh well . it's done ..
 
I always ask how much before anything is done.
Everybody else in this area has been consistently in the $20 - $25 dollar range for a good while . I had no reason to suspect anything different . First time I used this particular shop for a repair .
 
They use to plug tires in my area but now the tire shops use patches and the price is $35.99, I’m sure with more research I can find a sop that still use plugs…. I was shocked by the price of patching a tire.
 
I always ask how much before anything is done.
I'm starting to do that as well. With me bringing the tires to the shop door, it was $30 each to remove the tire and grind down some corrosion on the bead of my winter rims for the Outback. They marked the tires so they didn't have to rebalance. I used to get a bit of deal by just bringing in the tires, but no more it seems...
Tires are a strange business, nothing usually takes very long if they are just dealing with the tires, I'm sure the guy was done my tires in way less than half an hour. For sure if they have to drive the car in and take the tires off themselves, then its longer job, and maybe $30 each isn't too bad...
 
I started plugging my own tires back in the '80's. I went to Western Auto to have one plugged. They didn't even pull the car into the garage or have to remove the wheel from the car and charged $10. I know $10 doesn't sound like much today but back then it was more than an hours pay for me and they'd spent about 30 seconds-1 minute on the repair. Soon afterward I bought a plug kit for each car. A while back I was getting my tires rotated and the guy showed me a nail in one of the tires and ask if I wanted him to plug it. I told him I'd do it myself. I used to work construction so picking up a nail wasn't uncommon. A $ .20 plug was much better than paying $10 for a minutes worth of work.
 
It seems like all automotive repair shops have stopped using plugs in favor of patches. Does anyone know why? I have a plug kit and have repaired several tires over the years myself.
 
I took a tire with a screw in it to Canadian Tire at the end of May. They plugged and patched and the charge on my card was $23 USD. (I took the tire off the car in my driveway, took it into town in my truck so they didn't have to lift the car to remove/replace) I wonder what that charge would be now, 6 months later?
 
This past summer I had a slow leak that got a little faster, so took it to my favorite independent shop, that does only tires, and they took it off my pickup, found and patched 2 nails, and of course reinstalled. No balance, as they marked it, and my cost was $15 out the door. I rarely have nails, but if they get much higher, like some here have mentioned, I will get a plug kit. Although for the once every 2 years or so, not a big deal. I used to have a nice old-fashioned manual tire changer, on which I changed and repaired hundreds of tires, and made the mistake of when we moved selling it.
 
I had a slow leak in one of my tires . I got tired of putting air in it twice a week so this morning I went to a local shop had it repaired . They found a small screw in it , and patched the tire . Total out the door price was $39.00 !! I know everything is going up but the last tire repair was around $25 less than a year ago . If I had seen the screw I would have removed it and plugged it myself . Oh well . it's done ..
Belle Tire repairs free as well; no warranty on patch. The catch is they charge $101 plus $12 disposal when you buy a new full set to mount and balance them.
 
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