This general topic has come up before, but here are a few first-hand impressions of getting a flat tire in a Prius Prime (2017). With all of the reports of dreadful side effects from getting COVID vaccines, by far the worst side effects I experienced was that I happened to get a flat tire (first time in like 20-25 years!) on my way out to get my second Pfizer-BioNTech dose. (Other than that, just soreness at the injection site; the vaccine’s side effects, for me at least, were a total yawner.) Anyway, I don’t know what exactly got me, but it didn’t leave an screws, nails, nor any other objects lodged in the tire; just one ~5mm cut between the tread blocks close to the center-line of the tire, and another seemingly similar-but much smaller cut, best I can recall ~60ish degrees forward of the larger cut. I got the big one repaired (free!) at the local Discount Tire, but they failed to find and repair the smaller one. In fact, I’m having a hard time finding it now too. I’ll try the ol’ trick of spraying soapy water into it and look for bubbles. So, I hit it with the official O’Toyta tire-repair kit. As per the instructions, I attached the goop bottle, pumped into the tire, and then drive a few miles to let it distribute around the tire. They say it’s not expected or intended to work on cuts larger than 3mm, and after pulling over, indeed it didn’t seem to have done the trick. So, I kept driving, looking around for a tire repair shop in the not-so-familiar town where I found a vaccine available. Thankfully, I didn’t find a good place — “thankfully” because it eventually did seal up enough to drive back home (25ish miles away). In hindsight, I probably didn’t originally drive far enough to give it enough time to plug the hole; they say 3 miles, IIRC, but in hindsight, I probably only drove not much more than one mile before I checked on it the first time. Should have looked on the ODO in hindsight! After getting it repaired (not quite completely as it turns out!), I wasn’t sure what Toyota expected me to do with the tire-repair kit. The goop bottle appeared to be inseparably attached to the tire pump! As I recall, somebody else who had reported their tire-repair-kit adventure had initially come to the conclusion that Toyota appears to have intended us to replace the entire tire pump. The replacement I ordered turned out to be just the goop bottle. After looking at the mounting point in the new goop bottle, it turns out you can disconnect it from the pump by poking a Philips screwdriver or other thin ... poker ... into the small hole below the attachment point. If you get into this adventure, you’ll presumably see what I’m talking about. The goop bottle cost almost as much as a new tire, BTW: $110! Then again, they’re fundamentally two different things; the tire-repair kit is an emergency roadside quasi-repair device, not a tire replacement.
Good info. Based on this I’m even more glad I opted to obtain a spare tire and rim circa $200. If auto manufacturers choose to not include a spare it should be mandatory that they at least offer one as an extra cost “feature”.
I can understand that for sure, but I think I’d prefer to not lose the trunk space, and all in all, its probably quicker, and definitely less of a pain, to hit it with goop. Since I can barely even remember the last time I had a flat (probably 20-25 years ago, best I can recall), I’m probably still ahead financially even.
I (also) carry a plain boring ol’ 12V tire pump with me, and that’s helped me deal with several slow leaks I’ve had to deal with (much more frequent than actual flats like this time. What are the striped sheets of ... something-or-other ... in your pictures there?
They're little rubber strips coated with adhesive. You thread the needle-thingy with one of them and push it all the way into the hole, then pull it back out. When you pull out the rubber strip will come part way out and then break. It's jammed in the hole, plugging it, and the break releases the handle. Your tire is now permanently plugged. Some people are afraid to drive with a plug in their tire, but I've done the repair on two occasions and both tires lasted until their useful life was over with no further issues.
I hade 4 flat tires on my old 2017 prius prime. Found out quick that the GOOP doesn't work. This is my $135.00 insurance
Plug repairs, basically a very tacky piece of rubber twine. You push it halfway through the needle eye on the tool (shown), push the needle through the puncture till just the two ends of the twine is still showing, then yoink back out. The tip of the needle has a slit that allows the twine plug to remain behind. Shave off the protruding bits and air up the tire.
How do you keep that from flying forward and turning you and your passengers into vegetables in the event of a crash?
Doesn't work when you shred the tire. I know by experience Get the spare, change the tire go on your way.
I've never seen a shredded tire in my whole life that wasn't due to some kind of driver negligence (underinflation, prolonged driving on a flat tire, etc.). That's not to say it doesn't happen, but it must be exceedingly rare.
Freeway driving in the carpool lane next to the k-rail, twice. At night. Oh and i have my tires rotated every 5000 miles
I've driven approximately 460,000 miles in the LA area since becoming licensed and the only time I had a blowout was driving on an underinflated tire. We all have difference experiences, though. I've just never seen a properly maintained tire spontaneously disintegrate after being punctured (unless you include recapped tires, which are notoriously dangerous and unreliable).
There's a nylon strap in the back of my car that came with it, if I remember right, and is shown in the owners' manual, for the exact purpose of making fast the damaged tire while driving on the donut spare to a shop for repairs.
Once a tire has been "plugged," no legitimate repair shop will do a really decent repair by disassembling that tire by patching it on the inside. Discount tire disassembles, patches tires on the inside and re balances a repairable tire for FREE. So, I always buy mi tires from them. They did this on two tires for my dad when I was a little girl once on a trip to California, years ago, when California still allowed them to be called Discount Tire. I'm sold on them. I'm a loyal customer for life.
That only helps if you get a flat in the parking lot of a Discount Tire center. And I'd call driving another 20,000 miles on a plugged tire a "decent" repair.
I even carry a 25 lb. aluminum floor jack in one of the trunk foam bins. A few years back, I had a flat late Sunday night in a bad part of town. I did not want to wait for a service call with AAA. I loosened the lug nuts, pulled out the aluminum floor jack, jacked up the corner of the car, removed the flat tire, took out the full size spare and finished the operation in 10 minutes, and I was gone. I took the tire to Discount tire and they repaired it for FREE. The last set of Bridgestone Ecopias on the car are from Discount Tire.
