The rear passenger tire has had a slow leak for a couple weeks. I walked by this tire a bunch of times, saw that it was getting flat, then proceeded to do nothing. I probably would have kept doing this for a while longer until fate intervened. I was putting my gym bag back into my trunk after a workout when I heard someone try to get my attention. I thought it was a hobo asking for money but when I turned around it was an old Mexican man and his wife. He must have been in his 70's. I wasn't sure what he wanted until he pointed at my tire and said, "your tire, es flat." His English was pretty rough but it was much better than my Spanish will ever be. I said "gracias." They continued to walk towards the grocery store. If this guy is going out of his way to tell a perfect stranger that his tire is flat, it must be pretty obvious that I need to fix this.
I drove to the nearest gas station and found an air pump. I was about to ransack all the change out of my car but the pump accepted credit cards. Technology. After putting some air into the tire, I considered it fixed forever and promptly forgot all about it.
Fast forward to a week and a half later. My tire is getting flat again. I never saw this coming. More action would need to be taken. There is a discount tire down the street from my apartment. After pulling up one of the employees came out to see what he could do for me. Once he knew of the leak in my tire he got to work inspecting all the tires. Then he looked at the spare. A few more questions followed and he took me into the waiting room for a tire report. He informed me that the other three tires were in ok shape but the flat one would need to be replaced. When I asked him if they could patch the tire he ignored my question and then showed me some new tires. The fact that he did not even address my question made me a bit suspicious. I had worked at Verizon as a salesman for a while. I remembered my boss telling me that the solution to any phone problem is a get the customer to buy a new phone. I felt that I was getting a similar treatment so I stalled. I told Jeff the salesman that I didn't get paid till Friday but would like to set up an appointment to get a new tire this Saturday.
After this he directed me to the air station and one of the attendants checked my air pressure and filled my tires. When he got to the flat one he said that the machine would not fill it since the tire pressure was too low. I'm not a tire engineer but this demonstration seemed a little fishy and I was already a little suspicious. I drove back to the gas station and used the air pump which worked just fine a second time.
I needed a second opinion so I called up my step father who had worked in auto sales. I asked him the critical question: was I just being cheap or was the guy at discount tire telling me the truth and I needed a new tire. He said to check the tire and see how worn it was. As I looked down to do this I noticed that there was a drywall screw sticking out of the tread in my tire. Huh. Neither of the attendants had noticed this which finally destroyed any sense of confidence in their abilities.
After this revelation I called up a Goodyear affiliate and asked if they could repair the tire. As long as the screw is not in the side wall it would be no problem. He said it would cost about $21 and they would be able to complete the work today. They ended up fixing the tire in about 30 min.
Did I learn anything? Just because someone presents themselves as an expert does not mean they have your best interest in mind, or that they care about saving you money. I should also remember not to drive on a low tire for weeks at a time. I was lucky that it was able to be fixed this time. Who needs new tires for a 21 year old car anyways?
