The cost of a blown tire

[TomT]

I believe that they have a similar limit for their regular service too, but that just makes sense since it weeds out people with junkers or the like that use it unduly. I have heard that if you are have documentable legitimate reasons for each tow, and that each one is for a separate incident and not an-ongoing problem, they will waive the three tow limit on a one-time basis...

This is one of the reasons why I have AAA Plus. Anywhere I want to go within 100 miles of the incident, no questions asked...

... so long as you don't use it more than three times in a year. I used it twice last year (once for a blown LEAF tire) and got a reminder of that limit from AAA.

 

[planet4ever]

I think that:
The Nissan towing for the LEAF is "better" than Nissan's towing for other cars ... something like 100 miles to home/dealer/charging-spot/repair, and not just the closest of those, right?

Have you seen that written down somewhere? I know people have reported towing to various locations, but the Warranty booklet just says, "Roadside Assistance will arrange to transport the vehicle to the nearest Nissan LEAF certified dealer." Period.

Ray

 

[TonyWilliams]

I think that:
The Nissan towing for the LEAF is "better" than Nissan's towing for other cars ... something like 100 miles to home/dealer/charging-spot/repair, and not just the closest of those, right?

Have you seen that written down somewhere? I know people have reported towing to various locations, but the Warranty booklet just says, "Roadside Assistance will arrange to transport the vehicle to the nearest Nissan LEAF certified dealer." Period.

Ray

My singular Nissan Roadside Assistance towed me to the nearest charger, not a dealer.

 

[planet4ever]

I think that: The Nissan towing for the LEAF is "better" than Nissan's towing for other cars ... something like 100 miles to home/dealer/charging-spot/repair, and not just the closest of those, right?

Have you seen that written down somewhere? I know people have reported towing to various locations, but the Warranty booklet just says, "Roadside Assistance will arrange to transport the vehicle to the nearest Nissan LEAF certified dealer." Period.

My singular Nissan Roadside Assistance towed me to the nearest charger, not a dealer.

I'm not disagreeing with you, Tony. I was trying to say that indeed people have gotten their cars towed to a variety of places. But I was suggesting that Gary is probably assuming too much. I don't think Nissan has promised us anything other than a tow to the nearest certified dealer. I'm also guessing that over time the dealerships may wise up to the fact that they are missing out on some lucrative service opportunities, and they could put pressure on Nissan NA to abide by the letter of the warranty.

Ray

 

[Herm]

I'm not disagreeing with you, Tony. I was trying to say that indeed people have gotten their cars towed to a variety of places.

I'm sure the phone operators have some flexibility (or their supervisors), even more at late hours and weekends.. but you have to ask them since the truck drivers have no authority to change the destination and still get paid for the job.

Whats the point of towing your to a closed dealer for a charge?.. most likely the EVSE will be off and blocked.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

"my Leaf is broke, come tow it. i am in Olympia but happen to be moving to LA so that is where i would like it towed to..."

 

[garygid]

I believe that the early callers (for towing) had to explain (to get the more flexible service) that it was for LEAF-towing, not just the normal Nissan-towing.

I think the "better" towing limits were written somewhere, but I cannot remember where.

Perhaps somebody else has a better memory?

 

[dgpcolorado]

"my Leaf is broke, come tow it. i am in Olympia but happen to be moving to LA so that is where i would like it towed to..."

How about when the nearest LEAF certified dealer is 93 miles and three mountain passes away? I've been wondering what they would do.

For a tire, a regular Nissan dealer would likely suffice if I was there to show them how to drive the LEAF onto the lift.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

"my Leaf is broke, come tow it. i am in Olympia but happen to be moving to LA so that is where i would like it towed to..."

How about when the nearest LEAF certified dealer is 93 miles and three mountain passes away? I've been wondering what they would do.

For a tire, a regular Nissan dealer would likely suffice if I was there to show them how to drive the LEAF onto the lift.

they have to take you there. that is the wording on the contract. now, if its for a charge or a tire, it would be nice just to have roadside come and fix the problem but i am guessing that is still 3-5 years down the road.

 

[NYLEAF]

I would also love to see that in writing. I was under the impression (from reading this forum) that the Roadside Assistance was much better than it seems to be in reality.

As far as the 3-per-year with AAA Gold, I don't think my friend was aware of that when he let me use it. When they first came to tow me, they brought a regular tow truck, not a flat bed. I let them know the car needs to be flat bedded (although I've now looked online and it seems that it doesn't really need to be?). They had to go back and get the flat bed truck, and because we didn't tell AAA the first time, they treated it as a separate call. So it looks as though I used 2 out of 3 of my friend's tows for the entire year. Oops!

 

[planet4ever]

When they first came to tow me, they brought a regular tow truck, not a flat bed. I let them know the car needs to be flat bedded (although I've now looked online and it seems that it doesn't really need to be?).

Look at page 6-13 in the owners manual. Towing flat bed or front wheels up is OK. Towing front wheels down, or front wheels on a dolly is not (though I'm not sure I understand why the dolly is bad).

Ray

 

[gasmiser1]

I bought a used LEAF rim from an MNL forum member, plus a used "Hancock" brand 205/55R-15 tire from Craigslist, plus mounting and balance for $188 investment.

Originally, I was going to purchase and Altima or Infinity J30 spare, but couldn't find any on Craigslist after searching for 3 months. I didn't want to go digging at a Junk Yard, nor do I have extra time anymore for this sort of treasure hunt.

This set-up should get me by in case I ever need to replace a stock tire via "TireRack.com" or "America's Tire."

Nissan dealership won't be my tire shop :lol:

 

[TonyWilliams]

I wonder if I should just broker those tires here.

 

[KillaWhat]

Just FYI.
Tire rack has the OEM Tires here:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?tireIndex=0&autoMake=Nissan&autoYear=2011&autoModel=Leaf&autoModClar=SL&width=205/&ratio=55&diameter=16&sortCode=44950&skipOver=true&minSpeedRating=H&minLoadRating=S&tab=OE&filterType=oe" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

$106.00 and $11.92 for road hazard insurance.

Toying with either just buying one so I have it on hand, or just replacing all 4 with Michelin MXV4's and selling the OEM's.
Swore I would NEVER drive on a Bridgestone/ Firestone tire again as long as I lived.

And I'm Sure not going to use the slime can on the TMPS.
Thanks for THAT heads up.

How is that spare tire carrier setup coming?

 

[TonyWilliams]

How is that spare tire carrier setup coming?

Good. Naturally a few design changes from my prototype to the beta models. I'm building five identical for SoCal installs. Still waiting for the 5 new winches to show up on my doorstep, and bought a new metal roller to add to the other "production" tools.

 

[planet4ever]

Swore I would NEVER drive on a Bridgestone/ Firestone tire again as long as I lived.

Ah, yes, tread separation, right? That goes back to the turn of the century. I, too, told myself then that I would never buy another tire with "stone" in the name. When I did it anyway to replace the one on my LEAF (split sidewall, my fault), I thought to myself rather wryly, "Old prejudices die hard."

Ray

 

[twingo]

I had a flat yesterday and wasn't aware how complicated the business of taking care of a flat has become. So, I used the sealant kit, but it didn't work. I only drove about 2 miles before the tire was flat again. I take the blame though because I did not have the screw valve on the air hose turned off and most of the sealant just blew out the valve instead of into the tire. Called for roadside servie and the guy arrived 90 minutes later. We went to the dealer and I had to replace the tire with the original model $155 total, not too bad. Since the sealant did not completely emply into the tire, there was no damage to the pressure sensor. I probably saved some $ as a result, if not time. By the time I arrived at the office, I had lost 4 hours of the workday.

Moving on, I need a plan for the future. I think my first choice will be to use the vulcanizing slimy repair kit, needle nose and exisiting pump. I flushed out the pump to get the sealant out of the hose and it works fine. If that fails, and it is late at night or something, I'm wondering if I should get a spare sealant cannister from tirerack.com for $28 or full kit for $79. While I was online at tirerack.com, a guy asked invited me chat. He told me the cannister they sell for $28 isn't compatible with the Nissan kit, but I don't know why. Maybe the threads are different? I'd like to have this available as a back-up solution if the slime didn't work and the tow was too slow or impractical.

Does anyone know if the tirerack sealant is compatible with the Nissan kit?

 

[derkraut]

Twingo: I've sent you a PM.

 

[KillaWhat]

I got a chance to use my Pep Boys $7.99 tire repair kit today.

Was WAY out of position, sort of racing 30 miles home to meet my kids school bus, when I heard the dreaded Clicka - Clicka - Clicka coming from the left rear tire.
Pulled over, and watched the air race out and leave me on the rim.

I had JUST stopped by Pep boys on Friday, and got a cheap tire plug kit, and a $15 compressor and stuck them in the Leaf.

Tuesday afternoon I'm flat as a pancake, 30 miles from home, with no spare.

Pulled out the little kit, plugged in the compressor so It could start, and fortunately I had a pair of substantial angled channel lock pliers still in the back from working on the HID upgrade.

Those things just became a permanent addition to the "Kit". Could not have done this without them.

This hunk of Road Flotsam was seriously in there.

Still don't know what it is? Maybe a Cut Nail?

Anyway, went off like clockwork.
5 min to set up and pull the THING out.
5 min to ream the hole, and force the sticky worm into the reamed hole.
8 minutes to finish the inflation (Got the pump with a gauge on the side. Highly suggest this!)

On the way, not driving in ECO, got home with 5 Minutes to spare.
Don't think I would have made it if I had to change to a spare (But would still be sitting there if it was sidewall damage)
Surely would not have made it if I had to wait for a flatbed.
And saved $580 :roll: :roll: :roll:

So, there you go.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

U pulled that out of your tire?