Road Hazard Tire Insurance?

I have typically skipped getting the road hazard tire insurance over the years. The tire shops generally repair punctures for free (Discount Tire, Belle Tire, maybe others), plus I can do the rope patch basically in the dark due to experience. Also, I was pretty good at dodging potholes, obstructions in the road and curbs.

But when Miss VT and VT jr. Started driving to college classes or living away from home for college it decided that maybe I'll get the hazard insurance on their tires. Also tires are way more expensive than they use to be.

Well, last night got the call from upset Miss VT, she moved aside to let a horse trailer in at the barn and pop, ssssssssssssssss. She smartly reversed the car to a hard packed level surface and then investigated .. crap sidewall slice. Yep, she was upset, tire with less than 5k on it non-repairable.

I told them I was on the way with a winter tire and would swap it out rather than have them drive on the donut spare going 70+ mph down the freeway. By the time i got there, Miss VT who knew where the jack was, the locking lug socket and lug wrench had the car jacked up and tire removed. They had debated on putting on the spare but donut, rain, shitty city roads and a 50 mile freeway run at 70 decided against it.

I slapped on the directional snow to get her home and to work in the morning. I swung by the tire shop with slasher in hand and requested a warranty .. shazam, 15 minutes later I was out the door with a brand new mounted, balanced identical tire (150.00) for the cost of adding insurance on the new tire .. 20.32 out the door.

Now I don't have road hazard on my trucks load range E tires, last set lasted 8 years (started to dryrot and tread chunk) and had plenty of interior/exterior side wall scrapes from going through farm fields and farm field rock 'walls' but never a problem.

Question is .. do you buy the road hazard certificates on your tires? And why or why not?

Just curious.

 

No, we do not for like you we have more than one vehicle and to be frank we really try not to drive at night so if we do get a flat it will at least be during daylight making it easier to handle and/or get assistance. We also do everything possible to ensure it doesn't happen like ensure tires are in good condition.

What this did remind me is that I really do need to get a 'real' spare for the truck...I need to put that on the Do List. Thanks!

 

Never have, at least have not recently. I go by the thought that insurance is offered as a mechanism to increase profit for the tire shop.

 

When the kids lived at home, we had 3 cars in the driveway. One down, no biggy. Grab a working one and get parts or take the tire off and get another one. Now with them outta the house, not as convenient. I do have a set of winter and a set of summer tires for each of their cars plus they have that stupid space saver spare to get out of a pickle.

You are right, good condition tires are a must. If you have a rusty old chevy truck with the under bed spare, god speed. I just went through that and lowering the tire as far as i could, removed the license plate so i could see what i was cutting and sawzalled the safety catch off. Getting the 15mm rusted bolt out was a bear and took 3 days of soaking with PB blaster and a 3 foot pipe as an extension to break it free. The new hoist is designed much better.

 

I agree. I never get the 'Extended warranty' from the big box stores, that's pure profit. Up until I bought the kids 2 sets of tires each and tire prices had gone from 50-60 (a good while ago) bucks each to 150-200 each I never bought the road hazard warranty. These aren't even low profile, wide tread 20 inchers. They are just plain old 65-70 series 16 inchers for sedans and small SUV.

I figured that for 20 bucks or so and that they'd be out of town and have less disposable income, maybe i should this time.
Also, as you know Michigan roads are great at destroying tires. So if either of the kids destroy another tire in the next 3 years, then I break even. I think the odds are in my favor and I'm half way there.

But yes, if the roads you travel are decent and you pay attention and don't drive over say boards falling of construction trucks and aren't a curb runner than yeah .. the 'Insurance' does pad their profit nicely ... just like the extended warranty i keep getting calls on.

 

I guess I have a hard time remembering where each tire set was from. Discount Tire? Costco? Belle Tire?
Over the past 25-30 years, I’ve had 2 flats about 65 car years of driving, if that makes sense. A handful of years from the kids driving, and 30 apiece for me and Mrs Crafty. I’d guess about 20 sets of tires over that time. That would be 20x4x$20=$1600 in insurance cost for those tires over that time.
I never had to replace a tire due to a flat. and yes, Michigan roads suck.

 

I do get road hazard. After a hurricane or tropical storm, debris is a widespread issue - and the price of tires has been going nowhere but up.

 

Go to a local tire dealer (Gerald's) great owners (won't screw you) Tire insurance is a nominal charge and I get it. More than once I have had to use it for major damage they couldn't just plug or patch which they do for free

 

I drive a Sprinter duelly Daily, and that's nearly 3 grand in tires! I got Road Hazzard insurance added by both the tire shop I bought them from and my auto insurance will cover anything the tire shop won't! In the three years of driving this thing, I have had four punctures and one outright flat, all covered and I was only out my time! These are 10 ply mud and snow tires on the rear and a 6 ply all season set on the front, and the tire shop gave me hell for going with a staggered set, bit after dealing with the issues I have had, they know better now! I cannot afford to have this rig down, especially these days, so the little added expense is nothing!

 

NitroFill has a program that costs less than $200 and provides three years of Nitrogen tire service, roadside assistance, and $800 for tire replacement that you can use for punctured, damaged or just worn out tires. I haven't found a down-side if you drive a lot and replace tires often. I can only guess that their gamble is that most folks won't use their entire $800 tire allowance, or just forget about it entirely.

 

is that 200 dollar limit per tire (4x200=800 benefit) if so, that only covers just over half the cost of a tire on my truck. I think i'd want a complete replacement vs something less than full tire price.

But, with the price of tires today it's better than nothing.
Thanks for sharing your experience, glad you like the program.

 

Maybe I wasn't clear on the Nitrofill coverage. I'll see if I can post the details. It's $800 to use for tire replacement over three years. If you can only buy two tires for $800 you get two tires. For me, with 320K on the daily driver and way above average annual mileage it's almost two sets of tires.

I still have the last car I put four for $100 tires on.
I wonder what a 155/80-13 goes for nowadays.

 

We stopped at the Navy Exchange in Chicago while driving through on vacation. Not sure why now, but when we came out, the van was sitting on its rim. Had to basically unpack the van to get the spare out (fortunately had a full sized one with me.). Close to 100f that day. No road hazard on it.

Then like you, I had kids start driving, plus the Mrs. hasn't changed a tire since high school. My local Walmart charges something like $25 for lifetime mounting, balancing, rotation and road hazard. Paid for itself first tire rotation. Anyhow, one rainy night was picking up my oldest daughter and a friend and some yahoo wasn't paying attention and drifted into my lane, by 1.5-2' while I was along side him (4 lane road). I got over as far as I could while doing the horn blast thing. Bumped the tire on the curb and got a sidewall cut. Tire was 3 days old on my truck. I'm not sure I even got charged federal tax on the new tire...another "worth it."

Fast forward to a new set of Nokian treads on the same F150 a couple of years ago. I took my wife's Jeep up to Canada to pick up my youngest daughter who was flying into her grandparents' cabin in Northern MN. Wife, of course decides to run an errand in my old truck. Tires had 400 miles on them. Coming into the driveway, the sidewall separates from the wheel! Thank goodness it was at 5mph not 55! Didn't hit anything, it just came off.

Needless to say, went back to the dealer, those 4 tires came off (30 day satisfaction guarantee) and a different brand went on. Scariest thing that ever happened. I routinely drove that truck on the Interstate to the cabin or in-laws' house, often fully loaded with cabin gear, firewood, and other stuff. Can you imagine that type of failure at freeway speeds?

 

I get road hazard at Discount tire here in Texas. I got out of whack on my Subaru forester tire rotation and the back tires got pretty bald. Too dangerous with spring storm deluges.

I got $100 credit per tire for the back tires and kept the fronts for full sized spares. If I had rotated correctly, I would have gotten $100 for all 4 in a couple of months. The tires I bought were about $200 each new, as were the replacement tires.

I've used the flat repair a few times and once ran over something and needed a free new tire. Its worked so far.

 

Yes always. There are too many unavoidable potholes on the TX interstates and other large city related highways. Though I am quite nimble at avoiding them when I see them early, there are new ones developing all the time with the heavy traffic we experience. Also, the wife drives over them as a matter of routine, frustrating me no end.

 

Well, I usually don't get the insurance on my own ride (kids rides another story) but new ride needs new shoes and the new ones are 250 each to purchase. I think I'm going to drop the extra 30 bucks on them as the roads are getting worse and the tires aren't cheaper. I'll let ya know if i actually wind up using the road hazard insurance over the next 60000 miles.

 

Correct wheel and tire for day to day survival

 

I basically have, ever since I didn't have it, driving across a railroad crossing. Don't know if it was a scrap of metal, or a spike that had come up with a sharp edge on it. Either way, nice 4" long slice on the sidewall of my tire, and no road hazard coverage!

Worst part? Called the city, they said it was the railroad's responsibility. Called the railroad, they said it was the city's!