Flat Tire

The 2008 Saturn Vue I drive has a dashboard icon for under inflated or flat tire. The first time I saw it, I was bumfuzzled and had to get out the owner's manual. But, I was able to figure out what the icon meant, and which tire needed air, and took care of it.

I use a pressure gauge that I saw years ago on NASCAR.  It is a round dial that faces up. Of course, now, they use digital tire gauges, and maybe, some day, I will acquire a digital pressure gauge.

So, this morning, as I backed out of the garage, I realized the icon for low pressure in a tire was on.  There is a public air compressor between my house and my work, but it requires a minimum of a dollar to use it.  I opted for the compressor a little further away, and in the opposite direction from work, but it was free. This proved to be a God send. 

I did not stop to look at the tire before I drove to the compressor. In a way, that was a blessing.  If I had, I would have been filled with the dilemma of whether to drive on the tire or not.  Because it was really, really flat, and I was almost driving on the rim.  Well, when I got to the compressor, I inflated the tire to get it off the rim, but knew I had no choice but to get the tire repaired. Because I chose the public compressor I did, I was in luck. It was at the gas island of a local supermarket. In the same shopping area is a Firestone http://www.Firestone.com/ outlet. So, I drove around the corner and went to Firestone to get the tire repaired.

I was not too stressed.  Lately, stuff like this, that used to really make me panic, does not bother me as much.  I was concerned for a couple of reasons: I had been late to work earlier in the week, and then had an appointment, and had to leave work early.  I had about made up my time. I have plenty of leave, so it is no big deal.  But the paperwork to take an hour or so of leave is not worth the time involved in completing the paperwork.  And, I was able to call in from the Firestone outlet (I frequently leave my cell phone at home. I cannot bring it into the prison, and the extreme heat stresses the battery, which does not keep a charge like it used to, any way.) 

But, I had committed to work at 9 AM at a bake sale we had at work. I guestimated that I should get to work close to that time. I would have, but the service manager was hung up on a couple of phone calls, and it took about 10 minutes after the car was tended to before he could check me out.

This service manager was very nice, but basically told me my front tires were ready to blow out, and would not pass a state inspection. He gave me a quote on two or four tires, and I told him I was not ready to deal with that at that time.  The thing is, in 2011, I used this Firestone outlet for the state inspection of the Vue.  They charged me about $60 for repairs as well as inspection, and told me then the front tires were in very bad condition and would not pass another inspection.  Hmm, they have passed two inspections. 

Years ago, the service manager was a man named Jim. I went to the Firestone outlet for something, and he suggested something else that would save me money, if that was the problem.  I wish I knew Jim's last name. But anyway, from then on I trusted him.  He told me he had a wife, and he did not want someone taking advantage of her. So, I used Firestone faithfully. Jim would help me, and if he was not there, and I could wait for service, I would return when he was there. He often suggested something less expensive than what I thought I needed or suggested options that were money saving. Like one time I thought I needed new brakes, because the brakes were doing something funny. He told me it was probably because of the recent rain, and they could adjust the brakes without replacing them.  Another time, I needed replacement tires. I had gotten really good wear on the original tires on my car, and said I wanted the high dollar tires rated for the same wear. He said I should try using the same tires, as I was easy on the tires, and could expect the same good wear. He was right!  

Mack and I would go to Firestone.  Depending upon what the issue was, we would wait, or walk home, and later, walk back.  Jim always offered us a ride both ways, but Mack and I liked the walk.  Once or twice, in really bad weather, I left Mack home, and took the ride.

After Jim left Firestone, I did not trust them as much. I took a car in that had air conditioner trouble. The service manager quoted me an outlandish price that included a rush delivery price, for a part, of several hundred dollars. I did not get the air conditioner repaired there, and later, it turned out to be wires that had shorted out on the alternator, and the air conditioner was was just fine!

Well, the tire was repaired, and I got to work a little after 9 AM.  My co-workers covered me for the bake sale, and all was well. I had enough work to do, so stayed long enough to put my time in for the week.

When I got home, before I drove into the garage, I checked for anything that may have deflated the tire. I could not see anything, but there was a lot of cat fuzz and trash on the garage floor, so I swept it up in a pro-active effort to find anything that might have compromised the tire.

I also checked the tread on the tires. While the tread on the front tires is worn, I am not sure it is dangerous (I will do the penny test this weekend.)  The rear tires are fine. When Saturn was still in business, I did oil changes and free tire rotations there. I know better, and should have continued with tire rotation somewhere, even if I had to pay, to maximize wear.  But, I did not.

I was talking to a co-worker about the tire problem, and she told me her father researched tire replacement for her vehicles, and said York Tire http://yorktireco.com/ in Lubbock was the best. I recall that when I was married to Lisenby, he researched tire replacement and liked York Tire, which we used more than once.

I will spend some time over the next couple of weekends getting quotes for replacement tires, including York Tire and Discount Tire http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/home.do.  I have been pleased with Discount Tire, but it is worth checking a couple of other sources.  My neighbor works for McWhorter Tire http://www.mcwhortertire.com/.  When I had the F-150, I dealt with McWhorter Tire at their various locations because the truck had Goodyear tires.  They were good, and gave good service, but since the Vue did not come with Goodyears, but did come with Bridgestones, which are affiliated with Firestone, I am not sure they will be able to give me a better deal than other places.

So much comes from a flat tire.  But, praise be the tire did not blow out while I was driving at a high rate of speed.