I was walking back to my car at the grocery store (Porsche Everyday) and noticed a shiny spot on my Drivers Rear tire...a nice fat screw lodged dead square in the middle of the tire.

Thankfully it's holding the air pressure, but I'm going to bring it in tomorrow am to get fixed.

Question is: can I bring it to a tire shop (NTB or Sears) to have them repair the tire, or should I wait until the Porsche dealership service department is open and bring it there. Given that I have the CLs, I'm questioning whether a tire shop can handle the specific torque setting required to remove/install the wheel.

Any thoughts?

 

If you take it to a tire shop, assuming it's just a screw, they're probably going to simply put a tar-plug in and will not have to take the tire off.

Considering the type of car that you have, many people will tell you to replace the tire, especially,"required", if you plan any track time.

That being said, I've plugged my own tires (never taking the wheel off) and have even done some laps; works fine, but potential risk is there.

 

Thanks. No track time planned (yet). BUt I just realized that the dealer service opens at the same time as all of the tire shops. I was hoping to get it done really early in order to make a morning flight out, but doesn't look like there's an advantage with opening times. I'll just head to the nearest dealer (which happens to NOT be where I bought it - and I still have temp tags with the other dealer name on them - DUH!) and get them to help.

 

Have never had a dealer fix a flat. Should be a $10 fix. Hope they're kind to you.

 

more then likely they will take the tire off the rim and apply a patch from the inside, I haven't heard of anyone still using the sticky rope to plug a performance cars tire.

To answer the OPs question, I would recommend you just take it to the dealer or maybe a specialty shop that had dealt with CLs before. NTB probably wont even attempt it.

 

Just deleted my original post...I can understand the issue with CL's and the common tire place.

I agree that you should go to a performance shop or dealer for this.

 

take it to your nearest dealer..they will know better then NTB or Dtire

 

I know the couple costco's I goto dont have the tools to remove the tire..

if you can get the tire off your self you can take it anywhere to be fixed.

 

another thing to consider is damage. It would be a whole lot easier to make a big shop or dealer pay for the damage (if anything were to happen while getting the puncture fixed), smaller shops would give you the run around and may not even pay up. Dtire damaged my rims twice back to back the bill was $1500, they paid me in cash the day I took them receipt.

 

Yep, this is one of my biggest beefs with CL's. You gotta go to the dealer or another Porsche shop with CL experience for all tire related issues.

Jason

 

Can not patch a low profile tire . Replacing the tire is the only way to guarantee no weak spot .

 

wjohnson36 -

You have a brand new and very expensive performance car that is capable of hitting high speeds with ease . An authorized dealership who has experience with the center lock wheels would be a great place to fix it with safety as the top priority .

If the air does escape overnight .. roadside can flatbed it .

 

I had a nail in one of my fronts, Pirelli P Zero, early in its life and took it to a local tire shop. I watched the sort of flippant tire guy patch it once, did not like the 'take' of the patch so he re-patched it (remember you drill a bigger even hole after you take the nail out). I was saying to myself, oh boy... but no major problem sibnce-knock on wood.
Jim

 

Dealer will probably recommend replacing the tire. They may not want to accept the legal risk of a failed patch or plug. Because your car is new, they may save the "we need to replace both tires" story because of unequal tread wear

 

I disagree that the tire needs to be replaced.

I had a screw removed from the center of my right/front (flat) tire last Saturday - by my selling dealer. I didn't want to chance any of the local tire shops screwing up the rim. Most local shops are not equipped to deal with an 10" wide high end wheel.

The dealer removed the screw, plugged the hole and hot patched it from the inside of the tire. I've had more than one repair using the same method on Corvettes over the years, w/o incident.

Sure it's an expensive car, and sure the tires are high performance, but the centrifugal force of the rotating tire will keep the hot patch -which has become one with the tire - in place.

It cost me $80 to have the tire fixed, which is still much less than the cost of buying a new tire and having it iinstalled. My dealer bought a new $25K Hunter high-tech tire machine last year. I've now made my 2nd contribution toward helping pay for it.