Puncture repair

Irish Gunner

Okay just looking for opinion

We got puncture in an suv and got it fixed in official car dealer. We told them that we are travelling around the UK and we want it fixed. So they fixed it. We arrived in UK drove a bit then got warning tyre pressure down. We pumped it and drove a good distance. We parked the car took the pressure and checked it following day and it was down. So we brought it to car puncture repair in London. They informed us that whomever fixed this should have told us that it was a temporary fix and we needed a new tyre. We were not told this. So potentially we drove on temporary repair and anything could have happened. So we had to get a new tyre.

I rang dealer in Dublin and they said this is not a temporary fix. I disputed this as 3 different puncture repair garages in London told me that it was and we should have been told. I am angry at garage putting my family at risk. The garage in Dublin said different in UK than Ireland. I said no difference in danger and nearly put my foot through the line..

I have attached images of the repair and just looking for input, as I'm no expert, on this puncture repair

https://ibb.co/kqR7XT

https://ibb.co/jVzGRo

https://ibb.co/jjvO6o

https://ibb.co/kAVHXT

clintondaly

Looks like a temporary plug repair,Had one done in the past cost me a fiver,hope you didn't pay anymore than that.

Alucan

This is a plug repair. They became popular about 15 years ago but soon every competent tyre repair garage realised that they are crap and stopped using them. They are at best a temporary repair to get you off the road but should never be used a permanent repair by a tyre center.

tcawley29

Looks like a sloppy enough job too. I've used this on one of my cars before and gotten about 10k km out of the repair but I have heard them being called temporary jobs.
I think its luck of the draw really but in my experience it was permanent until the tyre was worn and needed to be replaced

Irish Gunner

Have a 3 year service with the garage and this is their reply.Not replied yet but

As per our conversation, I would like to apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you and your family

I will bring it to my service department as a rule to give the customer two options when asking for a puncture to be repaired

I would like to offer you free labour on the value of the tyre the next time your car needs additional work to be done.

rex-x

That repair wouldn't be seen in a Bangladesh backstreet let alone an Irish workshop. All punctures must be properly patched from the inside. Name the garage OP?

tcawley29

rex-x wrote: »

That repair wouldn't be seen in a Bangladesh backstreet let alone an Irish workshop. All punctures must be properly patched from the inside. Name the garage OP?

I have seen that kind of repair in a garage in Ireland before but much neater than that.

Once I saw how simple it was I did the same myself but much better quality than what was shown here

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

I remember my first puncture repair using a plug..........

rex-x

tcawley29 wrote: »

I have seen that kind of repair in a garage in Ireland before but much neater than that.

Once I saw how simple it was I did the same myself but much better quality than what was shown here

Plugs are not a safe repair though. They are just a very temporary stopgap and certainly not good enough from a main dealer

tcawley29

rex-x wrote: »

Plugs are not a safe repair though. They are just a very temporary stopgap and certainly not good enough from a main dealer

I have always heard that too I was just commenting on my experience.
I suppose contributing factors would be the size of the puncture and the quality of the repair carried out. I know I was very generous with the glue myself and very anal about the trimming of the plug after

Toyotafanboi

The proper procedure is to patch the inside too. A lot of places have used just plugs alone for eons, it may not be a prim and proper repair but I think you were just unlucky the plug failed. I wonder why they didn't patch it, were you/ they in a rush? Did they charge you for it?

Did you drive on the tyre while it was flat or why did it need a new tyre? A puncture in that part of the tread is completely repairable.

I'm not a fan of knee jerk reactions and really all we have to grapple with here is inconvenience. What would fair recourse be? They apologised and offered a discount off a future visit, that's probably fair.

Irish Gunner

I'm not after refund I just wanted to make a point and ask why we were not told and for no other punter to experience the same issue. My anger was the fact that anything could have happened while driving on the motorway.

The garage (official Seat garage in Dublin) said they always do this type of repair so that was more worrying. Customers should be told of the options.Garage said they will now give customer notice of choices.

Okay we got by on this puncture but not sure how lucky we were?

Toyotafanboi

Not particularly lucky. I've worked in a few independent garages (not in the last decade though) that had solely used plugs deemed as a permanent fix and I can't ever remember seeing one fail, that said I can see how they certainly could fail and how a patch is a much better repair method.

Of course pretty much anything could go wrong with anything at any time and death or serious injury could occur, but it didn't, the repair weakened and was caught well in time thanks to having a good car with a TPMS system, so what are you to do? Just don't go there for work in future IMO.

porsche boy

Plugs were initially designed to be used on trucks so the wheel could be reinflated and driven to a repair centre. The very design of the plug is temporary, especially if you drive on wet roads. The plug itself is like a strip of sticky liquorice which is shoved in the hole, twisted and pulled out. Once water comes in contact it starts to unravel and unstick.
Correct procedure is to patch from inside as has been mentioned. If you, or anybody for that matter sees a plug being used on their tyre I would suggest asking for a proper repair or take the tyre elsewhere.

Please OP, name the garage.

tcawley29

porsche boy wrote: »

Plugs were initially designed to be used on trucks so the wheel could be reinflated and driven to a repair centre. The very design of the plug is temporary, especially if you drive on wet roads. The plug itself is like a strip of sticky liquorice which is shoved in the hole, twisted and pulled out. Once water comes in contact it starts to unravel and unstick.
Correct procedure is to patch from inside as has been mentioned. If you, or anybody for that matter sees a plug being used on their tyre I would suggest asking for a proper repair or take the tyre elsewhere.

Please OP, name the garage.

I thought the glue was to help it stick to the tyre and prevent unravelling? As I said I had a good experience myself and so has my father. This is the first time I heard of one failing but I do accept it can happen.

Sam Quentin

DO NOT name the garage, this is a frequently used common puncture fix. Anyone saying different is wrong and unaware of it.. Now maybe(possibly)this particular puncture was to large for that procedure!? I would only use this method if it was a small hole that had to be enlarged with the tyre gauger/drill bit so the plug could be inserted plus extra glue... Anyway it isn't fair to mention the garage on this occasion imho!?

tcawley29

Sam Quentin wrote: »

DO NOT name the garage, this is a frequently used common puncture fix. Anyone saying different is wrong and unaware of it.. Now maybe(possibly)this particular puncture was to large for that procedure!? I would only use this method if it was a small hole that had to be enlarged with the tyre gauger/drill bit so the plug could be inserted plus extra glue... Anyway it isn't fair to mention the garage on this occasion imho!?

I was under the assumption that this method could only be used if the hole was smaller than the gouger anyways and the gouger made a rough surface easier for the plug to stick to and also to twist the plug.

rex-x

Sam Quentin wrote: »

DO NOT name the garage, this is a frequently used common puncture fix. Anyone saying different is wrong and unaware of it.. Now maybe(possibly)this particular puncture was to large for that procedure!? I would only use this method if it was a small hole that had to be enlarged with the tyre gauger/drill bit so the plug could be inserted plus extra glue... Anyway it isn't fair to mention the garage on this occasion imho!?

This has been disregarded as an acceptable fix about 10 years ago. Its no longer acceptable to do anything but patch from the inside. Plugs are also illegal in many countries (not Ireland yet) but they are very widely frowned upon.

Sam Quentin

tcawley29 wrote: »

I was under the assumption that this method could only be used if the hole was smaller than the gouger anyways and the gouger made a rough surface easier for the plug to stick to and also to twist the plug.

Yes this is when it works best and actually usually flawlessly....

tcawley29

Sam Quentin wrote: »

Yes this is when it works best and actually usually flawlessly....

Makes sense really to be honest but I suppose you'll always have those chancers out there who take a chance on something too big