I was driving 3 hours east to visit my parents and decided to turn off the motorway for a bit of fun on some country roads I know well. But this time, we stopped at a service station for some food, which meant I ended up taking a different exit. That forced me down a new route to get back toward the good roads.
Along the way, I drove through a grey forest and saw a crashed Mercedes in the trees surrounded by police tape. I took it as a bad omen and immediately slowed down for the corners.
A few bends later, I hit a series of potholes deeper than I’ve ever seen. It wasn’t just the depth, but the jagged edges of the caved-in tarmac facing the traffic. I managed to dodge a few on the narrow lane despite the oncoming cars, but eventually, I hit one I just couldn't avoid.
The "low pressure" warning chime went off immediately. I started to panic since this has never happened to me before, but luckily I saw a sign for a nearby village. I limped into a local BP garage to top up the air while I searched for tyre shops. There were three in the village, including two KwikFits (uh no). Both KwikFits turned me away because they were fully booked. The third shop also couldn't fit me in, but they offered to let me leave the car overnight.
I went into the boot and pulled out the tyre fix kit. It had a bottle of Tyre Weld rated for 19-inch wheels. I followed the instructions, filled the tyre with the foam, and immediately drove off to spread the compound around. I went back to the BP garage to top it up again; it was still leaking, but luckily MUCH slower.
I found a shop in Basingstoke (about 15 miles away) and rang around. Only one place actually had my tyre size in stock in case it couldn't be fixed, so I headed there. It was a nerve-racking drive, watching the PSI drop with every bump in the road. I kept it under 50mph like the bottle said (I felt bad holding up traffic!). I knew I could always pull over and use the compressor to pump it up again if I had to. I started at 38 PSI and made it there with 16 PSI left.
Now that I could relax, I inspected the tyre properly—it was a big crack in the sidewall with a bulge. Definitely unrepairable. It really hurt because I’d just put four new Michelin PS5s on, which had finally given me real confidence in the car.
They fitted a Chinese brand tyre as it was the only one they had, but it has decent rain grooves and I’ve done 100 miles on it so far with no major grip issues. The rims seem fine too (strong triangular shapes, I suppose!).
I was thinking, if the foam doesn't work, what do I do next time? I'm planning the NC500 trip around Scotland in 2 months and I really don't want to be stranded in the Highlands. Do I need to buy a spare tyre and rim? I imagine the rims are expensive.
I’m very thankful for the pressure readout; if I’d been in my old car, I would have been panicking a lot more and probably calling recovery because I wouldn't have known how fast the air was dropping.
After the ordeal, I decided to treat her to some G5 compound and polished up all the glass. It will be one year since purchase in March, I need to give her a full detail. I might do that after my roadtrip.
Also on a positive note, I had a major service due (£600+) but thankfully it had one more stamp in the service plan that the old owner paid for!
