Modern large tyre availability in cases of emergency

gearoidol

A few weeks ago my wife clipped a curb and irreparably damaged the 20" tyre. It was early in the morning and where she pulled in was on the side of a main road at an entrance to an estate and would have caused an obstruction for any big lorries who needed access. Like many modern cars ,it doesn't have a spare and the large gash in the tyre was never going to be fixed by the gue. I dropped the kids to school and called into her and tried my spare which is from the same brand of vehicle but unfortunately had different stud hole dimensions.

Long story short none of the local tyre shops had suitable tyres and the main dealers who were an hour away wanted to book in the wheel at an allotted time later in the morning ,even though she was stranded at the side of the road.

Ultimately i found one in stock 45mins away but wasted half the morning sorting it out,with herself stuck on the side of the road on a jack in the meantime.

She did have break down assist ,but they would have been an hour away and would have just ended up towing her to the nearest place with them in stock.

My query is , i am wondering how prevalent this occurrence is ,in this day in age ,with many suvs having large than 20" tyres now and many small towns not stocking them. Im wondering is there an opening for a business directly dedicated to this type of roadside rescue and how many variances of larger tyres are the there. I know loading is one criteria but would there be 20 different types of each tyre or more ?

Padre_Pio

I would assume that a business for this specific problem will likely have a call-out time greater than roadside assistance. Realistically, the RA would only take maybe 2 hours longer than you yourself hunting for a spare tyre and getting it fitted.

EDIT: Just to add, I wouldn't like any old 20" replacement tyre either. I'm particular about tyres. I have Pirellis on my car, and I wouldn't want to waste the money on whatever brand of tyre the call-out guy happened to have.

Mobius2021

I was at a Tyrestop recently and was chatting to them about inflation and cost of living while they were working on my car. He mentioned that they are cutting back on the frequency of delivery of tyres at the moment due to delivery costs. So they will put in a bigger order less frequently.

This means they said in some cases customers may need to wait for a tyre which can be awkward. They could keep the same frequency of deliveries but the extra cost would get passed on increasing the tyre prices.

zg3409

There are tyre specialists that come to you. They may or may not have the right tyre in stock, they might have an emergency wheel to get you home.

This is relatively common now, reducing vehicles weight with no spare increases mpg statistics and reduces cost to make. To be fair punctures are less common these days, particularly those that destroy the tyre.

gearoidol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120379115#Comment_120379115

Thanks for the reply,I understand where you are coming from ,but if the business specific model held appropriate stock (if that is indeed possible) ,i am sure it would be much preferred than RA towing a vehicle to be repaired. I suppose i am basing the model on a lot of the vehicles in question being premium cars/suvs ie X5's ,RR Audis etc where affluent owners,perhaps being company principals in some cases ,where the expense may not be personally born by them but rather their companies ,would be happy to pay a large callout fee to be quickly back on the road ,rather than their vechicle being towed

gearoidol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120379124#Comment_120379124

Our local tyrestop was the first place i tried. The fitter who i know , said not a hope , we would have nothing in stock for that.

The main dealer had the right size but a different brand.

The small outfit i ultimately got the tyre ,mentioned the vehicle i turned up in was even worse and had a very odd size of 21s which took 3 weeks to come in from holland ,when he was looking for a set before xmas.

gearoidol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120379115#Comment_120379115

I am the same , the vehicle came with goodyear from the factory and the main dealer with the many hours wait had only Pirelli in stock which i didnt want, so if the small type shop that bailed me out didnt exist i would have had to settle for a unmatched set.

bazz26

The problem with large tyres like that is that they are expensive even at wholesale prices and still relatively uncommon. For a business to stock them there needs to be enough demand for them and turn over of stock to make it viable. A business is not going to order in tyres in large numbers that hardly anyone buys from them as the stock costs them money up front as well as the space to store them.

Speedline

Can I suggest ordering a pair of tyres from tyreshop.ie or Oponeo or one of those places, and put them out in the shed in case of emergencies. If you don't have an emergency, you still have a pair of tyres when they are due to be changed.

mikeecho

I recently got a pair of 275/40 r18. Run flats.

Had to wait 3 days .

Didn't matter what brand I wanted, 3 day lead time in the 2 places I checked.

Buffman

I got myself a full size spare in a breakers to avoid this situation. I don't always carry it but it's there if I need it.

I don't think the business model would work OP. There are lots of variations in tyres. Put your sizes into Tyreleader or Openeo if you want an idea. An awful lot of upfront capital would be tied up in stock, which then has to be stored correctly and is perishable. There would also be a substantial outlay to provide a timely nationwide service. If there was money to be made there, you can bet the AA or similar would be doing it.

At the end of the day, even though it might not have seemed so at the time, you found one relatively close if it was only 45 min away.