What the $20 repair covers
A flat tire repair is $20 before tax when the tire can be saved. The tire comes off the car and off the rim so the inside can be inspected, the hole is cleaned out, and it is patched from the inside so the inner liner is sealed and the hole through the tread is filled. Then the tire goes back on the rim and back on the car at the right pressure.
Patching from the inside matters. A plug pushed in from the outside, the kind sold in roadside kits, can get you home, but it does not seal the liner and nobody gets to see whether the tire was damaged inside. An inside repair is the one tire makers accept.
When a tire can be repaired, and when it can’t
Not every flat is a $20 fix. Tire makers and the tire industry follow the same basic limits, and we go by them.
- The hole has to be in the tread area, the part that touches the road. Not the sidewall and not the shoulder where the tread turns down into it.
- The hole has to be small, about 6 mm across or less. A screw or roofing nail is usually fine. A gash from a piece of metal is not.
- The tire cannot have been driven flat. Running on a flat chews up the inside of the sidewall, and you can often see a ring of rubber dust inside once it is off the rim.
- Repairs should not overlap. A second hole too close to an old patch means the tire is done.
Run flat tires have their own rules, and some makers say they should not be repaired at all. If your car has them, mention it when you book.
Don’t drive on it flat
Driving on a flat tire, even a few blocks, can ruin a tire that could have been saved for $20. The sidewall folds under the weight of the car and breaks down from the inside. If a tire goes soft, pull over somewhere safe and put on the spare, or use the inflator kit if your car came with one instead of a spare.
A compact spare is temporary. It is usually limited to 80 km/h, which keeps it off the 417 at highway speed, and the limit is printed on it. If you used a can of tire sealant, tell us when you come in. Sealant has to be cleaned out of the tire and off the rim before a patch will stick, and it can foul the tire pressure sensor.
If the tire is shredded and there is no spare, we do not tow. Arrange a tow to 1541 Star Top Road and call (613) 744-1521 first.
Slow leaks are not always a nail
A tire that loses a few psi a week has a leak somewhere, and it is often not in the tread. Salt is the usual suspect in Ottawa. Aluminum rims corrode where the tire bead seals against them, and air seeps out through the crust. A valve stem cracked by age and cold is another one. Both are found by putting soapy water over the tire and watching for bubbles.
A tire pressure light on the first cold morning of the fall is a different thing. Air pressure falls roughly 1 psi for every 5 or 6 degrees the temperature drops, so a tire set at 35 psi in September can be well under the warning point in December. Top it up to the pressure on the sticker in the driver’s door jamb, not the maximum on the sidewall, and check again a week later. If one tire keeps dropping, book a repair.
Potholes and road debris
Spring in Ottawa means potholes, and a hard hit does damage a patch cannot fix. A bulge in the sidewall means the cords inside have broken, and that tire needs to be replaced. Do not keep driving on it. A bent rim can also leak at the bead. Hits like that can knock the suspension out too, so if the car pulls or the steering wheel sits crooked afterwards, the shocks and suspension page covers what to look for. Our post on pothole damage signs has a longer list.
The rest of the year it is debris. Screws and nails collect along construction sites and in industrial areas, and most punctures from them land in the tread, where they are repairable if caught early.
After the repair
Check the pressure the next morning and again after a few days. If the tire cannot be repaired, it needs replacing. On all wheel drive cars, check the owner’s manual before replacing only one tire, since some require all four tires to be close in tread depth. If the flat happened right when you were due to swap anyway, the tire change can be done on the same visit. And when the wheel is off, it is an easy moment to glance at the brakes behind it.
Booking a flat tire repair
Book online any time and pick tire repair. Say which tire it is and what you can see in it, and attach a photo of the nail or the damage if you have one. You can drop the car off until 2pm, or come in Saturday between 9:30am and 2pm.
SA Auto Repair is at Unit 1, 1541 Star Top Road, Ottawa, ON, off Innes Road beside Highway 417 Exit 112. We answer the phone in English and French.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to fix a flat tire in Ottawa?
At SA Auto Repair on Star Top Road, a flat tire repair is $20 before tax when the tire can be saved. The tire is patched from the inside, which is the proper repair for a nail or screw in the tread.
Can a tire with a nail in the sidewall be repaired?
No. The sidewall flexes with every turn of the wheel and a repair there will not hold. Holes in the shoulder, where the tread meets the sidewall, are not repairable either. Those tires have to be replaced.
Is a plug from the outside a proper tire repair?
A plug pushed in from outside is a roadside fix to get you home. It does not let anyone check the inside of the tire for damage, and it can work loose. A proper repair takes the tire off the rim and seals the hole from the inside.
Why does my tire pressure light come on when it gets cold?
Air pressure drops as temperature drops, roughly 1 psi for every 5 or 6 degrees. The first cold snap in Ottawa can take a tire that was fine in September below the warning point. Top the tires up to the pressure on the driver's door sticker, measured cold, and if one keeps dropping it has a leak.
How far can I drive on a spare tire?
A full size spare can be driven like a normal tire once its pressure is checked. A compact spare is temporary, usually limited to 80 km/h, and the limit is printed on its sidewall. It is not meant for long trips or the 417 at full speed.
