Headed to work this morning and had the low pressure warning. When I got out to check out the problem, I see the rear driver's side tire is flat with something sticking out of the side wall. I pulled on it and it revealed itself to be a 12" piece of all thread sharpened to a point.

The police officer that showed up to take the report told my wife that people wouldn't do that and I probably picked it up on the road.

 

Seems odd to me for you to have picked it up while driving if it's
sticking out of the sidewall....

I'd ask around your neighbors to see if anyone else has had any
problems with vandalism. If so, maybe something you could claim
under the comp of your insurance?

(I'm thinking that vandalism would be a comp claim , anyways...)

Hope the replacement tire wasn't too high $$$.

 

That sucks! Typically, tire replacements aren't covered by insurance, especially if the police are saying you picked it up on the road (whether you did or not) but it would be worth a call to see if it's covered. Tire Rack is a great place to great replacement tires....just be sure to get the right kind of tire sensor or your low pressure sensor will just stay on all the time.

 

I ordered a replacement from Tire Rack.

Don't I just reset the sensor on the steering column computer?

 

Yes, the instructions are in the owner's manual.

 

People wouldn't do that? they stab, shoot, steal and kill each other, but slashing a tire is just too extreme of an act for someone to commit? Sounds like a lazy cop.

sucks to hear, let us know if you find out who did it. we'll rough them up for you.

 

The reset directions are in the owners manual and are pretty simple but it matters what kind of sensor you have. My boyfriend got me tires/wheels for my birthday last year and (being a good sort of car guy), he checked the internet and found that '07 Minis have the kind of sensor that simply monitors the tires from the vehicle - there were no sensors in the tires/wheels themselves. However, even though I have a '07, I have a late '07 with many '08 features....apparently including the "active" sensors in the wheels. Since we replaced my wheels, the low pressure warning light stays on. Since it's merely a nuisance at this point, I've opted to simply wait until I need new tires rather than take these tires off and put new sensors in and then re-mount these tires and put the wheels back. It just seemed like more hassle than it was worth right now when I'll eventually be getting new tires anyway. But I thought I'd warn you just in case....