I know its all over the forum, so this is more informational / small question re particular shops and the Pirelli Road Hazard Warranty

I have a '13 CM only 1100 miles on it, with the 17" Pirelli P7 AS tires on the stock MINI rims. (I've heard that the 205/55 R17 is a runflat size, and that not many non RF could fit)

Last night noticed a nail in the Passenger Rear Tire, I added air to the tire and it seemed to hold, this morning when I checked it hardly leaked. I drove maybe 5 miles under 40mph on the RF so no issues from last night.

This morning I took the car to Tire Plus off MD-198 (Burtonsville) he quoted me $28 until he learned they were RF, and then didn't want to touch them (Mainly cause he didn't think he could dismount/mount the tire from the rim. I headed over to GoodYear next door, he had a long waiting line and wasnt sure if he could patch/repair it.

Finally, went to Mr Tire off Rt 1 (Laurel) (total miles driven on it now about 20. Air pressure still holding) and since they are Pirelli authorized dealers, they patched/repaired it for me (although at a cost of $45, incl. balancing ).

I read up on the Pirelli Road Hazard Warranty (within 1 yr and inital 2/32 of tread wear, with only authorized repairs) and sent a note to MOA. I'm just waiting back to hear from them if I can get a new RF at no cost.

I was surprised that Mr Tire didn't say anything about the Pirelli warranty, but then again, they had none of the new P7 in stock, so they still would have just patched it while we wait for the tire to come in.

I know folks on NAM say many tire shops won't touch the RF, but is there a collection of Tire Brand / Auth. Dealer shops that seem consistant to help out the RF folks?

(And Yes, I know ditch the RF when I get the chance, but I have to say, these P7s are waaay better than the old bridgestones I had on my R53)

 

Big O takes care of all my nails and a big screw too for $25 a repair. Last one they did for free. No issues with the tires and they work as food as new. Still on the original tires after 26k.

 

Good. Damn auto correct.

 

I've had a couple done at Discount Tire without too much hassle. One of the times, the guy on the phone said they couldn't do it, but when I explained that it was in the center of the tread and I hadn't driven on it flat, they fixed it for free.

 

The guy at tire plus came out and saw it was center tread, he was concerned of getting the tire off the rim.

 

Haha I thought the mechanics would do it for $25 or food lol

 

"auto correct" ... isn't that what you call what a car mechanic does?

 

That's so weird to me. I don't know what percentage of cars have runflats, but you'd think a tire shop would want to be able to service all customers and have the necessary equipment on hand.

 

I agree, especially a large tire only shop....his suggestion was a mini or bmw dealer, but i knew they'd sell me a tire right away and not look at warranty or options...
Makes me wonder though, if they sell RF and since more cars have them, what is the big deal? Not enough muscle power to pull off the hard sidewall?

I watched the mr tire guy do it, and he used what looked like a regular tire changer, mounted the tire, and presto, the rim and tire were separated. I noticed that he had to apply a little more force to get the whole tire off, but once it popped off the front lip, everything just followed. He said it wasn't a big deal.

I guess it goes back to ignorance of a shop. Im glad tire plus was honest that he wasn't comfortable, but still leaves me disappointed in their abilities.