day off work for flat tyre?

Why did you drive home on it instead of to a tyre place?

Check if you have breakdown cover lumped in with insurance or your employers employee assistance scheme or bank account etc.

Some good info on this thread but also a bit of oneupmanship which is a shame. If your car says low pressure, check it immediately as it’s not saying it at nothing and tyre pressure is way more important than you think. That’s why they went to the length of designing the monitor. To keep us safer.

the truth is cars aren’t designed for you to be able to do anything yourself nowadays. Even a simple light bulb change requires a wheel off and an nvq. I have a company car with full coverage of everything and I am still able to lose a full day waiting for a tyre to be changed, the aa to recover me and/or services to be completed.

I'm glad you’re sorted! I hope it doesn’t happen again for a long time!

Not all cars have a spare! Or I’m sure she’d do just that 🙄

Wow! Bargain! 😆 Glad you got it sorted!

@cosmobrown only one to refund that's great but I was thinking of all these children who haven't done enough practice this week and would have loved a lesson off 😁. I was more diligent as an adult doing my piano practice though.

@cosmobrown I am sorry for my post about the AA/RAC and if you wasted time as a result of my bad memory. MN has removed them for me, I’m so ashamed 🙈 At least you know they can come and change your battery though. I hope you get your tyre sorted this morning.

This is why I always insist on buying cars with proper spare tyres.

self employed

I "know" how to change a tyre but my dodgy back and knees don't allow it. Its why I have got a full call out service including home start.

Of course you have to change the wheel as well, but its just a way of speaking.
My father had a garage so he taught ne lots of car related skills, sadly most outdated now cars have changed so much. I was quite shocked to hear you can't change a wheel/tyre on an EV.

One of the reasons for DH refusing to buy an EV was tyres. Heavier cars different tyres, no spares. Maybe different now.
We have a diesel, we bought a space saver wheel kit which includes a jack.
We already have a pump which works from cigarette lighter socket in car, it is good for bike tyres as well as routine tyre check.
We belong to Green Flag.
Had a puncture, phoned Green Flag they came out and changed the wheel. Waited an hour, changed in minutes. I drove to tyre place who repaired it and changed it back onto the car.
Yes fairly expensive, but fine for peace of mind.

I'm sure your FIL has many virtues but this really is sheer individual ineptitude (or lack of experience) - my father was a very handy amateur mechanic and was adamant that changing a tyre is a thing that everyone should be able to do for themselves.

He also tried to teach me how to change brake pads but that really is a bridge too far.

Use a days annual leave

There are a few 24 hour callout places that can come out and fit a new tyre if you're stuck. DH saw he had a flat tyre when he was about to go to work on a night shift, (a few months back, in mid May,) so he called the local tyre company's 24 hour call out number, and they came and did it for him. (You have to give them the number of the tyre and they get the correct one from their warehouse.) He didn't see the flat tyre til shortly before he was about to leave for work.

They were only three quarters of an hour - and it was done in half an hour. So DH was only about half an hour late for work. It cost £50 extra for the 24 hour callout, but DH would have lost £160 for his night shift if he hadn't gone in, (and just waited til the next day.) A taxi was not an option, as there are only 3 taxi drivers within 5-6 miles, no actual companies, and you have to pretty much book a week in advance for anything most of the time.

Occasionally we have rung for a taxi to see if we can get one now/soon, and got one within 1-2 hours, but it's been the middle of the day. Most times you can't get one. And they would very likely not come out at night. Unless it was a vulnerable person/a woman alone stranded, with no breakdown cover. Also, to DH's work, it would have cost £75 round trip to work, as he works 18 miles away. Half his bloody wage almost!

He did have to call someone out a couple of years ago too, as he popped a tyre on a massive pothole in the dark on the way to work at 9.30pm, on a BANK HOLIDAY MONDAY, and we didn't know at that point that our local tyre centre came out then, for £50 extra. (Normally, they charge £115 for a daytime call out..../to come to you and supply and fit the tyre.) So we paid £165 for the nightime callout.)

But yeah we didn't know they did this at the time. So I looked on the internet for him, and found a company 10 miles from him, and they came out, but not for 2 hours! So he was stood there in the dark on the side of a busy A road from 9.30pm to 11.30pm. They charged £325! (Bank holiday rates, and more expensive anyway!) We got it back though - from the council. Pretty stressful at the time!

tl;rd, I expect you're sorted now @cosmobrown but always keep a local tyre fitter's 24 hour callout in your phone!

If you live fairly rurally and need your car to travel between clients then it's perfectly reasonable to have to cancel your work for the day.

I used to have to drive as part of my job and I learned quickly to 1. Have breakdown cover with homestart 2. Have a spare wheel (a spacesaver will do if bootspace is an issue). Runflat tyres (e.g. on Minis) are a pain in the arse IMO as loads of places don't stock them and those puncture repair kits for normal tyres are okay but a faff in my experience.

I’d never change a tyre myself. My FIL changed my BIL’s tyre and it came off on the motorway. And this is someone who has put a car together.

I had a slow puncture this week. Drove into the local garage in my lunch break and they fixed it in 20 minutes for £24.

Totally agree, I didn’t have the strength to remove the bolts and had to get my Dad and brother to come and help, my Dad couldn’t get them undone either (mechanic before he retired) and my brother only just managed it.
Im all for being as Independent as possible but at 5ft tall and small framed i cant compete with his brawny arms and strength 😂

I'd definitely invest in a spare if I were you, OP, just so you can change it yourself on your drive if this happens again.