Flat tyres. Why one car but not the other?

[PandaOrLion]

We have two cars. Both parked in the same place and both do roughly the same journeys. If you’re doing a long drive then we always use one, but for the rest of the time we use them both the same.

Since 2021, the Kia has had 16 nails/screws etc through the tyre causing a puncture and needing something done. The Volvo has had one occasion with something damaging the tyre. Both cars have the same brand of tyres from the same garage.

why?! Any theories?

Have you or neighbours had roofing work done ? Roofers had chucked nails down where they disappeared into the gravel - but they occasionally gravitated to the front of the house where they went in the tyres.

You’ve had 16 flat tyres in 4 years???

I don’t think so. There’s been a lot of driveways being down, but only one roof recently that I can think of, and quite a few neighbours down. Our cars are parked at the back of the house (behind the garden) so quite far away from the roof too.

Do you work in different places, ie does one car regularly go to your work and one to your DP/H work?

Who has the kia driver pissed off

Truly bizarre OP. In all my years of driving I have only got one nail in a tyre.

DH works from home, I drive to work. But I drive both cars equally. On a nursery day DH takes the Volvo and I take the Kia, on a non nursery day, I take the Kia.

I feel like that was my life before we bought the Kia. Oh how I miss that life.

16 punctures. When the light has come on we’ve either had it repaired or replaced so they haven’t all gone flat. But why only that car?! The other car has driven the same routes.

That’s odd if you’re doing the same routes in both cars. My DH previous car had so many punctures fixed it was getting ridiculous. Ours were nails in tyres too. Since changing the car late last year I don’t think he has had any and he does the same routes as with previous car.

Yeah this is pretty much what I'd be considering!

Is the type pressure kept correct. Soft tyres will take more punctures. You have replaced the tyres I hope, old tyres could be leaking air through the sidewalks & reducing the pressure. In 30+ years of driving I've had 1 puncture.

Is the Kia an E/V?

Volvo is normally heavier -maybe pushes nails to the side. But electric cars are heavy.

We went through a period when our car seemed to get a lot of punctures. (Not 16 though!) Then it stopped and we haven't had one for ages (touch wood!). It's a mystery to me. Just bad luck I guess?

Is where the cars are parked accessible to others or is it secure?

At that rate the only explanation I can think of is someone is intentionally positioning nails against your tyres while it's parked.

We had an issue with the tyre pressure monitor on a car which we first thought was repeated punctures. Mended that and no more punctures!

If there is a nail in the road I will find it! Different cars, doesn’t matter. DH on the other hand hardly ever has a puncture.

I would get the monitor checked though, if no obvious cause for the puncture.

Kia isn’t electric.

We’ve had the tyre pressure sensor checked and replaced, that was causing the light to come on but all the tyres read fine when checked. Tyre pressures are checked every week or two.

I don’t think anyone is leaving nails nearby because there isn’t consistency in it always being an issue directly after leaving the house. For example yesterday the Kia drove home to Aldi (2miles), Aldi to gymnastics (5miles), gymnastics to petrol station (3 miles) then home (2 miles) and the light came on between petrol station and home, whereas sometimes we will start the car at home and the light is on before we’ve moved the car. So I think if that was happening we’d have more consistency in the length of time before we saw it had happened.

im going to take the Volvo = heavy car so pushes stuff out the way theory.

We’ve had this issue with one of our cars and my DH who is a mechanic hasn’t worked out exactly what it is but concludes there’s an issue with the car in some way - it’s motivated us to change car

Thanks, this is reassuring that we’re not going mad!

It sounds like something in the car is causing the issue. 16 in 4 years is absolutely madness!!!!

We have something similar but on less numbers. One car has had about 6 nails or screws in 3 years, and the other (which does far more miles ) has had none. Not got to the bottom of it. We did get suspicious it was a disgruntled neighbour that we weren't aware of (we certainly haven't fell out with anyone and there's no parking wars or anything) because it was odd why it was only the one car it happens to .

I think it’s simply because Volvos are far superior in all ways. 😂 I’ve had two (old secondhand) Volvos, my current one is a 2011. Very few punctures or problems. In between the Volvos, I bought a brand new Skoda. All sorts of tyre issues. I can’t even tell you how many punctures I had with it in the 4 years I had it. Plus so many other issues. The weight difference is also very noticeable, so I agree that probably plays a big part.

Hi OP, are you having the tyre pressure warning light come on or are you having flats tyres ?

I'm just asking because my tyre pressure warning light was regularly coming on.

The reason for.it was that the car ended up with minutely different tyres sizes ie 155/55 and 155/50.

As the tyre pressure is monitored by the rotation of the wheel this is why the warning light kept coming on.

I changed the tyres so they are now all the exact same size and haven't had an issue since.

Potentially you've already checked that the tyre sizes are all exactly the same but I thought it was worthwhile mentioning as it might help others.