Anyone have experience with tire repair kit?

Had a flat tire tonight, finally got to use that tire repair kit that comes with my 2018 Prius plug-in hybrid.
Two guys helped me with that. Well, looks quite easy to use and quick fix. Will update tomorrow after I bring to Toyota for follow up, e.g. any charge for tire repair, a replacement kit, tire pressure monitor reset?! .........things like that!

 

Since I have a for real tire plug kit and pump, I removed the TPMS destroyer that Toyota supplies and freed up that space for other small items. That's just in case someone else uses my car (not likely), has a flat, and is tempted to ruin the tire and sensor with that crap. All unlikely, but now it's not a factor at all and the car lost a few pounds which partly compensates for the added weight of the donut spare I bought. Ready for a puncture or a blowout.

 

...re-opening an old thread...

IF the Toyota-branded sealant is water based, there's should be little to know risk of gumming up the tire, nor ruining the TPMS sensor.

For comparison purposes: 2 years ago, I used the Nissan sealant kit (made by Continental). It worked exactly as described. I left the sealant in the tire for several days, with no loss of air. When the tire shop removed the tire from the rim, he simply hosed out the tire/rim, including the TPMS. I drove on the tire for another 5k miles until it was replaced, along with the other three.

I haven't used the Toyota sealant, hopefully never will, as I'll be placing a donut spare in the trunk of my 2018 Prius Four Touring. However, if my wife experiences a flat, in rural TX, it's quite possible she'd use the inflator/sealant kit, rather than wait hours for AAA to show up.

For those of you that offer the solution of a plug/inflation, please realize that not everyone is physically capable of removing the offending nail/screw, reaming out the hole, and pushing a plug through the tread.

 

I had a sealant supplied with my last car (FIESTA). Reading the ~22 pages of instructions with the sealant in the Owner's Manual - I quickly had it replaced with a temporary spare (which I used 3 (or 4?) times in 4½ yrs).

The USA PRIUS Owner's Manual warns re TPMS:

 

Tow service and repair kit were useless for me as I got a 16penny or larger spike curved through the sidewall and tread/driving with the spike sticking out. Driving more than one block was not an option. Towing would be to a dealer which does not stock OEM tires. So I drove the car one block to Tire Kingdom and parked it for two days while they ordered an OEM. $249 new tire trashed. Which leads to the next complaint, why can't the top of the line Prius have normal size tires? The Limited, as far as I know, has all of the current safety features which I need.

No one within 100 miles stocks the OEM tire.

I am at the point I will not buy another car without a spare or strange size tires. Retrofitting these is not a project I wanted to do on a new car. If you don't need the cargo space then just shove a full size wheel/tire on the back loading area if you live in remote locations.

 

Agreed!! It's getting worse - back in the '50s, there was not much more than a handful of tyre sizes - by 20 years ago, I had trouble sourcing one for a VOLVO 940 - 670 kilometres before I located one, in a fairly remote area. That car was only 6 yrs old at the time. Fortunately I had a full size spare. There are literally 100s of sizes and grades of tyre now. And some not particularly old ones aren't stocked. I had to replace a tyre on my Dad's '92 CAMRY 4 yrs ago, and they had to order it in - and that model sold in huge numbers.

Unfortunately most manufacturers are supplying Full Size spares only on base models, if at all - if you want a better equipped model, forget a F/S spare or in many cases, a spare at all. Grrrr!!!

 

I remember in the 70s when I started driving, nearly all Fords were on 13" rims with 165x13 (80 profile) tyres, the odd sporty version had 14" with 175 wide and 70 profile. It wasn't until the 90s that 14" became the norm then in the 00s 15".
I won't buy a car without a spare wheel, which is why I got the dealer to supply one as part of the deal when I bought my Gen 4, which didn't have one as standard.

 

Remember PEUGEOT took the plunge with Metric rims for the 505? Nearly 15½" - and tyres were near impossible to get without ordering even when nearly new. The one person I knew with one changed the wheels to, I think 15".

 

First time I heard this. $249 for a comparable tire in the same size, or was it $249 for the exact same brand and model of tire?

FWIW: On AWD autos, most shops will refuse to replace only one tire; they’ll make you replace all four, and with the beefy fat tires on some of those behemoths, you’ll be out $2,000!

 

Removing the factory compressor with slimy stuff and carrying a 12V compressor and plug kit proved to be a good decision Saturday. On my way into Tampa, my tire pressure light came on. Left rear was a little low. I just pulled over and filled it up with my little compressor and went on my way. When I got home, I jacked it up to investigate. I found a piece of stainless steel wire that had somehow managed to make TWO tiny punctures about 1/8" apart in the center channel of the tire.

I didn't figure I could plug that kind of leak, but the tires have a 1-year road hazard warranty. The Toyota dealership I got them from is just two miles away and they said they could fit me in. I went over there and they patched it for free. The receipt showed what they will charge the warranty company and it as only $15 and change. I'm sure it would have been a lot more work for them if I'd filled it with goo.

 

What OEM size tire did your PRIUS Limited come with? AFAIK, most of Prius lines with 15 inch wheels comes with OEM 195/65R15 tires. That size is one of the most popular size, I had no problem finding them at any tire or auto shop. At $250, I could have changed all four tires.

 

I'm guessing @ETP 's "limitted" has the 215/45R17's? They're a little harder to source, maybe. Getting made-in-Japan itteration of the Ecopia EP422 (a common OEM on the Prius) is a pain too: there's three versions of EP422, from various countries.

 

Many OEM tires are OEM-only models and have fairly short tread life anyway.

 

Well, if that's the case, I can understand why it's hard to find an OEM size tire. I just don't understand why auto manufactures pairs larger wheels on higher trims, especially on a car like Prius. I have not yet found a single reason I would wont larger wheels on my car.

 

Yes and British Leyland brought out the Mini Metro late 70s with metric run flats that were an odd size, 160/65 R315 what was all that about ?

 

Our 81 Civic was 13" lol. The larger rim size tires are typically more expensive, heavier, lower profile, lots of negatives.

 

Yeah, our recently purchased used Pathfinder Hybrid is a top of the line Platinum trim and came with 20 inch wheels. I could not even find a snow tires that would fit on that size wheel. All other lower trims came with OEM 18 inch wheels. I bought used 18" OEM wheels from eBay and put Xice on them. 18" tires are substantially cheaper than 20" tires, lighter, gets better mileage even with snow tires, and I think it drives better than with larger wheels.

 

I've seen some Escalades that looked almost like shiny black Conestoga wagons.

 

Maybe this?

 

No, those wheels are too small and the tires too big. But that's still hilarious.