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Best Blown Tire Ever - 2015 Audi A3 Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited September 2015 in Audi
imageBest Blown Tire Ever - 2015 Audi A3 Long-Term Road Test

Blowing a tire on the way to your brother's wedding stinks. But when it happened to me in our long-term 2015 Audi A3, things worked out about as well as you could hope.

Read the full story here


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    locke42locke42 Member Posts: 25
    edited September 2015
    Spare. Always spare.

    I think it's BS that cars don't come with spares anymore.

    Also, what is up with you guys and all the major (i.e. "tow required") problems you've been having with your A3?
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    steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited September 2015
    Seems like I average a flat a year - had two last year on the current minivan so I'm hoping that gives me a break this year.

    I'm shopping and the spare is on my spreadsheet (a compact is okay and a place to stash one is okay if I have to buy one as an accessory. Not sure what to do if the car I want only comes with a can of Fix-a-Flat and no space to put a spare.

    How much was the tow truck call Matt? I've heard that some taxi companies will do that chore for you too.
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    ebeaudoinebeaudoin Member Posts: 509
    Both of my cars have spare tires. As long as I can remember, my parent's cars have had spare tires. It just makes sense. I don't know if it's a dealbreaker for me but I don't like the idea of not having one.
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    nate001nate001 Member Posts: 102
    No photo of the hole that killed your tire??? In this situation I would have called the tow truck also. I am capable of changing the tire, but would not want to bother with it in this situation. if you are paying for AAA or have roadside service then let someone else change the tire since don't need the car for few hours and can wait for them to show up.
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    explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,323
    Doesn't Audi have roadside assistance?
    2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
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    agentorangeagentorange Member Posts: 893
    edited September 2015
    I won't buy a car that doesn't have a spare. Inflator kits are useless if there is sidewall damage as shown above, and run flats just get you to the next place without cell coverage here in Nevada. Yes, this does limit my choices in high performance vehicles, but it beats being stuck in America's equivalent of the Empty Quarter for half a day, assuming the road is busy, of course. ;)
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    seppoboyseppoboy Member Posts: 93
    Thankfully it has been several years since I had a flat, even though I drive 30k miles annually. My current car is a BMW 328d x-drive with 17 inch runflat tires and no spare, and it will be my last car without a spare. I had a leak after new tires were mounted, luckily it triggered the TMPS within ten miles of the tire shop. But friends were stranded in an unfamiliar city on a holiday weekend when their BMW 5-series ruined a runflat, and it was not until Wednesday that they were able to get a replacement. BMW roadside assistance helped them get the towtruck to move the car, but they had to rent a vehicle and disrupt many plans, none of that would have been necessary had their car had a spare tire. Never again will I accept a vehicle with runflats or without a spare tire.
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    kirkhilles1kirkhilles1 Member Posts: 863
    Unfortunately, our cars only have temporary spares which are a step up, but not much since you forget to check the pressure of it and it runs flat. Full size spare is definitely the way to go - work it into a regular tire rotation and get 20% more miles out of your tires (of course, 20% higher bill when replacing them) and not an extreme rush to get it replaced.
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    boffboff Member Posts: 91
    My car has no spare and no possibility of one (staggered tires; big brakes). It's a calculated risk.
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    maxtremaxtre Member Posts: 5
    No Spare. I also had a sidecut on a tire on my S60 T5 AWD with an inflater kit. Had to have the car towed to tire shop. Had to replace 2 tires rather than one because of the AWD. I was told by the tire store and the car dealer that the tires on each axle needed to be close to the same tire depth or I would would cook the differential.
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    kurtamaxxxguykurtamaxxxguy Member Posts: 1,798
    Always a spare, and tires at/taller than 45 series. While in California I noticed plenty of road-sided euros with blown low profile tires and bent wheels.
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    karmonkarmon Member Posts: 7
    Only with a spare. My VW Sportwagon TDI had a flat within the 1st year. It was so bad a new replacement tire had to be purchased. Thank goodness the spare was there and VW Roadside came to the rescue. Looking at replacing with a BMW x3 but no spare (run-flats) so it'll be a "no sale" for me.
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    s197gts197gt Member Posts: 486
    explorerx4 said:

    Doesn't Audi have roadside assistance?

    thank you! this is part of the ownership experience. if a manufacturer has roadside assistance they should try to use it.

    http://www.audiusa.com/help/vehicle-and-owner-assistance

    "With Audi Roadside Assistance¹ available 24 hours a day, you can count on getting a jump start, tire change, lock-out assistance, emergency fuel, towing, or vehicle extrication in short order. From anywhere in the U.S. or Puerto Rico, call (800) 411-9988."
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    mattjonesmattjones Member Posts: 6
    edited September 2015
    Great suggestions about Audi's roadside assistance.

    A quick call to Audi's RA said I could expect a tow truck arrival somewhere between 30-90 minutes. I called AAA, and they had a truck nearby with a five minute ETA, so I chose the latter.

    Audi will work with a local dealership if available to fix a flat (depending on dealership availability) or contract with a local tow truck company to fix an owner's flat if there is an Audi dealership nearby to lend a hand. I'm doubtful that there would have been a dealership available to help at 9pm or so on a Saturday evening, though. Chances are roadside assistance would have set me up with a contracted tow truck.

    There is even a chance Audi would have contracted with the exact same AAA truck I called on my own, but I didn't want to wait for a resolution - I just wanted to get back to the wedding.

    The call didn't cost me anything, other than one of four free flat fixes I get per year as a AAA member.
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