I went to America’s Tire;
They are pushing me to buy the above for about $20/tire.
Is it worth it?
So far only once - soon after I bought a car with 2 new tires; One of the old tire got punctured - those guys told me that it can’t be repaired.
Should I buy it? Is it possible to just buy 2 tires only (instead of all 4)?
Road hazard insurance should be FREE. It’s either free or available for a small price. $20 a tire is highway robbery, even worse than extended warranties!!!
Is it possible to just buy 2 tires only (instead of all 4)?
Yes, as long as your mystery vehicle is not equipped with AWD.
Bear in mind that if you buy ony two tires, a reputable tire shop will only install them on the rear wheels, as per the protocol of all of the major tire manufacturers.
Is it worth it?
It all depends on whether you are a gambler by nature or not. You might drive for years without having tires damaged by a nail or glass or other road debris, but then again, you might have more than one incident of this nature in only one year. Nobody can predict what you might run into or over.
You should be aware that Costco includes a Road Hazard Warranty in the price of their tires. The prices tend to be good to begin with. Once you factor in the Road Hazard coverage, free lifetime puncture repairs, free lifetime balancing, and free lifetime rotations, the price is even better.
I am not suggesting that you join Costco just for this, but you might want to consider a membership for one year and scoop up all of the other bargains on food, paper supplies, motor oil, car batteries, etc, in addition to their Michelin and BF Goodrich tires.
I wouldn’t buy additional insurance on tires. Sounds like a profit generator to me.
“Is it possible to buy 2 tires only (instead of all 4)?” Yes, it’s possible but whether or not it’s a good idea in your case depends on a lot of things you haven’t told us.
We don’t know what you’re driving, so it’s hard to say. If your vehicle has AWD you may need to buy 4 tires. Read the owner’s manual.
Sorry I worded poorly
I meant if I could buy insurance for just 2 tires - but still buy 4 tires.
Yeah, they are asking around $20/tire for the Road Hazard ins
It’s your money. You should be able to buy whatever you want. The tires have serial numbers, so they can tell which is which.
I still think it’s a waste of money no matter how many tires we’re talking about.
Agree. I’ve never even heard of road hazard insurance, (I guess my tires don’t have it) however, $20 seems like a lot of money to waste on such.
Thanks - thank - thanks!
Appreciate it
Odds are if you purchase no extended warranty’s or hazard or travel insurance in life you will be far richer in life. Just put the $40 for two tires or $80 for four into a separated savings account for your own “insurance” earning a bit of interest.
I am a sucker and fell for $60 for four tires for 3 years. Not a single problem. I was convinced on premise of Subaru AWD requires 4 tires to be replaced if one fails with a bit more wear than the other three. Firestone is richer never used it.
Usually the cost of insurance is 10% of purchase price of tire alone. $20 is really steep unless you have $200+/each tires without installation.
Be aware too that these road hazard warranties tend to be prorated in a way that works against you very quickly.
If you damage a tire after driving it for 25% of its life, the warranty will offer you a new tire at 25% off list price. Since list prices for tires are quite high and no one ever pays them, that “25% off” price will likely be higher than the amount you paid in the first place.
These warranties tend to help the merchant more than they help you.
flats are so rare these days that I think road hazard warrantys are just profit generators…unless you use the vehicle at construction sites.
I agree with the others, I’ve never bought it, and never needed it. Here’s a convenient way to judge all insurance: buy it only if you can’t afford what it protects against (life, health, home, liability, accident). Don’t buy if you can afford the event (such as for tire road hazard). You’ll be money ahead.
I used my vehicle at construction sites for about 12 months. Noone at any site I was ever at, got a flat tire. Construction workers generally make a pretty big effort clean the areas where they park their vehicles. Afterall, for most of them a flat tire that needs replacing is about half a days work worth of wages, and a full day for the young guys.
Remembre that insurance works the same way no matter what is insured. The insurance company has actuaries who’s job it is to figure out how much, on average, that insurance is going to cost them. At that point you are just sharing cost with lots of other drivers, who might have reasons for knowing they are more likely to have problems. Then they add in the cost of handling claims and of course a nice profit for the company and the cost of salesmen actuaries etc.
So most people who buy the insurance will pay more than they get back. Since a tyre is not something most of us can’t buy if needed, you are just increasing your cost of owning a car to buy the insurance.
We had a construction project going on for a year where I work and I got two or three flats that year just circumnavigating the site on a paved circumferential road!
But I see your point.
Only buy it if you work in construction (random nails everywhere), or plan to move to a new house addition with few homes yet (same reason).
Otherwise, I can think of no reason to pay for “tire insurance”.
BTW - would you like to buy some gas siphon insurance? 
Or if you’ve just had your house reroofed. Man, the roofing nails I swept up!
Just because they clean their site, doesn’t mean they don’t drop stuff along the way
No hazard insurance. Tires are not that expensive. If you can buy a new tire for 50 or 100 then it is not a problem. Road hazard damage to tire ruin is infrequent. Take your 80 dollars and self insure. If the price of a new tire will ruin you, then I submit that you can’t afford to drive a car, especially if you bought a guzzler rather than an economy model.
I apologize for the impatience but that’s my take.
Get a second opinion on repair. Are you talking to people who sell tires and have to adhere to what trial lawyers have them frightened into advising?
If a tire is punctured too close to the sidewall then it may not be reliable with a tire puncture repair plug. The usual measurement is 3/4 inch as I recall but verify this.
It depends on where you drive. In cities there is a lot of debris on many streets. On rural interstates and highways, not so much.