my husband’s new car (2004 Saturn) got a flat tire on his way home from the lot. The same tire popped today while we were driving to the movies (3 days later). My question is, is this just bad luck or is it a sign of a more serious problem? Both flats occured on the interstate, driving around 60 mph.
You -or he or whomever you prefer- needs to take a look very carefully around the wheel-well area to make sure that there isn’t something sharp like a screw or something poking through. If it’s not rubbing on the fender or something in the wheel-well, you can chalk it up to coincidence and quit telling the poor guy that his new car sucks.
If they just repaired the flat and you’re talking about the same tire both times, I’d say it’s pretty clear you’ve either got a bad tire or someone did a shoddy repair on it.
It is not likely to be anything related to the car. Since it was the same tyre, and I assume it was repaired, I would guess it was a bad repair. It may be some hazard where it is parked or driven or maybe the tyres is old or worn beyond its life.
I would have all four tyres carefully checked or if approaching the time to replace them, now would be a good time. One thing to look for are cracks. That is an indication of age and age not just wear is bad for a tyre.
One last thing. A tyre that went out at 60 mph could very easily been damaged additionally by that event.
This tire needs to be replaced. Do so and your bad luck streak will end. Then you will be able to fully appreciate your new car.
One added suggestion: if you’ve had any construction, especially roofing done to your house, or hubby has construction going on at work, that’s another potential source of chronic flats. I had a few myself when I redid my roof. And I now drive by a construction area at work and i’ve picked up a few self tapping screws the past few weeks.
Get the rim checked out. If you got a flat while driving, you may have damaged the rim as well as the tire.