A man visited a nearby Discount Tire for a tire patch. He assumed the job would take like five minutes. Then an employee purportedly told him it would be more like four hours.
TikTok creator Vic (@vicsdadlife) posted a video about the incident. “Alright, I’ma go on a quick little rant, because big chain tire shops are a [expletive] ripoff,” he says.
Vic explains that he went to Discount Tire near his home because a tire on his wife’s vehicle had a small nail in it.
“I usually would patch it up myself, but I didn’t have any patches,” Vic says. “And I thought to myself, I have to go to the store and buy some, I have to wait in line, I have to come back, I have to patch it—I might as well just take it and save all that time.”
What Happened At Discount Tire?
When Vic arrived at Discount Tire, however, he says he got a different estimate than he expected. When he asked how long it might take for a “quick patch,” Vic says, the man said it would take a while.
“And the guy was like, ‘I don't do nothing quick here. It's gonna be three and a half hours, maybe four. We have a long line,’” says Vic.
Vic decided to walk. “I thought, ‘You don’t have someone to spare to change a tire for five minutes? Are you [expletive] kidding me? It’ll take five minutes to patch up a tire.’ This is why I don’t like going to big corporate tire shops,” he says.
Ultimately, Vic went to an independent shop in his neighborhood. Not only did they patch the tire within a few minutes, but they also did it free of charge. “Don’t support big corporate tire shops,” Vic wrote in the caption.
Why Would It Take Hours To Patch A Tire?
In the comments section of the video, viewers debated why the wait at Discount Tire might’ve been longer than Vic expected.
“I promise you no one is patching a tire in five minutes,” wrote one person. “There’s a difference between plugging and patching, and you’re definitely thinking of plugging a tire. To patch a tire, the tire has to come off the rim, the tire has to get patched, then get back on the rim, and then it has to be balanced.”
A second person said, “It’s a liability issue! Once a business repairs your tire, they assume liability that your tire is good. Then when your sidewall puncture repair blows up on the freeway and your family is injured or worse, who are you going to sue?”
According to Discount Tire, a repair isn’t just a question of how quickly the technician can do the job. The company also focuses on “restoring safety and performance” and that means the tire has to go through a multi-step process that includes a final inspection to make sure there is a proper seal.
In terms of the plug versus patch discussion, AAA states that a tire plug is a temporary fix and a tire patch is a permanent repair. The tire plug is what happens when the technician literally uses a rubber piece to plug up the hole. A tire patch is the formal repair that creates a seal using a patch attached to the tire with a special cement.
According to JD Power, a patch should take about 15-25 minutes to get done. A plug takes about 15 minutes to install. In some cases, the damage is so severe or the nail is lodged in the sidewall. That will mean you have to buy a completely new tire.
Motor1 contacted Vic via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We also contacted Discount Tire via email for comment. We'll be sure to update this if either responds.
