Sorry, this is probably a really divvy question but I don't know much about these things!

My 500 has a slow puncture on the offside rear. Is it okay to drive the car around a bit with a half inflated tyre? I need to drive it somewhere to get a new one. Am I best off just going to a Kwik fit down the road or should I take it to the dealers which is a bit further to drive? I'm in South east London, any suggestions welcomed!

Thanks.

If you are unable to get to a tyre place easily you could always go to a petrol station and pump it up as a temporary measure (put a few pounds extra in it) or get a seal and blow up canister from Halfords.

The only problem with using this method is that the tyre will probably not be repairable afterwards.

Hiya

Thanks, I did already pump it up at a petrol station and then drove home, by the time I'd got home (a few miles) it was back down to half inflated. Its outside my house, I just wondered if there's any 'best' place to go get a new tyre, and if I'm doing my car untold harm driving it with a half inflated tyre!?

Also - does this mean the tyre is fixable by the garage or am I best off getting a new one?

depends where the hole is - sometimes it can be repaired sometimes not

Sounds like a fairly slow puncture so it's probably not going to be a huge gash in the tyre. As Rob says it depends where the hole is as to whether it can be fixed though, on the sidewall and you're talking a new tyre, but if it's on the tread you should be OK. It's OK to drive the car for a little while on the puncture but don't be doing hundreds of miles because that will kill the tyre.

The only problem you might run into is if the tyre place doesn't have a matching tyre. It's not essential to have matching tyres on the same axle but it's better to have matching tyres. There is probably a bigger chance that the dealer will have the right tyre but check if the dealer does tyre repairs as well.

I would suggest putting the spare on and then you can drive safely and without fear of damaging your alloys, to the repair shop - remember though that if you have a space saver spare (can't remember if that is what comes as standard in the 500) you need to limit your speed.

alternatively, if you have access to another car, you can chuck your flat in the boot and drive it to the repairer without using the 500 at all!

Juwlz said:

Hiya

Thanks, I did already pump it up at a petrol station and then drove home, by the time I'd got home (a few miles) it was back down to half inflated.

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that sounds like quite a fast puncture to me.

Thanks to everyone that replied. I took it to kwik fit in the end and they repaired it straight away, cost about 19 quid. Happy again!