WIFE FURIOUS ... NO CS over XMAS ... no spare tire

Sigh ... Before I bought the cayman I closely watched the spare tire threads and possible solutions. Consensus seems to be, dont worry about it ... call towing, etc. I've always known this is a poor solution because there are major parts of the US w/out cell coverage. Today I come home from work early Pull into the driveway and by accident something in the rear tire catches my eye ... doesn't look right. And, of course, its raining. I go look close and just see a perfect small circle in the tire about an inch from the outside edge of a rear tire. I try to see what it is but its just a brown circle. Sometimes you get little rocks in the thread that wear smooth but this is not in a thread ... far from it. So ... my wife follows me to the dealer (not that far away). Bottom line ... its a nail. Due to the many people's recommendation, I bought the tire insurance which I normally would never do ... THANK YOU CC:dance: They can't plug it, to close to the edge, so new tire but whoa, its Friday before a three day Holiday weekend and they dont have one in stock How can they not have one? They offered a loaner but we're fine. I had my wife follow us in the SUV just in case I didnt make it to the dealer and now we got to wait until probaby Wednesday next week to get the car back (realistically). No Porsche for us over Christmas Needless to say my wife is very unhappy (the glass is half empty). On the other hand, I thought that if I had not come home early, I would have seen the nail to late to go today it would have irritated me over the Holiday weekend and not get fixed to the end of the week. ... glass half full. So with the croc in the hospital, I think I need to buy it a present Part of me says ... I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. But be thankful I wasn't in the Nevada Desert on a friday before a three day holiday weekend and stranded. This thing about no spare is insane. Goop may or may not have worked on this. If it had blown out, no way. I've been to lots of places in the US with no cell service. We were considering traveling xcountry in a year but I aint going without a spare and a satellite phone!!! BTW ... anybody know where dealers get their tires? I know for a fact, because I have done it, I can call tirerack and the tire is at my door the next day ... they have like 4 warehouses around the country. Since the Michelins are OEM, I'm wondering if Porsche just keeps an inventory of them in some warehouse for parts or orders them ... from a dealer. The Service Manager said $400 for a tire ... insurance paid for itself. Tirerack price? $332

Mine came in a couple of days from CA. None in stock here as well.

Bummer..... Not that I wouldn't have been reasonable, but knowing that you can have a tire in a day from Tire Rack I would have probably pushed this issue a bit. I probably would have said, "I can have the tire here tomorrow from Tire Rack." Now the dealer would prefer to use their supplier because they are making a buck or two on the tire. But I would have rather paid for the tire and mounting/balancing and then sought reimbursement from the insurance company for the tire. Hey Chow, do you have TPMS? If so, did it tell you anything about that tire?

No TPMS. I check the tires everytime I get gas and last time I checked was last Saturday. Rears are always right on the money. Fronts sometimes off 1/2 pound but I know its the weather. I drove "gingerly" to the dealer, maybe 12 mile on highway. I had no problem leaving them the car. I bought the insurance, the service manager had it in his hand and said no worries ... all covered. I have to say the people at this dealer are always very nice to us. They even usually feed us if we are there at lunchtime (dunno why but they have buffets). He would have gave us a loaner but no need, we are not going anyway for the next 3 days ... just celebrate our little holiday at home and I got next week off from work for vacation. They had a red 997 targa and seal grey? (dark) Boxster S on the showroom floor. Interesting in that we were originally going for a Boxster (at least the wife was until she saw the Cayman in person). I went to sit in it and found I had the seat all the way back. Not so in the cayman, lots of space behind me. I think there is more room in the Cayman. Top was down but I'm almost willing to bet I'd hit my head on the top (or close to it) and I'm not over 6'. Funny thing was the service manager said dont bother with the Boxster ... you got the right car They also had a sweet lapis blue TT :dance: ... a little out of my league.

My dealer gets tires from Tire Rack. They get them next day since the Tire Rack has a distribution center just a few miles away. The dealer doesn't pay the retail price from Tire Rack, though, so you would likely be able to get a better deal even from the P Dealer. Maybe their $400 price is mounted and balanced and discarding the old tire for you. Then it sounds a bit more reasonable since you are looking at $40 to mount and balance. Good luck, and good call on the insurance. How much (%) tread had you used over how many miles????

ROFL ... 1000 miles. Brand new yeah, I know ... I have had the car 3 months and 1K miles. Once it gets snowy, it aint going out at all

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but at least you have your car, I'm still waiting for mine to arrive in Cleveland from Baltimore! I'm curious about the wheel/tire insurance, I had it on my last car and Audi and it was around $550what did you pay, if you don't mind me asking?

Damn... that's a bummer. Has anyone just bought an extra tire / wheel and kept it and a jack + tire iron in the front boot? No spare is a really dumb idea IMHO. Might as well skip the seat belts too ... why worry?

Eric -been discussed a lot: here is one: http://www.planet-9.com/showthread.php?p=67241&highlight=tire+insurance#post67241 Bottom line - no place to carry the flat tire.

Sounds right, see: http://www.planet-9.com/showthread.php?p=79196&highlight=tire+insurance#post79196

Is that price for tire insurance an annual premium or for multiple years? You say it covers wheels as well as tires? Where do you get this, from your auto insurance company or another provider?

One price. Yes, it covers the wheels too. The car dealer sells it. Most do. When the deal is being closed and they force you to go to the finance people they alway try to sell you something, like the extended warranty. This is just another thing to sell. You got to read the fine print. For example, it said at their option they may plug the tire but Porsche says to NOT plug the tire. I dont think I was going to get any grief because the company selling it is part of the bigger company that owns all these dealerships (e.g., Porsche, BMW, Audi, etc.) I have always refused to buy any extended warranty or tire insurance but took the advice of others here who came before me and bought it. I am sure they look at averages and maybe the average is pretty high these days ... its not like they are losing money on this. Some people go a lifetime without a flat. Others, get three in a week Stuff happens ... Since a tire is about $325, maybe $375 balanced and installed and a Wheel over $800. Well I figured its paid for itself already.

Chow you are so correct. This is a no brainer for Cayman owners. I think however mine was for three years only.

I avoid those also. I bought my CS at night, when they were closing. We barely had time to do the deal, so they never sent me to the "hard sell office". I didn't even talk to finance people. Just gave the salesman a check. I asked him if I was the easiest sell he ever had, he said no (I guess because I had him give me a reasonable price over the phone before committing to the deal), but I was the fastest. The whole thing took about 15 minutes. I wouldn't think about the tire insurance usually. Can't remember when I last had a flat. However, my wife has had 3 flats in the last 2 months and I have been very happy it was in her PT Cruiser rather than the Lexus or the CS. So I am a little paranoid at the moment.

Naybor - your dealer will probably still sell it to you. Mine has paid for itself and I don't worry "quite" so much about flats.

I also said no need to talk to finance but they are the people who processed the check, did the paperwork for the tags, etc. She was very nice and after going over the extended warranty actually advised us NOT to buy the extended warranty now but to wait until after 2 or 3 years and then decide. I bet they will still sell it to you

Wheels & Tires for life... I bought my CS from Boardwalk Porsche in Dallas, and they offered a rather expensive package that replaces wheels & tires for the life of the car (original owner only). I went through the fine print, and talked at length with both the salesman and the finance guy. The only catch is that you have to get the tires rotated at the dealership every 6k miles. The warranty replaces back tires every 12k, fronts every 18k, and wheels for free if they are ever damaged. And that INCLUDES curb rash, driver error, etc.! Like many of you, I've shied away from such warranties in the past, but this one seemed to work out financially. They are betting that I will trade-in/trade-up before the 3rd set of tires, which would be the breakeven point.

Rotate tires on the Cayman?

Duh - you're right. INSPECT the tires. I have a similar policy on my '06 330i, which allows left/right rotation, but not front-to-back.

I went out this morning to the store, came home and thought ... WTH??? Where is the CS (I'm just used to seeing it in the driveway)? Then I realized ... in the car hospital

I paid $550 for five years coverage tire/wheel. I have already used it once, had tire shipped overnight from Tirerack at $309, mounted/balanced for $15 at local NTW. My dealer didn't have a tire either and quoted me almost a week to get one.

Sigh ... Dealer called. No tire until Wednesday ... At least they called to let me know, can't complain about that and he was very courteous saying as soon as it arrived, he would have someone work on it.

UPDATE I just got the car back TOTAL COST: $473 COST to me: Zero As far as I am concerned, the policy has already paid for itself Policy, I think, was about $600. Five years. They will come pick you up if stranded. If your more than 250 miles from your house, they pay $50/day for up to three days for expenses. No limit on usage It will not pay on curb damage ... that's collision under your auto policy. Woot ... :dance: Can go out tomorrow

And having the car in the shop "saved" you all those miles you would have put on it so it has more to go...

I know that BMW's official stance is that rotating tires (when they are all the same size) buys a bit of additional lifespan at the expense of handling and should be avoided. It is in the manual. Of course, repair shops like anything that gets your car up on their rack and you in the office with a credit card in your wallet.