HELP: Is Tire Road Hazard Insurance a Waste of Money ??

Joined
16 March 2000
Messages
393
Location
Southern CA, USA
I am about to buy four new tires (Dunlap SP9000)to replace the original worn out tires on my NSX. The shop is asking me if I want to buy "Road Hazard Insurance" that will cover the cost of replacing the tires, if I blow them out. The total comes to $92 for insurance (on top of the $849 cost of tires). Does anyone have experience with destoying tires with raod hazards? If so, do you wish you had bought road hazard insurance? RSVP
 
It's like any insurance. If you never use it, it's a waste of money. If you use it, it more than pays for itself.
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$92 sounds a little high though. I believe local tire stores in my area offer the same thing for more like $10-$15 per tire. That being said, make sure you figure out the following if you are getting ready to buy it:

1. Do they guarantee a replacement or do they reserve the right to patch or plug the tire if they can? A repaired tire loses it's speed and temperature rating and personally I would not use one at high speed for an extended period. You can have a tire repaired for $5-$10 and maybe another $10-$15 at worst to remount and balance anyway. So unless they guarantee replacement I'd pass on the offer.

2. Do they prorate the replacement? In other words if the damaged tire only has 1/2 tread left, do they only credit you 1/2 the price of a replacement?

3. Do they require you to rotate the tires to keep the warranty valid? If the contract says yes but they tell you it's OK if you don't, get it in writing. Traditional rotation is not possible on the NSX. And simply swapping the wheels left-right doesn't work on directional tires even if they are symetric; you'll have to pay to have them remounted and rebalanced each time.

Also keep in mind that if you blow a tire that has a lot of wear and they replace it, you still need to pay to replace the other one too or you'll have mismatched amounts of tread between the left and right tires.

[This message has been edited by Lud (edited 17 May 2000).]
 
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