How Saving 50 Cents Cost Me 500 Bucks
Years back, my Sis and I were cruising back in my 1986 Crown Victoria (similar to the picture) to Virginia from a family trip to visit our Grandma. We had been going a couple hours down the road without any problems. Then trouble hit…
Pow!
We were going up the side of a mountain, as I recall, when we heard a loud POW sound. The car began to shake violently, and I was forced to carefully pull it over to the edge of the highway.
Yes, we had a flat tire. I was still a teenager at the time, and I had never really changed a flat tire before. No big deal I thought, we’ll be back on the road in no time…
One Small Detail
As I opened the trunk and got out the full-sized spare tire, a sinking feeling came over me. I slowly began to realize that my sister and I were completely screwed.
I had just recently filled all of the tires with air, but I had neglected to pump up the spare tire in the trunk. A simple oversight. The spare tire was completely void of pressure and was not going to be of any help to us now.
Break Out the Pocketbook
Back in those days we didn’t have those fancy cell phones of today, so we set out to walk a mile to the nearest exit with spare tire in hand. A policeman happened to drive past and gave us a lift for the second half of the trip. Maybe our luck was beginning to turn? We were able to get to the service station and pump up the spare in short order. I received my answer pretty quickly. Our luck was NOT about to turn this day. Enter problem #2 – the spare would NOT hold pressure 🙁
You can probably guess the rest of the story. After towing, emergency tire replacement, etc. the bill came to right around $500. We were in the middle of nowhere, so our options were limited.
Did I mention this was on a Sunday and I had to be back at work the next day? What we thought was going to be a four hour trip ended up taking about 12 hours!
What’s the Moral of the Story?
Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish. Also, ensure your are prepared for emergencies. Check to make sure your spare tire is in good shape. Don’t take it for granted that it will be in perfect shape when you need it most. Spend that extra $0.50 to pump it up to the proper pressure and make sure it holds! Trust me, the only thing worse than getting a flat tire along the highway is opening the trunk to realize that your spare tire is also flat! I learned a painful lesson that I’d like for you to avoid 🙂
Speaking of problems on the road, check out this info-graphic that covers some of the many common preventable vehicle issues. I have had at least half of these happen to me, and thankfully I’m a little more mechanically inclined than the average person. I haven’t recently thought about changing our vans spark plugs, but maybe it’s time??
Presented By Verizon Networkfleet
Hmmm… maybe I should put my spare back in my car.
I’ve probably saved 50 cents in fuel due to carrying around less weight, though! 🙂
Will recently posted…How I Save 85% of My Income
Will,
Unless you put a very low value on your time, I’d ask you to reconsider and put the spare back 🙂 I will basically kill an entire day when you get a flat!
Gosh, I don’t even know where mine is! LOL
Martin recently posted…How To Sell Puts For Max Profits In Shorter Time
Martin,
Don’t put it off like I did. Sooner or later it will come back to bite you 🙂
That was horrible! That’s why we really need to check first our car before using it and I can imagine how painful it is when you open the trunk just to realize that your spare tire is also flat! LOL!
Clarisse @ Make Money Your Way recently posted…Don’t Short When it Comes to Secular Investing
Clarisse,
Yeah – not on the list of good things 🙂
Ouch. I have a semi-similar bad-spare-tire story, but we couldn’t get the tire to release, it was sitting there perfectly fine and taunting us!
Anne @ Money Propeller recently posted…I get Free Acupuncture. Can you too?
Anne,
Ouch – that stinks. I guess you should always plan for the worst and hope for the best?
We needed to get the spare out for our minivan once….and it’s located under the vehicle with a crank inside the van between the driver and passenger seats. The van was a few years old at the time and the spare had never been used. The crank was completely unmovable…..it always pays to check out the state of your spare tire every now and then, right?
Brock @cleverdude.com recently posted…Ways My Wife Saves Us Money: Hotel Room With A View Edition
Brock,
Speaking of which, I probably need to check both of ours here soon as it would be quite embarrassing to have the same issue again after just writing about it 🙂
Good tips for car maintenance. I believe we are at the mercy of the car dealerships if you do not have a trusty mechanic. Those dealerships charge an arm and a leg to do minor service repairs. It goes to show that every dealership in America makes more off their service department when compared to sales. Almost every add on repair is another 100 bucks supposedly.
EL @ Moneywatch101 recently posted…The Richest Man in the World
EL,
My number one rule is to never go to the dealership for any reason. They are engineered to be a wallet killing machine!
Luckily, I have never had a flat tire. But I live far away from my family, that no one would be able to help me. I need to learn how to first change my tire.
Michelle,
It isn’t much harder than unscrewing 4-6 lug nuts, pulling off the old one, putting on the new one, and tightening the 4-6 lug nuts back down. You just need to jack up the proper side of the car. The whole process takes about 10 minutes if everything is ready to go 🙂
Great lesson. Before I take any long distance trip, I am sure to check over my car to make sure it is in top condition. Even with cell phones, I would rather not get stranded somewhere. After all, the phone will get you help, but it won’t take you to your trusted mechanic. It’ll take you to the mechanic from National Lampoon’s Vacation!
Jon @ Money Smart Guides recently posted…3 Common Investing Mistakes
Jon,
Lol – I think your idea is a great recommendation. Do a 5 minute “onceover” of your vehicle before any long distance trip. Doing this would have let me know I had a problem that needed urgent attention.