Was driving home today, about 100km, an hour and a half drive.
I get most of the way home without incident.
Not even 1km from home, two minutes away, I spot a monster pot hole, too late to dodge it. THUMP! My left front tire hits it hard, and, within 100m, my steering wheel is shaking and my car is pulling left.
I’m that close to home, so I don’t pull over, I just slow down and finish the drive. I get out and look, and my left front is completely flat. Keep in mind, this is only a few minutes after impact.
I managed to put the donut on my car (had to swap the left front and left rear because you’re not supposed to put a donut on the drive wheels), but now, best case scenario, that tire needs to be re-mounted. If it’s anything other than the mounting that’s causing that fast a leak, the tire is garbage.
Not how I wanted my weekend to end.
Weird note: I’m generally not superstitious, but I got two phone calls on Friday which, together, gave me some worry about car trouble this weekend. The first was from a law firm in Washington DC, wanting to talk to me about an accident I was in where I wasn’t at fault. I told them I hadn’t been in such an accident, and that they probably have the wrong number.
Then I get a call from a dealership that I have repeatedly told to stop calling me (although they’ve left me alone for the last year or so), who told me that they have a note on my file that I’m ready to buy a new car.
Between the two, I’ve been a bit nervous that someone was going to ram into me and total my car all weekend. I’m almost feeling lucky to get off with just one tire out of commission.