Flat tire at work: fixed in the parking lot

Leave the car where it is and have it fixed in the space it is parked in. Do not drive it on the flat to a shop on the way home, because a deflated tire tears itself apart internally within a few hundred yards and turns a cheap repair into a new tire.

A workplace flat is the easiest situation we deal with. The car is stationary for eight hours, it is on private ground, and you are not waiting in a lobby. Three practical things decide whether it can happen.

The three things that decide it

1. Ceiling height, if you park underground. This is the one that stops jobs. A service van needs clearance that a low parking structure does not always provide, and posted limits of around 6 feet 6 inches are common in older garages. Read the sign at the entrance ramp and tell us the number when you book. If it is too low, move the car to a surface lot or the street before the visit.

2. Permission. Most office lots are managed by a building or property manager rather than by your employer, and some have rules about contractors working on site. A word with facilities is normally all it takes, and it is easier to ask in the morning than to explain a van in a bay at 2pm.

3. Room around the car. We need the bay plus enough clearance on the flat tire's side to get a jack in and a wheel out, and somewhere for the van to stand. An end bay, a corner or a visitor space is ideal. A car wedged between two SUVs is not workable, and moving it a few feet solves it.

What to check yourself, before you book

Have a look at the tire. What you find changes what we bring.

Look at the tread for a nail head, a screw or a bright fleck of metal. Most punctures are here and most punctures here are repairable.

Look at the sidewall, the smooth outer face, for a cut, a gouge or a bulge. Anything there means a replacement, not a repair.

Look at the valve stem and the line where the tire meets the wheel. A leak at either is common and neither needs a new tire. Tire losing air with no nail covers those, and leaking valve stem covers the cheapest one.

If the tire is completely flat and sitting on its rim, note that too, because it affects whether a repair is still possible.

Then find the size on the sidewall, the string that looks like 225/45R17. Find your tire size shows you where to look. Sending that with your vehicle details means we arrive with the right tire rather than coming back.

Whether it will be a repair or a replacement

The rules are the US Tire Manufacturers Association's, not ours:

• Tread area only. Nothing in the sidewall or the shoulder.
• No larger than a quarter of an inch.
• The tire comes off the wheel so the inner liner can be inspected.
• A plug and a patch together. A plug pushed in from outside is not a repair.

A technician has to look inside the tire to apply those rules, which is why a repair price is confirmed on site rather than guessed over the phone. Repair versus replace a tire sets out the decision in full.

What happens during the visit

You do not need to be there. Most people leave the keys with reception or unlock the car, and we work in the bay while they are in a meeting.

Wheel lock keys are the commonest hold-up. If your wheels have locking nuts, the key is usually in the glovebox, the trunk well or with the jack. Check that it is there.

We take the wheel off, break the tire down, inspect it, and either repair it or fit a tire we have supplied, balanced and torqued to spec. We do not fit tires bought elsewhere, we do not do alignment, rotation alone, balancing alone or brakes, and we are not an emergency roadside service.

If you drove in on it already

If the tire went down on the commute and you carried on to work, say so when you book. A tire run flat chafes its inner shoulder against the rim, and that damage decides repairability regardless of how small the original puncture was. Better that we arrive knowing a replacement is likely.

Questions people ask

• Can a tire be changed in an office parking lot? Yes, in a legal, level, paved space with room to jack the car and get the wheel out. Most workplace lots work. Underground garages sometimes do not, because of ceiling height.
• Do I need permission from my employer or building? Usually from the property manager rather than your employer. Most say yes. Ask in the morning rather than when the van is at the barrier.
• Do I have to be with the car? No. Leave the car unlocked or the keys at reception. Make sure the wheel lock key is in the car if your wheels have locking nuts.
• Can you work in an underground garage? Only where the clearance allows a service van in. Check the height posted at the ramp and tell us the figure. If it is too low, move the car to a surface space before the visit.
• Should I drive home on the flat instead? No. Driving on a flat destroys a tire that may well have been repairable and can damage the wheel as well. Leave the car parked.
• Will I know the price before the work starts? Yes. Replacement is priced up front. A repair is confirmed on site after the tire comes off the wheel, because that inspection is what decides whether a repair is allowed at all.