Mobile Puncture Repair in Southampton, Day or Night
You have found a nail in your tyre, so we come to your driveway, your workplace or the roadside, look at the damage properly, and repair it if it is safe and legal to do so.
That Nail You Found This Morning
Most punctures do not announce themselves. You walk out to the car and one tyre is sitting lower than the other three. Or the pressure warning light comes on halfway down the M27 and the steering starts to feel vague and heavy. Somewhere behind you there is a screw, a nail, or a piece of something that fell off the back of a lorry.
The temptation is to put some air in and carry on. A slow puncture will usually hold enough to get you to work and back. The problem is what happens underneath. A tyre running below its proper pressure flexes far more than it was built to, and that flexing builds heat inside the sidewall. The structure inside can start to break down long before anything shows on the outside. A tyre that could have been repaired on the Monday often cannot be repaired by the Friday.
So the honest advice is short. Do not drive on it. Leave the car where it is and call us. Driving on a flat, even a short distance, is what turns a repair into a replacement. If you have already put a can of sealant in, say so when you call. It coats the inside of the tyre and we will need to clean it out before anyone can see the damage clearly.
What Happens When We Get There
We take the wheel off the car and the tyre off the rim. That second part matters. What you can see from the outside is only half the story, and the only way to know whether a puncture can be repaired is to look at the inside of the tyre with the object still in place.
Three things decide it. The first is where the object went in. A puncture in the central tread area can usually be dealt with. One in the shoulder or the sidewall cannot, because that part of the tyre flexes constantly as you drive and repairs there are not permitted. The second is how big the hole is.
Past a certain size a repair is not permitted, however neat it would look. The third is whether the tyre has been driven on while flat. Scuffing and creasing on the inner walls tell us the carcass has already been damaged, and at that point the tyre is finished whatever the puncture itself looks like.
If it passes on all three, we take the object out, prepare the damage from the inside, and seal it permanently so that both the hole and the inner liner are closed. The wheel then goes back on, balanced dynamically on the van so you are not left with a vibration through the steering, with the nuts torqued to the right setting and every pressure checked before you drive away.
If it fails on any one of the three, we will say so on the spot, show you what we are looking at, and talk you through a replacement instead. We would rather explain a no than fit a repair we do not trust.
What comes out with the van
- Wheel off the car, tyre off the rim, inspected from the inside
- A straight answer on whether the puncture can be legally repaired
- Permanent repair sealing the hole and the inner liner where the damage allows
- Dynamic wheel balancing on the van before the wheel goes back on
- Nuts torqued correctly and every pressure checked and set
- A replacement supplied and fitted in the same visit where we have your size on board
What You Pay, and When
A repair costs less than a new tyre. That is the entire reason this service exists, and it is why we take the tyre off and look properly before anyone reaches for a replacement. You get the figure over the phone before a van is dispatched, and nothing gets added to it at the end.
If we get the tyre off and the damage turns out to be worse than it sounded on the call, we stop, tell you what the replacement would come to, and let you decide.
You pay when the job is done and you are ready to drive away. Never before we arrive. There is a card terminal in the van taking contactless, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa and Mastercard, so there is no need to hunt for a cash machine in the dark. Bank transfer and cash are both fine.
One thing worth flagging: if your wheels have locking nuts and the key is lost or damaged, getting the nut off is extra work and a charge may apply for it. We will quote that when you call, before we set off, rather than adding it at the end.
How Soon Can Somebody Come Out?
When you ring, you speak to the technician. That means you can describe what you are looking at and get a proper answer while you are still standing next to the car. Give us your registration, the tyre size if you can read it off the sidewall, and where the car is, and a fully equipped van heads your way.
The response window for your area is shown below. It is deliberately not one number for the whole coast, because Hamble-le-Rice is not Chichester and pretending otherwise only leaves somebody watching the road at the wrong end of a promise. We run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and a puncture at four in the morning gets the same treatment as one at four in the afternoon.
-
Hamble-le-Rice
Response window 45–60 minutes
-
Winchester
Response window 45–60 minutes
-
New Forest
Response window 45–60 minutes
Totton and the northern forest sit in the core window; Lymington and the southern edge are an outer-zone run.
-
Salisbury
Response window 60–90 minutes
-
Bournemouth
Response window 60–90 minutes
-
Chichester
Response window 60–90 minutes
Where We Come Out To
We are based in Southampton and cover Hamble-le-Rice, Winchester, the New Forest, Salisbury, Bournemouth and Chichester. We keep an eye on the M27, the M3 and the A31 in particular, because those are the roads that collect debris and the worst places to be standing when a tyre goes down.
It does not have to be the roadside. A great deal of puncture work happens on driveways and in car parks, because that is where people find the nail. First thing in the morning before the school run, or at half past five when they are trying to get home. Wherever the car is sitting, as long as there is safe room to work around it, we can come to it. Roadside, home or workplace, it is the same van and the same job.
Where we cover
ABS Tyres, Southampton
Loading the map connects you to Google Maps and sets Google's cookies.
Questions People Ask About Punctures
Can every puncture be repaired?
No, and it is not something that can be judged from a description over the phone. It comes down to where the object went in, how big the hole is, and whether the tyre has been driven on while flat. A clean penetration in the middle of the tread has a good chance. One in the sidewall or the shoulder does not, because that area flexes too much for a repair to hold. We will look and tell you which one you have.
Is a repaired tyre as safe as a new one?
A repair done properly, from the inside, in a part of the tyre where repairs are permitted, is intended to last the remaining life of that tyre. That is why the tyre comes off the rim: a plug pushed in from the outside does not seal the inner liner, and it leaves the inside of the tyre uninspected. If we do not think a repair on your tyre would be safe or legal, we will not carry one out.
It is only a slow puncture and it still holds air. Does it need doing?
Yes. A slow puncture is still a hole, and between top-ups the tyre is running under-inflated, which heats it and wears the edges unevenly. It also tends to get worse without much warning. Dealing with it early is what tends to keep a tyre in the repairable category.
Can you repair a run-flat, or a tyre on an electric car?
Sometimes, but there is more to weigh up. Run-flats that have been driven on while deflated often cannot be repaired, because the reinforced sidewall has taken the load instead of the air. Electric vehicles are heavier and have specific jacking points, so we carry low-profile EV-safe jacking equipment for them. Tell us the vehicle when you call and we will tell you honestly what we can do.
What if it turns out I need a new tyre instead?
Give us your tyre size or your registration on the call and we bring the right tyre out with us, so a repair we cannot do does not have to turn into a second visit. The van carries premium brands including Michelin, Pirelli, Continental, Bridgestone, Goodyear, Dunlop and Yokohama, along with mid-range and budget options such as Nexen, Hankook, Firestone and Kumho.
Other things we can help with
Found a Nail? Leave the Car Where It Is
Call before you drive on it and there is a good chance you keep the tyre. Tell us your registration and where the car is sitting, and a technician will head over ready to inspect it, repair it where that is allowed, or replace it.
24/7 Urgent Roadside Dispatch Aiming to arrive within 45–60 minutes