Tires and wheels are designed to withstand the brunt of long trips and dicey road conditions. But wear and tear builds over time, and even brand new tires can be damaged or destroyed by unavoidable road hazards.
At Good Sam, we know first-hand the frustration a flat can cause–whether commuting to work in your daily driver or on an RV road trip in the middle of the country, 80 miles from the nearest service shop.
Handled on your own, a flat tire can be cumbersome, even when you have the tools and know-how to repair or replace it. But with a trusted roadside tire and wheel protection service, it’s not such a drag.
Here we’ll explore why a tire and wheel protection plan pays for itself in the end, but with cash savings and time not spent on the side of the road.
What causes damage to tires and wheels?
Road hazards are common, and most of them interrupt our drive unexpectedly, without warning. A road hazard is defined as any foreign object or obstruction that puts your tire or wheel at risk of damage:
- Potholes and road damage
- Nails, screws, and fasteners
- Rocks and debris
- Branches or sticks
While you can do your best to avoid craterous potholes after a bad winter, road hazards still affect the most cautious drivers.
Road hazards can damage even new tires and wheels, so paying for a flat on good tires is especially frustrating. It’s beneficial to monitor your tires’ condition for wear and tear, but inevitably you’re still driving at risk. A tire and wheel protection plan exists to protect you from paying for the unexpected and unavoidable.
The cost of tire and wheel repair or replacement
The cost of a flat quickly adds up–whether replacing yourself, calling a tow truck, or servicing a flat on the side of the road with the help of a technician. Not only is the process timely, but you could be paying for the service, the tire, and the wheel when the damage is significant.
The average cost of an RV tire across all classes is $500. For automobiles, the average cost for a tire is over $165 per tire. On top of the price for tires, factor in labor and all other expenses, and you could be looking at paying over $1500 for a single run-in with a pothole. And if an incident happens to cause flats in multiple tires? You’re in the danger zone.
With other maintenance repairs on your vehicle–replacing your starter, for example–you have a pretty good assurance you won’t have to pay for the same repair twice back-to-back. With tires, it’s a different scenario. If your brand new tire goes flat, and you pay to fix the flat, there’s still no protection from paying for another flat five or ten miles down the road unless you have a tire and wheel protection plan.
And the cost is more than financial when you experience a flat tire. Tracking down the right tire, tools, and equipment to replace a tire on your own is a time-consuming activity. Better to be able to call those who are prepared for this event and can get you back on the road with peace of mind in no time.
What is tire and wheel protection?
Tire and wheel protection exists to mitigate or eliminate your cost of paying for a tire or wheel replacement or repair, whether you damage one tire, all your tires, or experience repeat incidents. Tire and protection covers the damage caused by road hazards, which you often have little control in avoiding.
While a roadside assistance plan will help cover the cost when you experience a flat tire, these plans don’t pay for the tire replacement or repair, which is typically the bulk of the cost. The Good Sam Tire & Wheel Protection Plan ensures you aren't shouldering these costs on your own. Instead, you can travel with peace of mind knowing you won’t have to foot the bill, no matter how unfortunate and costly the incident.
Why choose the Good Sam Tire & Wheel Protection plan?
The Good Sam Tire & Wheel Protection Plan is unique to other tire and wheel plans because the value goes to the consumer. You pay for a year of coverage–starting as low as $59.99–and a single flat tire incident more than pays for that coverage.
When you look at the statistics, over 200 million flat tires occur each year for the 230 million drivers on the road. The odds are very high you will experience one flat. And the odds of you experiencing more than one flat are still considerable. There's no limit to your covered incidents with Good Sam Tire & Wheel Protection Plan.
In conjunction with the best Good Sam Roadside Assistance plan for your vehicle, a Good Sam Tire & Wheel Protection Plan puts you in the best position possible to protect your wallet in the event of a flat or damage caused by road hazards.