You're on the motorway, belting out 80s greatest hits, when you hear that sound that freezes any driver's blood: pffffffff. The steering wheel starts pulling to the right and you already know what happened. You've got a flat tire.
You manage to pull onto the hard shoulder safely (put on the reflective vest and place the warning triangle, don't be a hero), open the boot and run into the great modern dilemma: what's actually in there? A spare tire or one of those repair kits that look like they came out of a sci-fi movie?
Martin walks you through the difference between the two and how to survive this drama without calling the tow truck in tears.
The Old Reliable Spare Tire 🛞
If your car is more than 10 years old, you most likely still have a spare tire under the boot carpet (it might be a full-size tire or one of those "skinny" emergency tires that look like bicycle wheels and don't let you go over 80 km/h).
How to use it:
- Loosen the nuts: Before lifting the car with the jack, use the wheel wrench to crack the pressure on the flat tire's nuts (if you lift the car first, the wheel will spin in the air and you won't be able to undo anything).
- Lift the car: Place the jack on the chassis's reinforced jacking points (read the manual — don't put the jack in the middle of the door sill).
- Swap the wheel: Take off the flat tire, fit the spare, hand-tighten the nuts.
- Lower the car and tighten properly: Only once the car is back on the ground do you lean your body weight onto the wheel wrench to fully tighten everything.
The upside: It's a mechanical, reliable, permanent solution until you reach a garage. The downside: You're going to sweat, get your hands dirty and, often, empty the entire boot (where your holiday luggage was) onto the side of the road just to reach the wheel.
The Modern Tire Repair Kit 🧴
Carmakers figured out that ditching the spare tire saved weight (lower fuel consumption) and gave more boot space. The result? Today, 90% of new cars come only with a repair kit.
The kit consists of a small electric compressor (which you plug into the car's lighter socket) and a bottle of sealant liquid (a sort of magic foam).
How to use it:
- Read the bottle's instructions: Seriously, don't try to guess. Some kits require you to squeeze the liquid in first and only then use the compressor; in others, the bottle clips straight into the compressor and does it all at once.
- Inject the foam and inflate: Connect the hose to the flat tire's valve and switch on the compressor. The foam is injected inside and seals the puncture, while the compressor pumps the tire back up with air.
- Drive immediately: As soon as the tire has enough pressure, you have to drive a few kilometres (slowly) so centrifugal force spreads the foam evenly around the inside of the tire and seals the puncture for good.
The upside: No physical strength needed and no jacking the car. It's clean and quick. The downside: It only works on small punctures (like a nail in the tread). If you tore the sidewall on a kerb or in a huge pothole, the foam will just shoot out the gash and you're still stranded. On top of that, once you've used the foam, many mechanics refuse to repair the tire (you have to buy a new one) and you'll need to buy a fresh bottle of foam (which isn't cheap).
The Hook: Punctures on Holiday? Don't Stress ✈️
A flat on the way to the airport is every traveller's worst nightmare. Imagine your flight is in two hours and you're on the motorway shoulder fighting with the car's jack.
That's exactly why driving your own car to Multipark is the smartest choice. If you notice the tire is losing air when you arrive at our lot, don't panic. You hand us the keys and head off to catch your flight, calmly.
While you're sipping cocktails on the beach, we can sort it out. Our team checks tire pressure and, if you have a slow leak that drained the tire over the 15 days you were away, we top it up with our professional compressor before you land — or we activate our garage partners to fix the puncture.
When you get back, the car is ready to go. No drama, no dirty hands, no magic foam. Run your Valet Parking quote at the Multipark website and travel knowing we're here to handle the unexpected!
