Road construction sucks

[silverpig]

My wife and I just got our first new car together 3 days ago. We're leasing an '08 VW Rabbit, tiptronic, mag wheels, sunroof, all the bells and whistles really. We went out to visit her sister today and drove through some road construction. On the highway back home a guy pointed to our front tire, so we pulled over and yep, flat. 240 km on a brand new car and I got a bloody flat tire.

 

[Kelvrick]

Get it patched and move on. Not like it chipped your paint/window or something.

 

[biggestmuff]

...uh...so?

 

[Ballatician]

That does suck. Could have been worse but hopefully you don't have any problems from here on out.
I'm always super careful with new stuff so this would bother me.
Congrats on the new car btw.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
Get it patched and move on. Not like it chipped your paint/window or something.

I guess there's more to the story that made it lamer.

First off, I was on the highway when the guy pointed it out to us. That means we were driving for 10-20 km on the highway with the flat before I changed it (they're really low profile tires, have strong sidewalls and the car didn't pull at all due to it). However, this damaged the sidewalls enough that I don't want to use the tire as a mainstay anymore. Luckily for me, VW supplies a full tire spare (not one of the little donut things), so I just have to swap rims from the spare to the flat.

Also, long story short, the delay caused by having to change the tire + having to get it patched by my mechanic friend so I'd have a spare on hand caused my wife to be late for her ride up to Whistler (130 km away) for a staff weekend retreat. I spent the past 5 hours driving up there and back and didn't get to eat dinner until I got home at just after 11 pm.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
...uh...so?

I've driven tens to hundreds of thousands of kilometers before and haven't had a puncture flat like this. It's kind of odd that it happened 240 km into my new car. It took the giddyness of having a new car away.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Ballatician
That does suck. Could have been worse but hopefully you don't have any problems from here on out.
I'm always super careful with new stuff so this would bother me.
Congrats on the new car btw.

Yeah same. It's like I want a little invisible forcefield around the car at all times. I'm a bit scared leaving it parallel parked on the street because people around here like to touch park. We got mad at the leaves that were on it this morning

 

[Blieb]

It's a VW ... get used to having problems

I've never had one, but my old man and several people I know have had them and hate VWs ... although I had a roommate who has one and loves it ...

I hate when something unexpected like this ruins the day!

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: silverpig

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
Get it patched and move on. Not like it chipped your paint/window or something.

I guess there's more to the story that made it lamer.

First off, I was on the highway when the guy pointed it out to us. That means we were driving for 10-20 km on the highway with the flat before I changed it (they're really low profile tires, have strong sidewalls and the car didn't pull at all due to it). However, this damaged the sidewalls enough that I don't want to use the tire as a mainstay anymore. Luckily for me, VW supplies a full tire spare (not one of the little donut things), so I just have to swap rims from the spare to the flat.

Also, long story short, the delay caused by having to change the tire + having to get it patched by my mechanic friend so I'd have a spare on hand caused my wife to be late for her ride up to Whistler (130 km away) for a staff weekend retreat. I spent the past 5 hours driving up there and back and didn't get to eat dinner until I got home at just after 11 pm.

Dude I love Whistler! We went on an Alaskan cruise this last May and we stayed a couple of nights in Vancouver/Whistler on the tail end of our vacation.

 

[olds]

If you didn't know it has flat, how do you know it was caused by the construction?
Fail Thread.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

what's the tiptronic on a rabbit? is it vw's DSG or just a shift-able auto?

 

[Capt Caveman]

A flat tire is nothing and you could have gotten it anywhere.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
If you didn't know it has flat, how do you know it was caused by the construction?
Fail Thread.

Well I checked the tires before I left that morning. They were all fine. The leak was pretty fast so it happened that day, and the roads otherwise were very clean and clear. I suppose it COULD have happened elsewhere, but I had to drive through that construction zone twice and there was crap all over the road. It wasn't just road construction either, they were doing all sorts of infrastructure work requiring concrete forms (nails etc) and such.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: silverpig

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
...uh...so?

I've driven tens to hundreds of thousands of kilometers before and haven't had a puncture flat like this. It's kind of odd that it happened 240 km into my new car. It took the giddyness of having a new car away.

It's not "your" car. You are paying for the rights to drive it.

 

[Tooncesthedrivingcat]

Hello electrical problems!

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo
what's the tiptronic on a rabbit? is it vw's DSG or just a shift-able auto?

Apparently it's DSG:

The 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit compact car (MSRP $15,490 - $18,560) is available in both coupe and sedan versions. Both models are available only in one trim level, the S. Both models come standard with a 5-speed manual transmission, and there is an optional 6-speed automatic Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) with Tiptronic and Sport mode transmission. Both the 2- and 4-door Rabbits come with a 170-horsepower, 2.5-liter I5 engine and front-wheel drive system.

Driving the road to Whistler was pretty fun (there's a ton of construction on that road too so the speed limit is pretty low in a lot of spots), but there were some fast curvy stretches. In my old POS cars like my '91 Tempo, flooring it when going uphill at 90 km/h would just make the car louder, the rpms would go up, and it would start shaking but it wouldn't go any faster. With the rabbit, if you push the accelerator down a little farther when going uphill you feel a little click as it shifts, then you get pushed back in your seat. Fun

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: silverpig

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
...uh...so?

I've driven tens to hundreds of thousands of kilometers before and haven't had a puncture flat like this. It's kind of odd that it happened 240 km into my new car. It took the giddyness of having a new car away.

It's not "your" car. You are paying for the rights to drive it.

I don't own it, but it's mine to drive, just like how this isn't my apartment, but I still live here and call it such.

 

[zixxer]

On my first trip to the mountains on the 1098 I got a screw in my rear tire. It had ~300 miles on it..

I can promise you that I was a lot more pissed than you - having a flat on a bike sucks. I limped my way home stopping at tire shops to get air.. Also, supersport tires are $$$$$$ and shouldn't be plugged/patched.

So.. I feel for you, but not that much.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: zixxer
On my first trip to the mountains on the 1098 I got a screw in my rear tire. It had ~300 miles on it..

I can promise you that I was a lot more pissed than you - having a flat on a bike sucks. I limped my way home stopping at tire shops to get air.. Also, supersport tires are $$$$$$ and shouldn't be plugged/patched.

So.. I feel for you, but not that much.

You win.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Kelvrick
Get it patched and move on. Not like it chipped your paint/window or something.

Yeah, that happened to be 2 days after I bought my new car:|

 

[MrWizzard]

I bought a land rover less than a year ago and it made it half a mile before it had to be towed back to the dealership. Faulty chip caused it to bork out. All I could do at that point is LOL.

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: MrWizzard
I bought a land rover and it made it half a mile before it had to be towed back to the dealership. Faulty chip caused it to bork out. All I could do at that point is LOL.

dealer must have pissed in their pants...or jumped for joy....