[eliucp]

My dealership in Toronto is asking $1800 CAD for 4 years of tires and rims insurance. There is also a deductible of $300 CAD each time I replace it. Would you say it's worth it, considering I drive carefully and don't put in much mileage. However, the road conditions in Toronto is quite bad at places, there are definitely unavoidable potholes. I never scraped the rims on my range rover in the two years i've owned it. But i did just pull out a nail from it couple of weeks ago, it was an easy patch. Could I possibly patch the tires on the i8 too if it struck a needle?

What are your experiences with your rims/tires? Did you guys get it?

Thanks!

[Coastali8]

Doesn’t sound wort it to me. The deductible is more than the cost of a tire and Ebay is full of used factory i8 wheels for cheap prices, if you do that much damage. Avoid the potholes!

[Coastali8]

It’s also not recommended to patch high performance tires.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by eliucp

My dealership in Toronto is asking $1800 CAD for 4 years of tires and rims insurance. There is also a deductible of $300 CAD each time I replace it. Would you say it's worth it, considering I drive carefully and don't put in much mileage. However, the road conditions in Toronto is quite bad at places, there are definitely unavoidable potholes. I never scraped the rims on my range rover in the two years i've owned it. But i did just pull out a nail from it couple of weeks ago, it was an easy patch. Could I possibly patch the tires on the i8 too if it struck a needle?

What are your experiences with your rims/tires? Did you guys get it?

Thanks!

You can buy a complete set of I8 wheels and tires, OEM for close to that if you keep your eyes peeled on ebay. So no, not worth it at all.

I carry a tire plug kit and cigarette lighter pump in my car (Amazon) and have fixed a tire a couple of times over the years.

If you rash or bend your wheels, there are mobile companies that will pick up your rims repair - if not damaged to badly - and return them in a day or two. should run $150 - $200 per rim. That's probably what the dealer would do anyway. A Google map search + "wheel repair" should do the trick.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Coastal i8

It’s also not recommended to patch high performance tires.

By whom? "the lawyers"? I've never had an issue with a patched or plugged high performance tire or otherwise on the street and wouldn't think twice about it.

I also raced at a track event with a patch when some knucklehead left his Allen wrench in the pits that found one of my tires. The tire lasted a few practice sessions with no issues. I wouldn't make a habit of it but it held fine.

[1MORELAP]

Our tires or not low profile by ANY means. I would consider it on something like a heavy M5, but not i8.

[vance]

I'm surprised the OP's deductible is so high. I purchased tire and rim insurance for about $1500 USD (same as OP in CAD) but the deductible here is only $50 per claim.

[Coastali8]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

By whom? "the lawyers"? I've never had an issue with a patched or plugged high performance tire or otherwise on the street and wouldn't think twice about it.

I also raced at a track event with a patch when some knucklehead left his Allen wrench in the pits that found one of my tires. The tire lasted a few practice sessions with no issues. I wouldn't make a habit of it but it held fine.

“Guidelines allow the repair of punctures in a tire's tread area of up to 1/4" in diameter. Repair of larger tread punctures and of punctures to the tire's shoulder and sidewall areas are not recommended."

Copied straight out of the Tire Rack website.

The worry is hidden damage on the inside of the tire and cord separation. “Held fine” is not a very safe statement about a tire!

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by Coastal i8

“Guidelines allow the repair of punctures in a tire's tread area of up to 1/4" in diameter. Repair of larger tread punctures and of punctures to the tire's shoulder and sidewall areas are not recommended."

Copied straight out of the Tire Rack website.

The worry is hidden damage on the inside of the tire and cord separation. “Held fine” is not a very safe statement about a tire!

For a nail on the street a plug is fine in the tread IMHO. I don't see anything in the thread about sidewalls or huge punctures.

"held fine" was at a track event. I said I wouldn't recommend that.

He's talking about a nail.

[YWGT3]

I purchased a four year tire and wheel insurance (US $1,350 with no deductible) for the i8. For bent rims it's well worth getting it, especially driving in the Bay Area. I've already had two tires replaced due to nail punctures at no charge. Also, I've recently had a rim replaced by the dealership because none of the high end wheel repair shops could restore certain angles of the turbine wheel, due to its design.

Should you decide to purchase the tire and rim insurance, you may want to read their policy's fine print to see if it covers curb rash. My Mercedes policy covers the whole spectrum. Whereas, the BMW wheel and tire insurance that I have for both the 650i GC and i8 specifically excludes curb rash.