I had the misfortune to get a flat tire on the way to work yesterday. It was a clean puncture from a nail or screw and the tire rapidly lost air, so I had to pull over and stop driving. I mulled my options:
1) Use the fix-a-flat system included with the vehicle - seems easy, but I've heard that the slime can mess up the tire and require a new TPMS sensor, so this option had some risk.
2) Attempt to remove the wheel and take it to a tire shop for repair - tough to do with no jack in the car, and I also didn't have an easy way to get the tire to a tire shop.
3) Call Kia's Emergency Roadside service and get a tow to the nearest dealer - this option would be both free, and would have the added benefit of possibly allowing me to drop in and get a few of the recalls on the vehicle taken care of.
4) Call AAA and get a tow to the nearest tire shop.
I called the local dealer and asked the service manager what he recommended, and he advised me to just use Kia's roadside service and have the car towed to the dealer, and they could fix the flat and get the recalls done at the same time. He advised against using the fix-a-flat if I could avoid it.
I called the emergency roadside assistance number for Kia and this process was all very professional - they attempt to locate your car automatically via your cell phone, they were very nice and helpful on the phone, and they send you a text a few minutes later with the ETA of the truck and contact info for the towing company. They said they aim to have a truck there within 60 minutes.
After I hung up, I got a text informing me that the truck's ETA was 90 minutes. Ugh, longer than I wanted, but ok. 2 hours later, no truck. I called the tow company and went straight to voice mail. I called Kia back and they were able to contact the tow company, and told me it would be another 15 minutes. 30 minutes later, still no truck. I called Kia back and they called the tow company again, who now said it would be another hour. The Kia folks apologized and then offered to call another tow company. That company was supposed to arrive in 30 minutes. After an hour, I called them directly - straight to voice mail, and their voice mail box was full. I called Kia again - they couldn't even get ahold of tow company #2. They offered to call a 3rd tow company. By this time I'd been sitting in my car for 6 hours waiting for the roadside service. At this point, I just called AAA. They said they'd be there in 60 minutes, they showed up 20 minutes late, but at least they showed up!!
While I was waiting for AAA, one of the tow companies called and asked about the car, and I indicated that they'd need a dolly or a flatbed. The operator said that the Kia folks didn't include that info, and that he didn't have the right tow truck available and couldn't help. Great - even if they had showed up, there was a good chance that whichever operator showed up wouldn't have the right equipment.
Lessons learned for me:
1. Don't put faith in Kia's roadside assistance. My guess is that the auto manufacturer's emergency roadside services probably offer very low compensation rates for their tow companies, and thus they are probably low on the priority list for most tow companies. It'll be AAA for me from now on.
2. When you call for a tow, don't trust the dispatcher to understand what kind of tow truck to send. Emphasize the need for either a flatbed or a truck that has a dolly. An ICE Soul can probably be towed with the non-drive wheels on the pavement, but the electric can't.
3. Next time this happens, just leave the car on the side of the road, get to work and make some money, and deal with this crap off-hours![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
1) Use the fix-a-flat system included with the vehicle - seems easy, but I've heard that the slime can mess up the tire and require a new TPMS sensor, so this option had some risk.
2) Attempt to remove the wheel and take it to a tire shop for repair - tough to do with no jack in the car, and I also didn't have an easy way to get the tire to a tire shop.
3) Call Kia's Emergency Roadside service and get a tow to the nearest dealer - this option would be both free, and would have the added benefit of possibly allowing me to drop in and get a few of the recalls on the vehicle taken care of.
4) Call AAA and get a tow to the nearest tire shop.
I called the local dealer and asked the service manager what he recommended, and he advised me to just use Kia's roadside service and have the car towed to the dealer, and they could fix the flat and get the recalls done at the same time. He advised against using the fix-a-flat if I could avoid it.
I called the emergency roadside assistance number for Kia and this process was all very professional - they attempt to locate your car automatically via your cell phone, they were very nice and helpful on the phone, and they send you a text a few minutes later with the ETA of the truck and contact info for the towing company. They said they aim to have a truck there within 60 minutes.
After I hung up, I got a text informing me that the truck's ETA was 90 minutes. Ugh, longer than I wanted, but ok. 2 hours later, no truck. I called the tow company and went straight to voice mail. I called Kia back and they were able to contact the tow company, and told me it would be another 15 minutes. 30 minutes later, still no truck. I called Kia back and they called the tow company again, who now said it would be another hour. The Kia folks apologized and then offered to call another tow company. That company was supposed to arrive in 30 minutes. After an hour, I called them directly - straight to voice mail, and their voice mail box was full. I called Kia again - they couldn't even get ahold of tow company #2. They offered to call a 3rd tow company. By this time I'd been sitting in my car for 6 hours waiting for the roadside service. At this point, I just called AAA. They said they'd be there in 60 minutes, they showed up 20 minutes late, but at least they showed up!!
While I was waiting for AAA, one of the tow companies called and asked about the car, and I indicated that they'd need a dolly or a flatbed. The operator said that the Kia folks didn't include that info, and that he didn't have the right tow truck available and couldn't help. Great - even if they had showed up, there was a good chance that whichever operator showed up wouldn't have the right equipment.
Lessons learned for me:
1. Don't put faith in Kia's roadside assistance. My guess is that the auto manufacturer's emergency roadside services probably offer very low compensation rates for their tow companies, and thus they are probably low on the priority list for most tow companies. It'll be AAA for me from now on.
2. When you call for a tow, don't trust the dispatcher to understand what kind of tow truck to send. Emphasize the need for either a flatbed or a truck that has a dolly. An ICE Soul can probably be towed with the non-drive wheels on the pavement, but the electric can't.
3. Next time this happens, just leave the car on the side of the road, get to work and make some money, and deal with this crap off-hours