My car doesn’t have a spare wheel and it doesn’t have run-flat tyres. When I bought it (2nd hand) I was handed a can of Holts Tyreweld.

Last Saturday I cut a sidewall and tried to inflate the tyre using the aforementioned can of foam. That seemed to do bugger all. Fortunately I always carry my Joe Blow so I managed to get home after several stops to blow it up.

When I asked the bloke in the tyre place if these cans worked he just smiled and shook his head. Well he would, wouldn’t he?

Does any roadside remedy do anything worth doing? I’ve been looking at the Slime Smart Repair Kit, which includes a pint of slime and a 12v compressor. Or are these things just something to make you think you’re not being irresponsible?

If there is a cut on the sidewall its not fixable by the road- those kits are for nail/screw punctures only really

The Stop ‘n’Go tyre pluggers are OK, not for a sidewall though

Nothing beats a spare though

I checked my spare t’other day and it was some weird little narrow thing. How long has that been going on?

I’m not planning to repair the tyre, that got scrapped. And I’m not expecting a 100% solution. But excluding big cuts that Stop’n’Go looks good. So what inflator? Joe Blow, 12v or CO2?

For a car, I’d use a small compressor
I carry a couple of co2 canisters on motorbikes if touring

Plenty of 12v compressors on the ‘bay, John for about a tenner and a can of sealer will get you home!

Most tyre places will try and sell you a new tyre if you take a ‘bunked’ one in for repair – it’s a con though, the gunk can be usually be washed out with hot water!

Buy a spare wheel from fleabay if you’ve space for it

Buy a spare wheel from fleabay if you’ve space for it

This +1

The C-Max we recently bought came with can of gunk and a pump. It has a well for a space saver. Luckily a mate was scrapping a Mondeo so I had the spare, jack and wheel brace from that for beer money. Otherwise I’d have had one from eBay, or a breakers.

As you’ve got run flats I’d recommend a 12v compressor over a spare wheel or gunk. Just checking – you do know run flats are designed to be run flat for up to 50 miles below 50 mph?

The compressor is in case it’s a slow one, you can stop in safety, top up, reset the sensor and limp to the garage hoping the tyre can be repaired.

If you run it flat or apply gunk a repair is unlikely. A sidewall isn’t repairable so I’d have just run it flat to the garage and binned it.

I wouldn’t want a spare wheel or gunk these days as I don’t have to worry about changing the wheel or filling with gunk in a dark or dangerous scenario (or my wife etc). Can just slow down and resolve the issue in safety if the sensor pings.