A Ferrari 488 Spider picked up a puncture close to the tyre's shoulder, ruling out a straightforward repair. With low ground clearance and a hard-to-source tyre size, getting the car to a garage wasn't the easiest option, so the owner called QuickGrip to sort it on the driveway instead.
This is what mobile tyre puncture repair in Hemel Hempstead looks like when the car isn't an easy one to move. The owner of this Ferrari 488 Spider noticed a slow puncture warning on the dash and found a small piece of debris embedded close to the tyre's shoulder, the area where the tread meets the sidewall.
Shoulder damage like this generally isn't repairable, even on tyres that would otherwise be a straightforward plug or patch job, because the flex in that part of the tyre makes a repair unreliable. Low ground clearance made a trip to a garage more hassle than it needed to be, so the owner called us to come to the house instead.
He described the TPMS warning and the visible damage, and mentioned the car sat low to the ground, a good reason to avoid loading it onto a low-loader for a garage visit.
Our technician checked the exact position and depth of the damage. With the puncture sitting at the shoulder rather than in the centre of the tread, a repair wasn't a safe option, so replacement was the only route forward.
The specific low-profile size wasn't one we had on the van, since performance fitments like this aren't part of standard stock. Rather than asking him to wait for a normal supplier delivery, we sourced it and had it brought to site the same day.
Once the replacement arrived, our fitter mounted and balanced the wheel, refitted it to the correct torque setting for the model, and ran a check before the car left the driveway.
Performance and low-profile fitments need the same care as any other tyre, just with the right tools and a bit more attention to detail.
Punctures near the shoulder or sidewall are one of the more common reasons a repair isn't possible, whatever the vehicle, and it's a call we make on site after inspection rather than guessing over the phone. For cars with low ground clearance or hard-to-source tyre sizes, avoiding a garage trip altogether is usually the more practical option, and it's exactly the kind of job our mobile setup across St Albans and Hemel Hempstead is built for.
Call us with your location, tyre size and a description of the damage, and we'll confirm availability and whether a repair or replacement is the safer option, wherever possible.