I bought the car with this damage. Small gouge/flap on side wall. I dont want to take it to a tire store because they would tell me i need 2 tires for sure. I have driven the car plenty, no change in size. Any thoughts?

 

Looks rough.😔

 

Hard to tell just how deep of a gouge that is on the tire, but I am very cautious when it comes to tires and I would probably buy a new tire, maybe two depending on the tread depth of the other tire.

 

Think about your safety. Get it inspected, and if necessary get it repaired.

 

New tire sir

 

The way I drive, new tire!

 

Or replaced.

 

Think about your safety here

 

Try to get a better picture with better lighting so we can see the depth of the damage.

 

Thats why I am asking you guys. Most of the tire shops around here have high school drop outs working at them. Uncareful, scratching the rims, loosing the valve stem covers, etc.

 

 

That isnt only tire damage, the wheels is damaged and bent as well. You can see it in the pics.

 

^^^
Yup the rim looks bent to me too.

 

It does in the picture but its not, just gouged.

 

I got damage which looked like that on one rear Z51 wheel, when I had to drive over a curb at low speed to escape a careless driver.
There was a small thin flap of rubber, like loose skin when you gouge your hand. Wheel had a similar scrape.

We were spending the winter in Phoenix. I took the car to a nearby Discount Tires and had them inspect it. They said the tire was still safe, and the wheel did not appear to be bent. They made no attempt to sell me a new tire or wheel, but gave me the name of a wheel repair place that blended out the wheel scrape and airbrushed it for $75, that was 3 years ago and it still looks perfect. I took a razor blade and sliced off the loose flap of rubber, it was very thin. When we got home I had all four wheels inspected and Road Force balanced, the scraped one was still running straight and true.

Having said all that, I can't really tell how significant the damage is to your tire and wheel. Photos are good but nothing beats live eyeballs.
I'd take it to a Discount Tires or some other shop with a good reputation, and see what they say. If you're not satisfied with the answer, go to a second shop. Be aware that chains usually have a central database, if you go to a second Discount Tires, that shop will probably see that you had been to another one with the same question.

 

Driving the car w/that type of tire damage is NOT a risk that I would be willing to take.

While it would be advisble, as long as the tire on the other side is not severely worn, there is no need to buy 2 tires. The way to assess the cost vs risk is to consider what might happen if the damaged tire blows out.

At a minimum, you'd have to buy a new tire AND wheel and, in the worst case, the blow out may cause you to lose control and crash, in which case, the cost would be whatever your collision deductible is. The cost of one tire would be far less than that in either case, unless you have a very low collision deductible (and a correspondingly high insurance premium).

Let your own finances and risk assessment be your guide.

Me personally, I'd just replace the tire and the one on the other side if deemed necessary.

 

When it comes to tires, I err on the side of caution. A couple hundred dollars per tire is worth it for my safety. The fact that there is gouge damage to the wheel and there is damage to the tire makes me wonder how damaged that tire is.
If you don't want Firestone or Discount Tire touching it, you may find a local performance shop that does tire mounting.

 

I had similar issue with wife's tire getting fileted. Had Firestone look at it and they told me as long as cords are not showing that it would be ok. Can't tell from your picture if that is your situation, but the way I drive my vette, I'd be concerned about the wheel and tire. As others have said, go have DT or other reputable tire shop look at it, it won't cost anything to get their professional opinion. DT is the only tire shop that I let touch my vette wheels and tires . . . they are very careful and do great job.

I had several bent forged monoblock wheels and DT recommended a shop that would repair. That shop did a great job too, $100 per wheel..

 

That damage doesn't look all that bad. Check to make sure no cords are showing. If they aren't showing you should be able to use the tire without any problems due to the cut. The outside rubber protects the cords, beads and provides the grip to the road surface. In that location, it doesn't do anything but protect the cord/bead. Have had much worse damage on a non-run flat tire and ran the tire for another 10K miles.

As for the edge of the rim being bent as long as the wheel is capable of being balanced and doesn't cause issues such as thumping when driving don't worry about it. A mobile rim repair shop can probably repair the rim for about $160 but I wouldn't bother until the tire is worn out.

Bill

 

Bill,
I agree 100% that from what I can see from the relatively poor photo is that the cut looks superficial and probably not a problem. I'd sure like to see a better picture of the damage.