What to do when you blow a tire on your rental car?

For years we have rented cars and, knock on wood, we have never had a problem. All that came to a screeching halt while on our last trip to Seattle. We decided to take a drive to Leavenworth, about two and a half hour drive northeast of Seattle. It is a beautiful Bavarian town nestled in the mountains where Christmas is celebrated 365 days a year. So you can imagine what it is like during the actual Christmas holiday. 

(Does this not look like bavaria?) Leavenworth, Washington

We meandered through the town, the shops and interestingly enough we ate a Mexican style restaurant called "South".  It was magical with the ground covered in snow and a mysterious yet beautiful fog which hung just on the mountains giving them an extra blanket from the snow. After a day of minor shopping and waiting until the lights turned on we needed to return from our Bavarian getaway to get back to the city.

Sharing some yummy gelato!

The route out of town heads up over Stevens Pass on Highway 2. It is a beautiful drive during the day, but at night you need to be a little more careful. They had been experiencing a lot of rain which loosened some rock along the cliff near the road. Ahead of us was a state trooper in the opposite direction with his lights on just barely off the side of the road. This caused the cars coming in the opposite direction to move over slightly into our lane to avoid him which sent us very close the edge of our road. Before we knew it we noticed three rather large rocks on the road and there was no way to avoid them. We heard and felt a large thud and as I looked down at the dash to see the light which indicates low tire pressure. 

Now our hope was that we just lost air from the force and that we only needed to find a station to fill it back up with air. Luckily there was a good spot to change the tire to the spare which was done with the last minute help of another Trooper who explained that the first Trooper was protecting a very large rock which landed on the opposite side of the road. The small rocks were only remnants of what could have been a disaster if we had only been a few minutes earlier. 

Now what to do. We were a little over an hour from the closest tire shop and it was getting close to closing time. We called them from our cell and sure enough they would be closed by the time we got there. They also didn't seem too interested in staying open a bit late for us. Surprisingly, because it was a 'Les Schawb' and their commercials always talk about staying open to help someone in need. 

All the way back I was worried that I not only ruined the tire, but that there could be some wheel damage. In my head I was calculating the cost and at one point had it estimated at nearly $1000.00. We ended up in Monroe about 15 minutes after closing, drove past and sure enough there were still workers in the store even though the lights were all out. We stopped and I popped my head in and asked if they wanted to film one of their commercials where they help the stranded traveler. They laughed and had us pull into a bay. In the meantime I had called our insurance agent and asked if this would be covered. He said yes, but reminded me that I had a deductible and it would most likely be under that. 

After checking the tire it was obvious that the rocks did more damage than we thought. The sidewall had a nice hole and the rim had a very small bend. A new tire was $390.00 and the rim was a dealer custom and if it didn't hold air would have to be ordered the next day. So we asked the question we always ask... Is that... or in this case, "What is the best you can do?" He said he might have something in the "Barn" that was a one off and we said, "go check the barn". He came back with a tire the same size, same tread design and wear... it actually was a more expensive tire but since it was slightly used he would sell it to us for $85.00. SOLD! $15.00 to install, the rim was fine (with a little work) and $100.00 later we were on our way.

So the question always comes up, do we get insurance when we rent or not. Had we paid the rental company for insurance it would have cost us well over $100.00 for the full term of the rental. Our personal insurance does cover us for anything major that could happen. In this case we still came out ahead and knock on wood, we have yet found a time where that isn't the case. Now if overseas we always purchase the insurance from the rental agency because, minor or major we want to be fully covered. What will you decide on car insurance?