Money Saving Monday #20

Saturday, we visited a local museum and had a lovely day. On the way home, a truck drove by us on the freeway and started pointing at the front of our van. Bo got off at the next exit, and we found one of our front tires quickly going flat.

He filled it with air, but the damage was such that it wouldn't hold air so he had to put the spare tire on. (as an aside -- I'm so glad he was driving when this happened and not me!) Nate was excited because he got to help his dad change the tire.

We took a trip to Wal-Mart, because we had purchased our tires there last, and had the road hazard warranty.

The road hazard warranty is $10/tire and covers road hazards and flats. Wal-Mart will pro-rate the cost of the tire based on remaining tread -- if the damage is not to the sidewall of the tire and is covered under their rules. They will also repair a flat at no charge, if the flat can be repaired.

It turned out that they applied $22 towards the cost of a new tire for the damaged tire and we replaced 2 more tires in addition as long as we were there. The question was -- is the road hazard warranty worth it?

Last time we also purchased 3 tires (no, I'm not exactly sure why we seem to replace 3 at a time -- the van does have 4 tires) and we opted for the road hazard warranty. It cost $30 for the three tires, and we got $22 back.

That doesn't seem worth it, does it? We've almost always purchased the road hazard warranty -- but the last time it didn't apply at all because of side wall damage. We decided to refuse it this time and saved $30. Even if we do have a flat -- the cost of repair is $9.50. That's less than the road hazard warranty! This warranty hasn't been a money-saving offer for us.