PSA: Check your spare tire

Always a great tip. Glad it wasn't any worse!

 

This is a great and important tip!!! I intentionally used the spare (instead of a more easily accessible winter tire/wheel I had stacked on the side) on my 996 just to make sure all the toolkit/jack components were there, and I discovered that the spare was a 3 PSI (instead of the recommended 60PSI!!). It definitely would not have been usable in that state. I don't even know how something can drain down so low on its own, but I've since heard from others (chiming in after my post on another forum) that this is the norm. Check the spare at least once a season -- or include it in your regular tire check/fill-up routine if it's easily accessible.

Here is another helpful tip: The "free to use" customer tire pumps located in the parking lots of Costco dispense nitrogen instead of air. While intended for Costco members, they don't require a Costco card to use the nitrogen pumps. Nitrogen molecules are larger than standard air -- so the naturally leaky spare tire "donut" will hold pressure longer if you fill it with Nitrogen. Nitrogen is good for the main tires also (less moisture than air, more stable pressures with tire temp, reduced leakdown, etc). Not really worth it for regular road use to pay a dealer for a nitrogen fill, but it's not a bad idea when it's free. Costco does use nitrogen (instead of air) to fill your tires when you buy tires and have them installed there.

 

just to add to this..
- when we were shopping for a new car(hyundai), the dealer had a dealer add on of $595 for nitrogen in the tires. i called the salesman out for this telling him its free at costco. he sheepishly played dumb.
- also check the spare tire press on your vintage cars.
all of mine were very low. only pressurize tires after
loosening the hold down lever.

 

I get periodic sales emails from the Ferrari dealer and at the bottom they always list "nitrogen tire fill $299.99".

 

I used to get those nitrogen fill email "specials" from dealers (BMW et al) for $80 years ago when it first became a "thing" (still a high-margin profit for them back then). The increase to $300 (or whatever) is about the same as the run-up I've seen on any type of service. The dealers used to run ads (and have electronic coupons) for oil changes for $89 back then, now there are no specials or even quotes for routine things like oil changes -- you'll be lucky if you can get a Base Macan oil change for $350 these days from a dealer.

The real problem with "inflation" isn't increased costs for service providers, it is far, far, far more about rampant gouging and maximizing "pricing power" under the guise of "inflation". CEO's are quite vocal about unprecedented pricing leverage driving their margin increases in their quarterly calls. For example, PVC pipe at Home Depot is about 480% of what it was a few years ago (very little of that is increased costs -- most of it is unbridled gouging).

 

I got a shock when looking at the service invoice for the last time the PO of my old 911 got an oil change - they itemized 1/4 hour - $37.50 - just to r&r the oil filter. Nuts. The total for the oil change was a little north of $400.

Considering I can change my own oil in that car in a half hour, saving about $300 in the process, I figure I’m paying myself $600/hour to change my oil lol.

 

I got a shock when I found out on my wife's Panamera in order to change the air filter you have to remove the front bumper!