On Thu, 22 Dec 2016 17:27:44 -0500, Ed Pawlowski advised:

I can't do that and have no desire to do so.

I completely understand your sentiment.
I had the same sentiment earlier in my life.

Over time, it frustrated me to watch others perform tire changes
incorrectly.

Those repeatedly incorrect tire changes were what prompted me to do it
myself.

Plus I like learning.

In the past 20 years I can
think of three tires needing repair.

Wow. I seem to have at least one a year, and sometimes more (lately).

I canvassed the neighborhood, and we found one sedan with two punctures on
the same side of the vehicle (she's buying new tires as we speak so we may
repair hers for practice when they're dismounted at the shop and brought
home).

If flats were as uncommon as you seem to feel they may be, then why hasn't
the spare tire gone the way of the dashboard oil pressure gage?

My car came with roadside service
so I called the number and a guy comes and changes the tire for me.

My wife has AAA. It makes her feel safe.
Truth is, if she has a problem, she calls me.
If I need the car towed home, where I have better tools, I call AAA.

So, we're in agreement. AAA is wonderful for towing.
I'm sure they're great for running out of gas.
And, perhaps for opening locked car doors (if possible nowadays).

I don't know any guy who would call someone else for something as simple as
changing a tire though. It almost takes longer to make the call to AAA than
it does to change the tire yourself. Even if it didn't, you'll be waiting
for the truck to arrive far longer than it takes to change the tire.

How long does it take you to change a tire anyway?

In
two cases, the tire was not repairable in the third, i drove it to a shop.

Yup. All the tires I fixed were not repairable due to the lack of tread.
Had the owners driven on the tires, the belts would be showing on the
inside, and hence they would not have been repairable.
Had the holes been at the edge of the steel belts, again, they would not
have been repairable.
Had the holes been larger than a quarter inch, they would not have been
repairable.

However, except for treadwear, the tires I worked on were repairable, which
was the main question after all.

Economics is also a factor. The cost of the seup is much more than I
spent in tire repairs and that even included what I pay when buying new
tires.

We already showed that out here, the cheapest shop is about $20 to $25 per
tire, so, that's $80 to $100 for a mount and balance. I'm sure a tire
repair is along the same lines of cost.

I've raised my tool estimate from $200 to $250 because I'm adding the cost
of the carbide reamer, the cone buffer, and an assortment of weights, in
addition to the separate stand-alone bead breaker.

So, using round easy numbers, at $25 per tire, it will take 10 tires to
recoup the investment, which we can double to 20 tires for a safe margin on
the math.

At an average of 4 tires every two years plus one flat every two years, for
a two-car family, that's a replacement or repair of 5 tires a year (which
is pretty much fitting my use model).

So it will take two to four years to recoup the investment in tools.

I have lots of tools that recouped their cost in the first use, and others
which took five or more years, so, that's just about in the range of
expected return on investment.

If cars are your hobby, it may be OK.
For the average driver, it is silly.

Is the average homeowner on alt.home.repair, or the average car driver on
rec.autos.tech?

I would hope all of you are a cut above average.
I know I am.