Let me explain to you how ‘karma’ works…

I don’t know if I’m a true believer in karma, but I have to believe that if I get my first flat tire in 20 years, within days after getting a new car that does not have a spare tire, surely somewhere out there someone is trying to tell me something. I’m just not sure what. Here are a few options that crossed my mind.

Idiot! Why did you buy an EV? This is exactly the kind of thing that will happen to you! Repent! It’s not too late to mend your ways! And by the way, donate to our church.

or

You look like that guy Job in the Bible. But god is Buddhist. So here’s the thing. We are offering you an excellent opportunity to build some karma points early on by providing you with a flat tire immediately after driving off the lot. Use them as you wish!

Or maybe it was just random?

Too Good To Be True

In my previous post I rented a cute red Volkswagen ID.4 and spent three days with it. Since then, I did some homework and learned that if I purchased one before the end of the year, I would qualify for a $7500 tax refund. After Dec 31, qualification is a lot more conditional because it includes stipulations about maximum income level and component sourcing. So I checked around and learned that dealers technically cannot carry the 2023 models in stock because all orders are placed directly by customers. But if a customer cancels their order, then the car belongs to the dealer that it was being shipped to. So I called around and learned that occasionally, models do become available. Because of demand, they were being offered with market adjustment of up to $10,000 above MSRP (“suggested retail”). I placed refundable deposit with a couple of dealers waiting for cancellations, and sat down to do the math. Could I really afford one of these electric wonders?

Math Says Yes

So I have an “ICE” car. That’s short for Internal Combustion Engine, which is short for dinosaur. Well technically, that’s what powers them. It has a trade-in value of $26,000. Maybe a bit more. And by the way, that’s more than what I paid for it almost three years ago. But that’s the market, these days.

I drive about 20,000 miles a year. Gas costs $5/gallon where I live. I’m averaging 30 miles per gallon in my ICE car. So my annual cost of fuel is 20,000/30*5 = $3,333 per year. Now let’s add in oil changes, oil filters, air filters, coolant and all that ICE stuff at about $300 per 5,000 miles. So that brings it to $4,500/year.

Additionally, with the ID.4 comes free charging for three years on the Electrify America network, thanks to a government lawsuit over dieselgate. So I can save $4,500*3 in fuel over the first three years and probably $3,000 each year after, by charging at home.

So here’s the remainder of my math:

The model I’m interested in, an AWD version with a swanky sky roof, goes for $52,000 MSRP. Subtract the $26,000 I could get on selling (not trading in) my ICE car, and another $7500 for the tax refund, and my incremental cost is $18,500. In three years, I will have made back $13,500 in savings from not having to pay for gas or ICE-related maintenance. That brings the purchase down to a net expense of $5,000.

Meanwhile the residual value of the car - what I can sell it for after three years - will have gone up from $26,000 for my ICE, to probably $40,000 for the ID.4. So I will have paid a net of $5,000 to get an increase in value of $14,000. No brainer, right?

*Ok I left out sales tax. But let’s assume I live in Oregon, ok?

Let’s Do It

So there I am minding my own business. It’s Thanksgiving weekend and I’ve managed to contract Covid. The VW dealer who sold me my current car (the lovely Alltrack, which will feature in a future blog) calls out of the blue and says they’ve got an ID.4 on the lot, color is Silver Mist, sudden cancellation, if you want it you’ll have to come in and take it first thing Monday morning. I strap on a face-mask, clear my head, and drive in. I take one look and really liked the color a blend between nondescript gray and sparkling silver. So I spend the rest of the day buying the car while fending off the various upsells, and drive off the lot by late afternoon. Proud EV owner, right?

About that Carma

I have long learned that my kind of karma usually comes up front. For me, that means life is like one of those debit cards that you have to put cash into, first. Shit happen to me at the very beginning of something new, and in return I generally get good karma for a period of time after. For example, the new white shirt almost always gets spilt on the first time it is worn.

So it came as little surprise that I got a flat tire within days of taking delivery of this new far. I went out to move the car on Sunday morning, with the sleet coming down, and the right rear tire was flat as a piece of paper. Just like that. And the culprit was easy to see: a one inch screw, split exactly in half, stuck straight in, with the head lodged there glaring at me.

And it came as no surprise that it was a flat tire, and not some other ailment, because the ID.4 does not come with a spare. So of course it would be a flat. Right?

It would have been okay if I got the flat on any other day of the year. But Sunday? Really? We were planning to fly overseas for two weeks on Monday. Of course. But I was ready. I quickly contacted the members of my ID.4 group on Facebook, and received - well - a wide variety of advice from people with different experiences. Some told me use the included ‘Tire Repair Kit’ which consists of a contraption that injects ‘slime’ (yes that’s the word they use) into the tire. This covers the entire inside of the tire, hopefully including the puncture, with a goo that seals it off so that you can fill it up and drive it off to a tire center. Eww. Others said ‘don’t do that!’ because most tire stores will not repair tires full of slime. Some told me to get a ‘plug kit’ and simply plug the hole. “Ten minutes and you’re back on the road! No need to do anything more for the life of the tire!” Okay that sounded promising. Still others told me to “stop wasting time and just get it towed.” And of course there were the smartasses who said “don’t run over nails” and the ID.4 Eeyores who pounced in to say “that car is useless, it attracts flat tires like flies to shit.” Paraphrased, but still.

Let’s Treat This As A Learning Experience

After changing my flight to delay my departure, I went out and bought one of the tire plug kits, curious about just how simple it might be. The kit consisted of several sinister looking tools, one called a ‘reamer’ that you plunge into the puncture hole in the tire then swizzle around, to make the hole big enough for the next tool, which looked like a giant needle with a sharp head into which you thread a long piece of icky sticky asphalty plug that you then jam into said hole. Then presto, it’s plugged and the two automatically ‘vulcanize’ together. Or something like that.

I watched a YouTube video to learn exactly how to perform this operation and was thankful that it was being done on a tire and not a living being. The YouTuber carefully explained just how easy it was to do but his grunting and groaning told a different story. Still he managed to get the plug pushed into the hole of the tire. Barely. And his tire was off the car. And the tire had air in it, so that it was easier to push the plug in. My tire was on the car, completely flat, and the car was parked on a sloping street down which flowed a river of ice cold rainwater. Literally ice cold. 32 degrees. I spent an hour trying to ream the hole, then jam the giant needle with threaded vulcanizer plug, into the tire. It was nothing like the YouTube video. Being flat, there was nothing really to push it against. I did try adding air to the tire (the car comes with an inflator) but the air went out just as fast as it went in. To get a better angle at pushing the the reamer and the plug needle in, I had to actually lie down IN the flowing ice river, and ended completely soaked. This while recovering from Covid.

Finally, in disgust, I stomped back into the apartment, peeled off my soaked clothes, issued forth a stream of bleating expletives, and drew a bath. Time for Plan B.

Plan B

This should have been my Plan A. Call a tow truck and have the car towed to the nearest Les Schwab so that they could plug the tire in the warmth and comfort of a lift. This worked fine, except that they had an entire day’s backlog of fixing tires. “We’ve never seen so many cars with flat tires. And these aren’t bare tires, these are all new!” Hmmm.

Lessons

If you are just driving in the city, you’re probably best served by using AAA and having them tow your car to a Les Schwab.
According to my neighborhood les Schwab, it’s general okay to use the “Slime Kit” included with the car, as long as you inform the folks at the tire dealer in advance.
For longer road trips where you might have to wait for towing, use the “Slime Kit” or get a Plug Kit that really works. Here’s the best one I’ve come across.

EV 102: How to quickly build "Carma"