[jcommin]

A few years ago, I owned a MB CLK500. It was a winter that had snow/ice on the road when I hit a pot hole and my rear passenger tire went flat. I pulled over and pondered to either call for help or change the tire myself. I decided to fix it myself. The road was miserable: ice and snow. I opened the trunk and found a full size spare, a scissor jack and a lug wrench. The scissor jack looked like 1/2 of what I normal scissor looked like and the lug wrench had a handle probably no longer that 12 inches. I struggled to break loose the lug nuts - I wished I had a breaker bar or a pipe to gain more leverage. Once that was done, I placed the jack under the car. I couldn't get the jack level on the ground because of the ice and snow, it slipped a few times. I finally got it stable or so I thought when it slipped and cracked the roll pan under the door. I'm at a point to either stop or continue. I proceeded to change the tire. Now I'm frustrated and upset because not only do I have a flat but body damage to the car.

I'm put everything back into the trunk when a VW hits the same pot hole and flattens a tire. The car pulls behind me and the driver opens his trunk to get his spare, jack and lug wrench. Offering to help, I look at his jack and it looks like mine. German cars I thought - POS jack. He is deciding to call for help or change it - the same decision I faced. Looking at his jack and knowing what I went thru, he decides to call for help. Probably money ahead I thought to myself. He waited for help and I moved on. I went back home, changed my pants and changed my shoes, I couldn't help but think how much this flat tire did actually cost me.

Next time - I call.