On a recent trip to France in my 17,000 mile 2007 Mercedes-Benz SLK280, I had the misfortune to get a puncture in the rear nearside tyre. The tyres are Pirelli 225/50 R16 92W. Fortunately, we were still on our campsite and had not ventured onto a main road. I called Mercedes Mobilo Life helpline and they arranged for a local Mercedes dealer to attend. He only took about an hour and was extremely efficient.

The mechanic arrived with his low loader and I was fully expecting them to take the car back to the garage and fit a new tyre if in stock, or to have to order one. However, the mechanic jacked the car up and found the offending item, a one and a half inch piece of metal sticking out. He was able to remove it and plug the hole. I asked if this would see us to the ferry terminal some 200 miles away, some on dual carriageway (limit 110/130km on the Peage) and he said yes, which surprised me. We arrived safely and the tyre pressure was fine.

When home I visited my local Mercedes main dealer, told the story and they too confirmed that they saw no reason to renew the tyre. I would be interested to receive your views, as clearly a new tyre would be quite costly, but my main concern is safety.