Does a screw in the tire mean sidewall damage and tire replacement?

Question

I bought my 2015 Hyundai Sonata last March (2015) and it has about 17,000 miles on it. I just found a screw in the rear driver side tire. Shows a slow leak when I took to a tire shop and they applied the soapy water 'test'. However, the screw didn't deflate the tire upon entry even after I had driven almost 50 miles before I saw it when filling up my car with gas. The tire shop tells me the tire cannot be repaired due to sidewall damage. A friend tells me there is no way that the screw could have penetrated into the tire's sidewall. He says it wouldn't have been long enough to penetrate the tire's sidewall because there is a thick enough amount of rubber on the tread before it would get to the sidewall. Do I really need a new tire or should this situation require only a removal of the screw and a repair to the tire?

Answer 1

If the screw penetrated the sidewall, and it leaks when you pull the screw out, then a tire shop cannot and will not repair it.

The sidewall of a tire is the thinnest place on a tire. A 1/2" long screw could easily penetrate through the sidewall. It is very usual for a nail or screw to enter a tire at any location (sidewall or tread) and not cause the tire to deflate. There is usually enough of a seal around the penetrating object to almost completely seal it. You can drive like that for many, many miles before you realize there's any kind of issue.