Sidewall bubble

Well, I wanted a month without an "extra expense" and it appears this won't be that month again. Sigh.

Got home from work today and since the weather was nice I decided to spray the salt off the undercarriage. As I crawled around the VW I noticed the left front tire has a new bubble in the sidewall. It's maybe 1/2" high and 2" across.

What to do? No big trips are planned so it's around town use only for a while. Wait and watch? Ticking time bomb? What says the hive, I've never had one of these before.

My trusty repair shop said that those kill a tire because there's no way to use a plug for it. You probably should only wait a week tops before you replace it.

Ticking time bomb but you don't know how long the timer is. I have been broke enough to move them to the rear and limp it but I not so shmart shumtimes ... Cue up the safety Nazis in 3...2...

Erma gerd yer gonna die! It is a ticking bomb. Could go in a day or a couple of months. Use at your discretion, but expect a blowout every trip.

I replace those as soon as I can afford it.

I'd look at it as a 'next paycheck' item at the latest. Otherwise, take it on down to Reasonable Ron's Used Tires. Check the air in your spare and consider putting the essentials in your on-board kit. Old rags, aired up spare, jack, gloves rags, flashlight, etc. Put it on the back and don't act a fool and it will probably go for a long time. Or it might not.

Also, a full-sized spare (if not so-equipped) would be a good alternative to a new tire for the same or less price. A yard might have a matching alloy. Donut spares suck.

Oldtin brings up a good point, what is your spare?

I say, as in so many cases, "It depends." If you hit a pothole and cut the inside layer of rubber, its not real long for this world. If its just kinda coming apart, it may take quite a while to push through.

I'd still change it at your first convenience, but that's because I berkeleying hate changing tires on the side of the road.

I had one when I rubbed a curb last spring. I pulled it off as soon as I was home and re installed one of my snow tires until I had the extra cash for a new tire. No advice beyond that.

Thanks all. Extra annoyingly it's the AWD Passat so it wants all new tires.

Spare is full size and aired up. Different brand though so it is a slightly different size.

I have been known to toss a tube in a tire like that if the blister is small and there is no rough edges inside, but almost exclusively for trailers. I'm sure no shop would do that though, particularly if the car has tpms.

I did that once... put new tyres on a car before going through inspection, hit a pot hole on the way to inspection and failed.. for a bubble in the sidewall.. I don't think I had 10 miles on the tyres

I won a trophy at an autocross with one. The tires were piece of crap runflats that were on the car when I bought it though so I figured the sidewall was probably stiff enough that it wouldn't blow out.

My grandpa owned a tire business and I started changing tires to make extra money when I was 12. I saw a LOT of different kinds of wounds on tires. This one isn't a good one. This is not something that will resolve itself or can be easily mitigated. I recommend changing it as soon as possible and don't drive at highway speeds on it until then. It may last a while but it probably won't. Try for a used tire if you can't swing a new one right now. If your others are ok and you are worried about the diameter difference get the new tire shaved - that is cheaper than a set of four.