Roadside assistance
Mobile tire service brings a new tire to the vehicle
The short answer
A mobile tire service is a van that carries new tires to wherever the vehicle is parked and mounts them there, so the car never goes to a shop. It is the right call when the tire is destroyed rather than punctured. Send us the size and load rating and we pass the request to vetted local operators.
When a tire brought to the car is the right answer
The sidewall is cut or the casing is destroyed
A puncture in the tread can often be repaired. A cut sidewall, a shredded casing or a tire driven flat cannot. Once it has to be replaced, fitting the spare only postpones the trip to a shop.
The car carries no spare at all
Many new cars ship with a sealant canister and a compressor instead of a wheel. Sealant does nothing for a torn sidewall, and a car with no spare and no usable tire has two options: a tire, or a tow.
The car is parked and moving it is the expensive part
A nail found in the driveway, a flat in an office lot, a work vehicle on a site. None of it is an emergency. The tire comes to the car because the alternative is a tow or a lost day.
You are already riding on a temporary spare
A donut is a limp home, not a tire. Its limits are printed on the face, and on all-wheel drive a mismatched rolling diameter works the driveline the whole time it is fitted.
How to ask for it, and what happens next
Read the sidewall before you call
The size, load index and speed rating are molded into the sidewall, and the pressures are on the placard in the driver door frame. Photograph both: those characters decide who can supply the tire.Say where the car is and what the tire is doing
A driveway, a parking garage, a highway shoulder. Say whether the tire is soft, flat, shredded or cut, whether the wheel took the impact, and whether it has been driven on.The request goes to vetted local operators
InterCar Group is an intermediary: we do not carry tires and we do not employ technicians. What the operators working your area can supply decides whether this ends as a new tire, a spare fitted, or a tow.Agree the price, then the tire goes on
The operator confirms what the visit, the tire and the mounting cost before anyone begins. Then it is mounted and balanced at the vehicle, the lug nuts torqued in a star pattern, and the pressure set to the placard figure.
Upfront pricing
What a tire brought to the car costs
A mobile tire job is priced as two things: the visit, and the tire that goes on it. The ranges below are what published cost guides and one operator’s public price list show for each piece of the work — market figures rather than a quote from InterCar Group.
| Service | Typical range | What is included |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile service call | $50 – $100per visit | Bringing the van out, before any tire. One published price list charges a flat $105. |
| New passenger tire | $100 – $300per tire | A standard passenger size. Specialty and performance sizes are published at $200 to $500 and are the least likely to be on a van. |
| Mounting and balancing | $15 – $50per tire | On top of the tire. One published list prices it at $30 per tire above its service call. |
| Flat tire change with your own spare | $50 – $70per visit | The alternative when the car carries a usable spare, and the flat is still yours to deal with. |
| Tow to a tire shop, up to ten miles | $75 – $125per call | What the call becomes when the wheel is bent or nobody nearby has the size. |
Estimates only. Final price confirmed by the local operator before dispatch.
What moves this price
- The size, load index and speed rating. A common sedan size is carried far more widely than a truck or performance size, and what is not on a van has to be collected first.
- How many tires are down. One is one price; a set changes the labor, and on all-wheel drive it can change what the manufacturer will accept.
- The hour and the day. Nights, weekends and holidays carry the operator’s after-hours rate, and a call outside a van’s usual area carries travel on top.
- Where the vehicle sits. A driveway is straightforward; a highway shoulder needs traffic protection, and a tight garage or soft ground may not be workable.
Where these ranges come from
- ET Express Tire Mobile — Mobile tire repair costChecked August 30, 2026
- Quickie Tire — Published prices and servicesChecked August 30, 2026
- LatestCost — Average Cost of Roadside AssistanceChecked August 30, 2026
A new tire, your spare, or a tow?
Which one is yours depends on what the tire is doing and what the car is carrying.
| What matters | Mobile tire service | Flat tire change | Tow to a tire shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| What has to be true | Someone near you carries the size, and the car can be worked on where it sits | A usable spare on board, and the lock key if the wheels are locked | Nothing. The truck takes the car whatever the wheel is doing |
| What you drive away on | A new tire, mounted and balanced | A spare, with the limits printed on it | Nothing. The car rides on the deck |
| What it settles | The tire | The trip. The tire is still to deal with | Where the work happens |
| How it is billed | The visit, plus the tire and the mounting | One service call | A hook-up fee plus every loaded mile |
With a usable spare on board and an undamaged wheel, the spare is the cheaper and faster visit, and the flat tire change page is the one you want. Ask for a tire brought to the car when the tire is finished and there is nothing worth fitting instead. When the wheel itself is damaged, the tow is the only option rather than the expensive one.
Where these statements come from
Anything numeric or regulatory on this page carries the document it was read from and the date it was checked against it. A claim with no source is left off the page.
Published mobile tire cost guides put the service call at $50 to $100, mounting and balancing at $15 to $50 per tire, a standard passenger tire at $100 to $300, and a performance tire at $200 to $500.
ET Express Tire Mobile — Mobile tire repair costChecked August 30, 2026
One mobile tire operator publishes its prices in full: $105 for the service call, $30 per tire to mount and balance, $105 to fit a spare the customer has, and $47 to extract a wheel lock.
Quickie Tire — Published prices and servicesChecked August 30, 2026
Consumer cost guides put a roadside service call to change a flat tire at $50 to $70, and a tow of up to ten miles at $75 to $125.
LatestCost — Average Cost of Roadside AssistanceChecked August 30, 2026
Frequently asked questions
Does InterCar Group send a van with tires on it?
We are an intermediary, so the honest answer depends on your area. We do not carry tires and we do not employ technicians. We take the request — size and load rating, where the vehicle is, what the tire is doing — and pass it to vetted local operators. Where the answer is a spare change or a tow, you are told before anyone is sent.
What is the difference between mobile tire service and a flat tire change?
A flat tire change fits the spare your car already carries: one visit, one price, and the flat travels with you to a shop. Mobile tire service brings a new tire and mounts it where the car sits, so the job ends with a tire you can keep driving on. With a usable spare, the flat tire change page is the one you want.
What do I need to have ready before I ask?
The size, load index and speed rating molded into the sidewall, photographed rather than remembered. The pressure from the placard in the driver door frame. The wheel lock key, if the lug nuts are locking. And where the vehicle is, precisely enough to be found.
Can the tire be repaired instead of replaced?
Sometimes. A clean puncture in the tread, inside the repairable area and not driven on for long, can be patched from the inside with the tire off the rim. Nothing in the sidewall or the shoulder is repairable, and a tire driven flat has usually destroyed its inner liner.
Is a tire fitted at the car more expensive than a tire shop?
Usually yes on the tire itself, because a shop buys in volume and spreads its overhead across a day of vehicles. What the difference buys is the visit, so compare the mobile total against the tow plus the shop price, not against the shop price alone.
Last updated
Send the size and where the car is
The characters on the sidewall, your ZIP code and what the tire is doing. We pass the request to vetted local operators, who confirm what they can supply and what it costs before anyone is sent.
Estimates only. The local operator confirms the final price before dispatch.