TW16

Sunbury-on-Thames, Sunbury Cross, the racecourse side

Sunbury Cross is a junction before it is a place. M3 traffic comes off it fast, and a fair number of our TW16 calls start within a mile of it.

Coming off the motorway on a soft tyre is how most of them happen — the driver felt something at speed, kept going to the roundabout, and by then the sidewall has cooked. That is a replacement, not a repair, and we will say so on the phone rather than turn up and change our mind. Lower Sunbury is the opposite end of the scale: narrow riverside streets, cars tucked tight, and kerbing damage that shows up as a slow leak weeks later. Kempton Park empties in one go on a race night and the car park exit is not the place to discover a flat.

If you limped it off the M3, say how far you drove on it. It usually decides repair or replace before we leave.