FORT MYERS SHORES, Fla. — A bunch of roofing nails got stuck in all four tires of one Fort Myers Shores resident’s truck during a car wash visit on Sunday.
Lisa Lemp hopes this serves as a reminder to contractors to be careful with their equipment, and to close lids to products like nails.
She stopped by Surfside Car Wash along Palm Beach Boulevard before picking up dinner Sunday night, and the next thing she knew… she had four flat tires.
“I was very upset. It was shocking, really shocking,” she said.
This is not how Lemp expected to feel leaving this Fort Myers Shores drive-thru car wash.
“I pulled in and I was paying attention to the guides, making sure that my truck fits because it barely does,” she said.
When she drove out of the car wash, she pulled over and saw dozens of orange nails in each tire.
“Each tire had a minimum of six nails,” she said. “One of them had at least almost a dozen.”
Finding nails in your tire is common. But having this many is strange.
“That’s pretty unusual to have that many at one time,” Legendary Automotive & Truck Service production manager and technician Jason Labonte said.
He said with Hurricane Ian’s repairs continuing, so will the nails in our tires.
“Nobody is safe, unfortunately,” he said.
And proof of that is in the ‘Bucket of Trouble’ which sits at the front of his store. Inside it is filled with nails his staff have pulled out of tires.
“You can imagine this stuff is out there,” Labonte said. “If it falls out of somebody’s truck, you’re going to pick it up.”
This is exactly what happened to Lisa, but on a very grand scale.
“Well depending on the vehicle, you could be looking at you know, anywhere from $1000 to $1500 for four new tires and alignment so it’s it’s not cheap these days,” Labonte said.
Luckily for Lisa, she called the Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) who came to block off the drive-thru before someone else could drive through. And her insurance and truck warranty covered the repair costs.
“I had to have my truck towed to the dealership because there were nails in all four tires and it was undrivable,” she said.
But she has a message to the truck driver that wrecked her tires.
“You should be more mindful. Be more careful and you should clean your truck,” she said.
ABC7 spoke to the Surfside Car Wash Friday, they said most of the nails were cleaned right away. Unfortunately, many of their customers dump items at all of their washes so they keep a close eye.