This was one of those situations that was beyond my control. During the afternoon of Friday 7/18/2025 at around 4:30pm, I was driving home from work when I had an unfortunate incident happen to me. My right passenger side tire hit a severe crack in the road (at Sunrise Ave/Fair Oaks Blvd) where all the gravel/roadwork is being done. This was not a pothole but a very large split in the asphalt that caused the tire (on my 2024 Honda) to completely tear apart along the sidewall. I also witnessed another vehicle with a blown tire as well as a motorcycle that suffered the same fate.
Since I am pretty familiar with the way Sacramento County handles road hazards, I reached out to 311 (or if you're not in the county, the number is 916-874-5311). You will speak to a live dispatch operator and they will take down your information. I was then able to submit a claim by sending it to Risk Management. If your claim is approved (in this case with other vehicles getting flat tires), you will be compensated and reimbursed (usually within a couple of weeks) for out-of-pocket expenses. Keep in mind that they do NOT do claims on potholes but other serious issues such as the one I had unfortunately experienced on Fair Oaks Blvd.
Fortunately, the whole tire didn't deflate entirely as I was able to drive slowly and carefully to "Greenback Tires & Wheels". Located directly on Greenback Lane and adjacent to Sylvan Road in Citrus Heights, this place has been in business since 2012. They also have excellent hours of operation as they are open Monday-Saturday from 9:00am-5:30pm and Sunday from 9:00am-3:30pm. Since this was late on a Friday afternoon, they were able to accommodate me as there were no other customers.
I arrived here around 4:50pm, explained to them what had happened, and parked near the bay where they were able to replace my tire. I then gave them my set of wheel locks (to remove the wheel/tire), and they were successfully able to replace my damaged tire with a brand new one. Total time from when I arrived until when I left took about 20 minutes. The new tire that I received was a Westlake brand which is more of an entry-level tire but still good enough to last 60,000 miles. Total price including tire disposal fee and taxes came out to around $130.
I will say that the customer service here is impeccable as the young men that work here get things done quickly and efficiently. They have a decent selection of car/truck/SUV tires of all sizes as well as a respectable amount of wheels to upgrade your ride. The waiting area has enough seating for roughly 5 customers. I also wanted to add that they properly inflated my other 3 tires to the proper PSI. All in all, this place is as good as it gets in Citrus Heights; especially when it comes to tire prices. They also specialize in alignments, tire rotation, and other small repairs. With that said and done, I am giving "Greenback Tires & Wheels" a perfect five-star rating. read more