Spare Wheel........or NOT!

Marc

Marc

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Picked up the new car last week and was somewhat surprised that, when the salesman opened the boot, there was no spare wheel/tyre, just a repair kit. Apparently, this is now the norm. I must admit, I always thought it was illegal not to carry a spare but realise this may have been apocryphal.

Now I couldn't physically change a tyre anyway but it would be extra hassle if the tyre wasn't repairable at the roadside and had to be towed. For those who would be able to change a wheel, has anyone experienced this?
 
Like Paul said, get a spare! Most scrapyards will have a selection to suit and may well even have a correct spacesaver one for your car.
 
does the boot have a wheel well for a spare? Some cars are designed now for no spare at all. others have the wheel well but use it for extra storage. What car is it. Personally I would like at lease a space saver if I had normal tyres on the car. If I had the option I would have run flats every time on a car but very few seem to offer them. Had them on my last two cars and as far as I'm concerned there are great. Unfortunately you can't fit run flats to wheels designed for ordinary tyres.
 
The car industry will try to tell you that this sort of thing is "driven by the consumer", as if not having a spare wheel is a good idea.
I first came across this when I had an Audi A2, and for a dasy was convinced a previous owner had nicked the spare:D, until I went online and found that my roadside knight in shining armour (in the event of a pucture) would be a squirty container full of goo which may or may not work.
I would definitely advise getting a cheap spare from a scrappy and fit it with a decent tyre inflated to the correct pressure. You will also need to buy a jack as well, and I would recommend Lidl, Aldi or Argos for a 1 ton trolley jack plus an axle stand (or pair).
 
I have been driving for just over 30 years and have never needed a spare. I don't have a crank handle to start the engine with either. Back when they stopped providing crank handles, people said much the same. Good maintenance is better than either a crank handle or a spare wheel.
 
fabs said:
Picked up the new car last week and was somewhat surprised that, when the salesman opened the boot, there was no spare wheel/tyre, just a repair kit. Apparently, this is now the norm. I must admit, I always thought it was illegal not to carry a spare but realise this may have been apocryphal.

Now I couldn't physically change a tyre anyway but it would be extra hassle if the tyre wasn't repairable at the roadside and had to be towed. For those who would be able to change a wheel, has anyone experienced this?
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Yes it's normal for a lot of cars - you can normally spec a spare wheel as an option - this will be either a full size wheel (generally steel, not alloy) or a space saver. Some cars still do come with a spare wheel as standard, but I think more often than not, they tend to be space savers...

You need to check your boot, under the 'floor' to see if there is room for a spare - and don't forget, you might also have to buy the jack etc for the car as well...

When we ordered my wife's last car 5-6 years ago - Fiesta, I got a spare wheel and kit thrown in as part of my deal (only about £60-80 option I seem to remember), whereas mine came with a space saver as standard...my older A4 Sport, came with a full size alloy wheel as a spare - I was shocked to see that in the boot :)
 
Unfortunately, IMO, having not spare tyre is the norm now. I've read that it allows car makers to cut the cost (though compared to the total cost of a car I think this must be fairly small) and to get better performance figures(however, as we have seen recently there are other ways of manipulating the figures).

We found out our Zafira did not have a spare when a tyre blew about 6am on the A9. Fortunately we were able to get the car to a safe place but the blow (which ripped the sidewall) meant the repair kit was useless and it was a pain waiting for the breakdown truck to arrive.

I would very much prefer to have a spare, though (and I might be tempting fate here) the blow out happened years ago and we have not had a puncture since.

Dave
 
Even though I did a mechanics apprenticeship years ago, I was recently surprised to learn (or maybe relearn) that spare wheels are not mandatory. A company I was working for issued me with a van with no spare, because they did not want us hurting ourselves changing them :LOL:
 
It's not universal yet but it's getting much more common not to have a spare. The trouble with the inflation kit is that it's only good for 40 odd miles and that only if the damage to the tyre isn't too bad. My last car didn't come with a wheel, I paid about £120 for the wheel and a rack to hang it under the car, made sure my next car came with one.
 
it's something they can charge you extra for, why would it be consumer led, who would want the hassle that comes with not having a spare wheel, guy at work shredded a tyre at 10pm, instead of 20 minutes to change it it was wait an hour for assistance and either pay out of hours rates for a national chain to come out and supply a full retail price tyre or get it taken home and take it to get a tyre fitted the next day which was still a PITA because he didn't have a car to do it in
 
I have to say my company van has no spare either, if I get a flat I have to call out some breakdown company to come and take me to a tyre fitter.
 
Gaz J said:
does the boot have a wheel well for a spare?
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andyred said:
You need to check your boot, under the 'floor' to see if there is room for a spare
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Yes, there is space for a spare

andy700 said:
You will also need to buy a jack as well,
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As said above, I can't physically change a wheel so would need to call the RAC out anyway

john.margetts said:
Good maintenance is better than either a crank handle or a spare wheel.
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Not sure how "good maintenance" would prevent a puncture.
 
john.margetts said:
I have been driving for just over 30 years and have never needed a spare. I don't have a crank handle to start the engine with either. Back when they stopped providing crank handles, people said much the same. Good maintenance is better than either a crank handle or a spare wheel.
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Yes, because punctures are always avoidable. o_O
 
Tringa said:
We found out our Zafira did not have a spare when a tyre blew about 6am on the A9

Dave
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Seems like the Zafira should be issuing large fire extinguishers as standard as well if recent news is anything to go by.:exit::wideyed:
 
frank said:
Seems like the Zafira should be issuing large fire extinguishers as standard as well if recent news is anything to go by.:exit::wideyed:
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I saw that too.
A touch...volatile, it seems!
 
fabs said:
Yes, I saw this on the news the day after I picked up my new Vauxhall! :cautious:
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Second recall for the same issue, so double oops for Vauxhall.
 
nilagin said:
They are if you leave the car at home and take the bus. ;)
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Please say you'll never give up the day job for a career in stand up comedy ;)
 
frank said:
Seems like the Zafira should be issuing large fire extinguishers as standard as well if recent news is anything to go by
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Yes, seems Vauxhall has messed up and I wasn't very impressed with the service they provided when it was checked last time.

Dave
 
john.margetts said:
I have been driving for just over 30 years and have never needed a spare. I don't have a crank handle to start the engine with either. Back when they stopped providing crank handles, people said much the same. Good maintenance is better than either a crank handle or a spare wheel.
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I have been driving for 40 years but hitting whatever I did in the outside lane of the motorway (pothole probably on A1) it deflated the tyre ripped the sidewall and put a flat on the rim on my alloy..............what could I do to prevent it nothing ..........it was raining and getting dark and a puncture repair outfit if used would have killed me tha RAC guy has a special spare and does 8 or more a day.
 
Had one blow out in 20 years and a few punctures that I was still able to drive on. It's like insurance, I've never claimed on my car insurance but I still have it.
 
Steep said:
Had one blow out in 20 years and a few punctures that I was still able to drive on. It's like insurance, I've never claimed on my car insurance but I still have it.
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A better point if you're in Australia ;)
 
What if you are unfortunate enough to get two punctured tyres at the same time. It has happened to me. A spare will only do half the job then. I fitted the spare and bought a puncture repair spray. Instructions said to run it for a few miles to get it to circulate and seal properly. Being late at night and wanting to get home. I thought I would throw in a few wheel spins to save time. Next morning the tyre was a little flat so drove to local petrol station and pumped it up. As I drove off the forecourt, I lost all drive. A uj had sheared on the propshaft. :(


I
 
fabs said:
there was no spare wheel/tyre, just a repair kit. Apparently, this is now the norm.
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I know years ago, when these instant repair kits became fashionable as a quick fix, garages were saying that they wouldn't repair a puncture if it had been treated with this.
Is that still the case, or just another excuse to sell you a new tyre?
I certainly don't remember nails going through a side wall rendering the tyre un repairable anywhere near as much as they seem to these days.
So as above, will they actually still repair a straight forward puncture if you have used the get me home stuff?

And yes carry a spare Marc, the AA/RAC will change it for you, in fact one recovery guy said that the ordinary motorist isn't supposed to change a wheel at the roadside any more.
I doubt its law, but more like touting for business ;)
 
Recovery/breakdown membership seems much more important than carrying a spare wheel. I see why they get rid to save on space and weight. Amazing how many couldn't change one if needed to anyway.
 
Cobra said:
I know years ago, when these instant repair kits became fashionable as a quick fix, garages were saying that they wouldn't repair a puncture if it had been treated with this.
Is that still the case, or just another excuse to sell you a new tyre?
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Apparently, the stuff you put into the tyre makes it unrepairable.

Cobra said:
And yes carry a spare Marc
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If, as indicated above, the RAC carry "special" spares, then I won't bother getting a spare. In any case, it's too late, Sue's found the extra storage for shopping! :rolleyes:
 
fabs said:
Apparently, the stuff you put into the tyre makes it unrepairable.
If, as indicated above, the RAC carry "special" spares, then I won't bother getting a spare. In any case, it's too late, Sue's found the extra storage for shopping! :rolleyes:
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the problem is they take you to the nearest tyre kwikfit (other brands are available) I was lucky and got there 20mins before they closed otherwise it would have been a long wait for a recovery vehicle to take mine home.............I hate to think what would have happened at night on a country road with no phone signal a norm for EE users outside the main cities
 
fabs said:
Apparently, the stuff you put into the tyre makes it unrepairable.
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As I suspected in that case, any puncture = new tyre :(

fabs said:
If, as indicated above, the RAC carry "special" spares, then I won't bother getting a spare.
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I'm actually not sure what a special spare could be, other than a tyre?
I had a blow out on the works 4x4 some months ago, it took them (the AA) 4 hours to come out, and charged £20 more for the tyre, than the new ones I have just replaced.
They actually have dedicated tyre vans now, seems they own or merged with event tyres.


fabs said:
Sue's found the extra storage for shopping! :rolleyes:
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Bad luck :D
 
john.margetts said:
Good maintenance prevents punctures by replacing tyres before they are weak.
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What complete and utter nonsense!!!

However, if you have a way of stopping stray nails/screws on the road from not puncturing a tyre with a few hundred miles on it please let me know (y)

On the subject of the cans of tyre foam to get you out of trouble, it may do that but it could also mean the end of a perfectly repairable type and tyres aren't exactly cheap!

Give me a spare tyre, even it's just a space saver one any day of the week :)
 
Cobra said:
As I suspected in that case, any puncture = new tyre :(

I'm actually not sure what a special spare could be, other than a tyre?
I had a blow out on the works 4x4 some months ago, it took them (the AA) 4 hours to come out, and charged £20 more for the tyre, than the new ones I have just replaced.
They actually have dedicated tyre vans now, seems they own or merged with event tyres.
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AFAIK, it's a 'universal' spare wheel that can be adjusted to fit most cars using the five bolt system. It's a get you home solution, and speed restricted. You don't buy it, and they have a system for recovering it after you get the tyre replaced. I think the AA and RAC are using it, but I don't know if all their vehicles have them. It sounds like a good idea, providing you have cellphone coverage/access to a landline, but I suspect you might be in for a wait in more remote areas.
 
Cobra said:
I know years ago, when these instant repair kits became fashionable as a quick fix, garages were saying that they wouldn't repair a puncture if it had been treated with this.
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First time I'd come across these repair kits was when I had an MX5 & even though I never had puncture, It was always in the back of my mind.

I got a slow puncture a few months ago (newish tyre too) while waiting for repair I asked at National Tyres about the gunk/repair kits & the guy said the same, they don't repair them.

Luckily the Outlander has a spare (albeit a space-saver) in a cradle.
Previously I had a Kia Sportage that had a full size alloy.

Money saving my @rse, it's a rip off by manufacturers & allows them to keep weight down for MPG tests + manipulate figures for boot space Mts2
 
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