newish civic and I need a spare wheel but where does it go?
Discussion
Welshbeef said:
Suddenly those frequent 500 mile round trips you do are in question - let alone you shouldn't be driving that much in a day for safety reasons/tiredness.
A lorry driver could drive almost that far in one day without exceeding driving hours.This lorry driver has driven twice that far in my car without any consequences.
On topic, I always have a proper spare for my cars for the above lengthy trips.
mybrainhurts said:
TooMany2cvs said:
mybrainhurts said:
Looked at the new Skoda Superb estate the other day, complete with spare wheel well and option to buy the wheel. The quoted volume of the boot is reduced if the car carries a spare...cheeky buggers..
Makes sense. I guess the floor sits higher.
Welshbeef said:
So what are you going to do when you have to replace your Current car with a car which doesn't come with spare wheel? Which at some point will be every car?
Suddenly those frequent 500 mile round trips you do are in question - let alone you shouldn't be driving that much in a day for safety reasons/tiredness.
With all due respect hundreds or thousands of PHers will blat down to South of France/Italy and cover that easily. If you can't do 500 miles in a day then fair play to you. Others can do it safely and easily.Suddenly those frequent 500 mile round trips you do are in question - let alone you shouldn't be driving that much in a day for safety reasons/tiredness.
Having a spare/spacesaver is a personal choice. I have at least a spacesaver on my cars and would consider throwing a full sized winter alloy as a spare in if the trip warrants it. I commend the OP for forward thinking. Punctures happen at the most unfortunate times and moments.
If you live in an urban environment and your lifestyle means you can rely on the AA/RAC/local KwikFit then that's fine. Personally I place great value on my leisure time and I would rather swap out a flat on the spot and be on my way in 15 minutes.
There's been threads on here and other sites where people have struggled to get the right sized tyre on a bank holiday weekend in Europe. Wasn't there a guy on PH who was stranded for 3 days as he waited for a replacement tyre for his M3CSL in North West Scotland?
Welshbeef said:
RAC onward travel cover.
Note in all my years of driving only 1 time have I ever had a tyre problem which stopped me and that was a huge pothole that ripped the sidewalk from the rim.
On my BMW run flats so there will never be an issue. I'd say on the next Mrs car would opt for run flats too and then the issue you raise will be non existent.
Think you may be surprised to hear even if you have RAC or aa cover, they will charge you extra to bail you out of you get a flat without a spare available.Note in all my years of driving only 1 time have I ever had a tyre problem which stopped me and that was a huge pothole that ripped the sidewalk from the rim.
On my BMW run flats so there will never be an issue. I'd say on the next Mrs car would opt for run flats too and then the issue you raise will be non existent.
benjijames28 said:
Think you may be surprised to hear even if you have RAC or aa cover, they will charge you extra to bail you out of you get a flat without a spare available.
Well my cars never came with a spare not could they be specified with one. If you added a spare wheel you'd probably have to inform the insurance company of your "modification" over standard specification.
I live in a rural area and do only 8-10K per year. Yet I've managed a nail/screw in the tyre every year for the last three years.
Maybe it's enemy action. :-)
Won't buy a car without adding a spare, and keep a tyre plug kit in the car for last-ditch repairs in Europe. Used that one, already.
For cars with no place to stow spare wheels, space-savers are on ebay, and a spare wheel cover lets you keep it in the boot, should you have a boot.
Maybe it's enemy action. :-)
Won't buy a car without adding a spare, and keep a tyre plug kit in the car for last-ditch repairs in Europe. Used that one, already.
For cars with no place to stow spare wheels, space-savers are on ebay, and a spare wheel cover lets you keep it in the boot, should you have a boot.
Welshbeef said:
Loads of stuff about not needing a spare.
I can think of five times I've had a flat tyre on a car (as opposed to a slow leak) off the top of my head.Once about 500 km from the nearest tyre repair (repair only - they didn't sell tyres).
Once at 4am with 400 km to go that morning.
Once where the nearest tyre place had to order in a suitable tyre, which took them three days.
Once only 250 km from home, but 25km down a dirt road.
And just for you, once in suburbia.
So the average is about once every 5 years, but in only one of those cases would runflats or tyre foam have been any use.
5lab said:
and that's the reason (I believe) they're mostly gone. The civic of that generation is sold with best=in-class boot space of (iirc) approx 500 litres, compared to a focus which has 350 or so. People will have bought it for that reason. However, if you have the wheel fitted, the space under the floor thingy can't be counted, and you're now down to around 410 litres. Good, but not nearly as impressive as before. Make it standard and quote a boot that'll put people off, or save £50 per car, and quote a class leading boot space that sells..
When I owned a 2005 Honda Civic Type-S (380 litre boot) the dealer was trying to convince me to trade it in for the (then) latest 2007 model. He quoted more boot space as one advantage. When I suggested that I wanted a full size spare his answer was, "you don't want that - it will reduce your boot space"! Having been stranded twice in friends' cars without a spare, yes I do.I wouldn't be happy without a spare wheel in the boot. My car is old enough that it came with a half width spare tyre.
If I was looking for a new car it would really put me off buying if it didn't have a spare, or even have space to store a wheel. There are still newer cars out there that come with at least a spacesaver and I'd go for one of these instead.
A can of foam can only do so much. It can't be very safe faffing around at the roadside trying to pump foam into a tyre. Changing a wheel can be done in 10 or 15 minutes.
And I don't fancy having to call out the RAC because the car has a flat but no spare. Especially if it's at night after all the tyre places have closed. It just makes a very simple problem very complicated.
For those that say punctures don't happen very often, maybe not but it's the unpredictability thats the issue!
If I was looking for a new car it would really put me off buying if it didn't have a spare, or even have space to store a wheel. There are still newer cars out there that come with at least a spacesaver and I'd go for one of these instead.
A can of foam can only do so much. It can't be very safe faffing around at the roadside trying to pump foam into a tyre. Changing a wheel can be done in 10 or 15 minutes.
And I don't fancy having to call out the RAC because the car has a flat but no spare. Especially if it's at night after all the tyre places have closed. It just makes a very simple problem very complicated.
For those that say punctures don't happen very often, maybe not but it's the unpredictability thats the issue!
I've only ever had one puncture on the road, which was in my old Impreza STi. Still had a full-size spare, a steely which Subaru had kindly painted gold to match the other wheels 
Only other puncture I had was on my current W203 C-class, thankfully it was parked up for the weekend so I just took the wheels off the axle and took them in to get the tyres changed and balanced. The other wheel was starting to wear away the depth markers so it could have done with changing regardless.
Out of my fleet, the MG and Merc have full-size spares, the TVR has a can of goop. I've binned the can as a) it was 13 years old and b) I would rather get the car recovered somewhere and get a new set of tyres. I have a horrible feeling that the Mercedes' spare will only fit on the rear axles, so it'll be highly annoying if I pick up a front axle puncture as I'll have to fart about with three wheel changes.
Only other puncture I had was on my current W203 C-class, thankfully it was parked up for the weekend so I just took the wheels off the axle and took them in to get the tyres changed and balanced. The other wheel was starting to wear away the depth markers so it could have done with changing regardless.
Out of my fleet, the MG and Merc have full-size spares, the TVR has a can of goop. I've binned the can as a) it was 13 years old and b) I would rather get the car recovered somewhere and get a new set of tyres. I have a horrible feeling that the Mercedes' spare will only fit on the rear axles, so it'll be highly annoying if I pick up a front axle puncture as I'll have to fart about with three wheel changes.
I've had maybe 5 proper flats on well cared for tyres over my driving time. When I've had my old Bmw e91 I bought an eBay space saver from a e46 and stuck it in the boot.
I came home from France a couple of years ago and got a flat as I came of the ferry.
Thank god for the run flat as with two tired kids on board I didn't fancy waiting, however I leant to put a roll of bin liners in the car as trying to fit a full size wet wheel in the boot along with a boot full of camping gear was not easy or pleasant.
I came home from France a couple of years ago and got a flat as I came of the ferry.
Thank god for the run flat as with two tired kids on board I didn't fancy waiting, however I leant to put a roll of bin liners in the car as trying to fit a full size wet wheel in the boot along with a boot full of camping gear was not easy or pleasant.
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