No spare tyre!!

[cpas]

Good evening folks.

What's your views on the current trend of cars not having spare tyres, not even space-savers, but just having a can of spray repair and a mini compressor?

I suffered a flat tyre today at speed and, by the time I'd found somewhere to safely pull over, there was no way a can of foam was going to get the tyre re-inflated, so I had to resort to recovery!! I was surprised, however, how drivable the car was with a completely flat tyre!!

I'm pretty annoyed as, in the 'good old days', a puncture could be fixed at the roadside in 5 minutes with the spare, and you'd be on your way.

I'm going to price up a space-saver and jack in the morning

Rant over!!

[Fastdruid]

Should have got yourself an old Citroen. No need for a spare.

[funkyrobot]

I do believe cars should be fitted with a spare. I guess the manufacturers use the lack of space or too much weight excuses. For the average car though, these excuses are daft.

I think it's down to cost. A spare tyre doesn't cost a lot in the grand scheme of things. However, if a manufacturer is trying to save as much money as possible, a spare is an easy afterthought.

[cpas]

I've just looked on the Skoda website (my car is a 2012 Superb) and the tyre kit including jack and wheel brace is about £130, so cost price to them must only be half this. Surely the compressor and squirty glue must have cost almost as much!

[Westy Pre-Lit]

So you get a space saver, where do you put the punctured one if you have a full load ?

[Fastdruid]

Emissions and costs.

[New POD]

Do motorcycles carry spares?

I can count on the fingers of one hand, the number of punctures, I've had, in 25 years, but I've broken down and had to be recovered more often than that due to other things.

CV joint.
Ignition Module.
Complete Engine Failure x 3.
Brake failure. (Complete loss of brake fluid via a rear caliper)
Alternator Failure x 2
Failure to start x 3
Hand Brake cable snapped.
Front Wheel Bearing Collapse.
Exhaust CUT through suspension fluid pipe (hydrospatic metro)
Electrical Smoke from ignition switch x 2

I suspect that in 80% of punctures a can would be enough, and why carry the extra weight, and have a smaller boot, if you don't need to.

[cpas]

Westy Pre-Lit said:

So you get a space saver, where do you put the punctured one if you have a full load ?

I've always wondered that

[billzeebub]

Saw a review for the new Jag F-Type the other day. When the spare wheel was specd it took up the whole boot space!..sure it was only a space saver too, pretty poor packaging! It's pretty vital to me to always have a spare on board. Haven't had a puncture in years, but I know that as soon as I don't have a spare I will be hitting sharps everywhere! As for run flats, I would rather walk!..

[cpas]

New POD said:

Do motorcycles carry spares?

I can count on the fingers of one hand, the number of punctures, I've had, in 25 years, but I've broken down and had to be recovered more often than that due to other things.

CV joint.
Ignition Module.
Complete Engine Failure x 3.
Brake failure. (Complete loss of brake fluid via a rear caliper)
Alternator Failure x 2
Failure to start x 3
Hand Brake cable snapped.
Front Wheel Bearing Collapse.
Exhaust CUT through suspension fluid pipe (hydrospatic metro)
Electrical Smoke from ignition switch x 2

I suspect that in 80% of punctures a can would be enough, and why carry the extra weight, and have a smaller boot, if you don't need to.

Fair point I suppose, and it has only inconvenienced me by an hour or so today, plus having to get the wheel to a tyre place tomorrow as I can't drive the car there. Strangely, I had one wheel blow out completely then found the opposite wheel had a screw in in and was going down. Guess I just had an unlucky day Funnily, I was also recovered last Sunday when the water pump failed on my Discovery. No major breakdowns for years then two in one week!!

[dhariwab]

Had 3 punctures last year. Doing a large mileage as i do often driving at night and early mornings on rural roads means no spare wheel equals no sale. Rules out quite a lot of car brands' normally premium brands (whatever they are). , Some d segment cars will have them as an option Vauxhall or standard eg Toyota so they will be the choice come decision time on the lease.

[Sixpackpert]

My Jag came with pump and gunk. I ordered a full size spare and jack etc. Now the floor of the boot no longer sits flush as it did before, why offer a full size spare if it doesn't fit ?

[cpas]

I did have to laugh though that Green Flag's hold music is 'Rescue me'

[MinuteMan]

Puncture foam is useless for sidewall punctures... I discovered this the hard way. Personally, I favour a spacesaver, but as someone has already pointed out, the foam will cover most situations.

[okie592]

I'm glad all my cars have had spares. 4 cars and 6 ruined tires those spares have been a godsend!

I would rather not have the puncture thoyfh

[Nobby Diesel]

Westy Pre-Lit said:

So you get a space saver, where do you put the punctured one if you have a full load ?

Exactly.
Years ago, I got a puncture in a 996.
2 adults and 2 kids in the car meant there was nowhere to put the flat.
Cue a 2 hour wait for the AA and a recovery truck.

Had I thought a little more clearly, I would have put the flat in a cab and sent it home and we could have got on our way.

[shakindog]

A cost and emissions thing. No spare less weight more mpg is one is one of the excuses for no spare.
Personally think not even having a space saver is a bloody stupid idea. Can mean the difference of being sat on had shoulder for 10/15 mins while you change it or 2 hours waiting for recovery

[Riley Blue]

I've been driving 40 years this year. In that time I've changed a wheel twice due to punctures but had around twenty breakdowns for other reasons - that includes driving cars up to 60 years old. Should I carry a heavy, little used spare wheel or fuses and radiator hoses; all of which I've needed four or five times each over the years.

[New POD]

Despite my logic above, there was for 5 years, 2 full size spares in the boot of my wife's cavalier, along with a can of spray, and a compressor, and a trolley jack (along with the standard jack).

She did once puncture and destroy 2 front tyres, and I happened to have a spare set of alloys, so after I was 'called out' to change them, I just left the extra spare and my "spare" trolley jack in the boot.

I expected that she might one day ask me to move them.

Despite me showing her how to change a wheel, there was no way, even with an extension bar that she could ever do it, so I have no worry, now that she has a mIni, in her not having a spare. I'm looking on ebay for full size 16 inch wheel, but it will have to be cheap.

[Evoluzione]

Riley Blue said:

I've been driving 40 years this year. In that time I've changed a wheel twice due to punctures but had around twenty breakdowns for other reasons - that includes driving cars up to 60 years old. Should I carry a heavy, little used spare wheel or fuses and radiator hoses; all of which I've needed four or five times each over the years.

^^This, coupled with the facts that:

When you get the spare out it's flat.
You can't get the wheel nuts off
You're a woman
You're too old
You're part of the massive group of motorists who have no idea how to change a wheel.