Every car I’ve ever purchased, whether new or used, had a spare tire. Either a full size or donut. The last new car I bought was a 2011 and it had a full sized spare.
I’ve observed over the last few years some cars have not come with any spare.
Today I test drove a Mercedes Benz CLA Class (It sucks! Whiny, wimpy engine, weird controls, etc.) $36K, no spare tire. WTF!:mad:
Salesman tries to convince me that the run flat tires eliminate the need for a spare. I may have been driving before this dweebs father was an itch in his Grandpas trousers! I’ve had tires get the living shit ripped out of them on the highway. No wussy run flats would have survived some of the shit that has happened to some tires on some cars I’ve had.
Then I find out that you can’t even buy a spare. it’s not an option!
He explains that it has something to do with the “government” wanting less tires in circulation! :rolleyes::dubious::dubious::dubious: I believe a car salesman only slightly less than I trust a politician.
So, any truth to this?
It has to do with weight, mostly. The combination of better tires, limited run-flat capability (especially with low-profile tires) means they can eliminate the spare and save significant weight. If a tire does truly get shredded, then you are getting towed.
The Germans have been obsessed with weight (and its distribution) for a while. Why else would they put the battery on an SUV in the back under the floor? (BMW X5).
With new fuel economy numbers looming I would expect to see more cars ship with no spare in the future.
I can’t find any reference to any government preference either which way, but I did run across several statistics along the lines of the following from “About.com”
That looks more like the manufacturer is just saving the money on the spare (and spare well, etc) and providing what they consider a “Just Good Enough” solution.
FTR, I cannot stand the run-flat tires, they always feel harsh.
Do the newer cars have a space for a spare? Or is even that left out?
As for those new “low profile” tires that are all the rage now: WTF? Several mechanics and tire-shop dealers have told me that they last half as long and cost twice as much as the older style of tires. Is that so?
Well, mine has no place for a spare. And since it is a “sports car” the low-profile tires at least make sense.
Although when I switched from the OEM Continentals to some Michelins the ride improved and was much quieter. And yes, the tires were expensive. But the rear ones being almost bald MIGHT have had something to do with my right foot, so I can’t speak to durability.
I suspect that if a spare is not an option then there is no place for it in the car.
which would be all well and good (well, not fucking really!) if you could at least buy a spare (even a donut). At least 3 dealers (Chevy, Cadillac, and Mercedes) say they can’t even sell a spare as an option.
They design the car without one. Even a donut is big, and takes up a lot of space in the back that could be used for other things. That space is now filled up by the gas tank, suspension, battery, black box, whatever. The car really cannot run if you carve out that space.
Not defending it, just saying how they are designed today.
I bought a Mustang GT in '11 and it had the spare (albeit a donut) in the same place as the '07 I had (a small indent in the trunk). I’d rather have a full size than a donut, but a donut is better than nothing.
What I AM saying is, I’ve been in situations that the punkfaggot “run-flats” would not have lubed me in an acceptable situation! it is NOT acceptable to NOT have a spare tire in any, especially a NEW, fuggin car!
“I bought a Mustang GT in '11 and it had the spare (albeit a donut) in the same place as the '07 I had (a small indent in the trunk). I’d rather have a full size than a donut, but a donut is better than nothing.”
I was just trying to find out if the '07 had a donut or a full-size. I could not figure it out based on your post. It seemed like you might have had a full-size spare in the '07, and preferred that to the donut in the '11.
In any case, if you are so fucking worked up about it, just don’t buy a car unless it has a spare. I’ve tried to explain WHY there might not be a spare on your new car. If you cannot accept that, then buy one that has a spare and stop posting pointless questions.
The money and space they save is ultimately your money and your space.
A very young Silicon Valley engineer-entrepreneur was once noted for his refusal to provide his first computer with a fan, thus saving space, cost and power. The company he founded now has the largest market capitalization of any corporation in the world.
There is a cost to having the weight and space of a spare. There is a cost to the very, very small risk of having a flat in a place and at a time that would be substantially inconvenient. How those opposing costs balance out probably depends from one person to another. Some people drive in more remote places. Some people would never change a flat themselves and would always use a mechanic anyway.
You want a spare, buy a car with a spare. Other people would rather have the space and lack of weight and risk not having the spare.
Your blanket assertion that all cars must have spares sounds to me just like railing against change more than rationality.
I am a regular on the UK RAC forum. This has been the subject of many complaints.
A member buys a new car and pays the RAC for the full set of options (£260+). He goes out one day and clips the bulgy low profile tyre on a broken kerb, ripping the sidewall. Having safely pulled up he looks in the boot for a spare and finds only a can of gunge that he can squirt into a flat tyre to ‘get him to a depot’. This is useless for a tyre with a ripped side so he calls the RAC.
They tell him that his problem is the result of an accident, so he will have to pay for recovery. (The RAC cover mechanical breakdowns only).
The consensus on the forum is that we would never buy any car that did not have, at least, a ‘skinny’ spare.
Low profile tires started with sports cars. The idea is that the shorter sidewall makes the tires less flexible and gives you more grip in turns at high speeds. Then folks saw them on the cool sports cars and decided that since they were cool it would be cool to put them on non-sports cars too. :rolleyes: Once you have them, you discover that for general purpose tires, they kinda suck, simply because that tiny low profile doesn’t cushion the bumps so much and makes your ride much less comfortable.
Technically if all you do is change the height of the sidewall there’s no reason why these tires should cost more or last half as long. However, since these are “sport” tires, they are formulated for sports cars, which means they use rubber formulations that grip more and cost more. And they don’t last as long, partly because of the rubber formulation and partly because of the tread design, which is optimized for sports performance instead of being more “knobby” for all weather driving performance. Less tread depth means that there’s less rubber to wear off before the tire needs replaced.
And the low profile means that you are more likely to damage the rim if you hit a really big pothole.
One thing I’ve also noticed is that fewer people seem capable of changing a tire these days. Instead of even trying to change it themselves they hop on their smart phones and call AAA or whatever local towing service they can find. I wonder how much that factors into the decision to not bother including spares.
I’ve been driving 33 years, give or take. I have had all of two flats in that time. The most recent incident was in a near-blizzard snowstorm in my pickup. The tire just shredded and came off the rim (thank goodness I was going slow - steering got REAL interesting). So there I was, in a low-visibility snowstorm, in knee-deep snow in a small parking lot, other cars sliding and threatening to crash into each other and various obstacles even at low speed. Under the snow was a slick of ice. I looked at the jack and spare, thought of trying to get the jack stable on that surface, jacking up a truck in near-zero weather, dealing with bolts literally covered in ice…and said fuck it, I’m calling for a tow even if I’m broke, trying to change a tire in these conditions is insane.
Sure, it’s great to have a spare but it’s not the only solution to a flat, it’s not even always the best solution. If you want a spare that badly buy one and put it in the trunk yourself. Sure, it will cut down on cargo space but that’s life, everything is a trade-off.
This is actually quite common these days, I know a lot of people who wouldn’t even attempt to change a spare tyre. Instead they just call the AA or RAC or whomever and just wait for somebody to come and do it for them. And in those cases, I imagine the AA would arrange a local tyre company to attend and either replace or repair the actual tyre itself at the roadside, so a spare is irrelevant. (Thats what we do, but I am in trucks so its a bit different)
I imagine its a not inconsiderable factor when car manufacturers are deciding whether or not to design the car with a spare. You are designing for something that a lot of people wouldn’t ever even touch. Personally I would be ashamed of my manlihood if I couldn’t change a spare tyre, but thats just me.
The last time I had a puncture, it blew a hole so big in the sidewall that the only way a bottle of gunge would seal the hole was if I rammed the bottle into the opening. If I’m out in the country, I don’t want to have to wait 2 hours for a tow, then have to find a tyre fitter (try finding one of them open after 6pm or at any time on a Sunday in Scotland) when I can change the wheel myself in 10 minutes.
I can’t remember the car, possibly my mum-in-laws Honda that had a void for a spare wheel. In said void was a lump of polystyrene containing the towing eye, the gunge and a compressor. So the car certainly has room for a spare.
Is it still the case that the Swiss police will ticket you if you don’t have a spare bulb set? Does anyone know their attitude to the carrying of spare tyres?
It should the the law that cars are sold with a spare. And, after making an allowance for those with disabilities, it should be a requirement of your driving test that you have to be able to change a tyre before you can pass.
It’s quicker/simpler to DIY, but it is nice to know there’s a backup. I called AAA for a flat tire once in the midst of a snowstorm in extreme cold. I didn’t have a coat (indoor garage at home and destination). Plus, I pay AAA membership yearly and typically never make use of it.
