Chatting with friends whilst on holiday, it’s a split decision.
Personally, if I couldn’t have a spare, I wouldn’t buy the car. Shame as it rules out some nice motors.
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Doesn’t bother me. I’ve driven around 120,000 miles since I last had a puncture and that was dreiveable. If I get another I’m not going to change the wheel myself theses days and certainly not on a motorway. Will call the RAC.
Don’t carry a spare clutch or exhaust system. Spare wheel falls in the same category.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Tue 24 May 22 at 08:49
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It'd be a nice to have i think, but nothing more.
Too few cars have space for them now anyway, you'd be ruling out too many options.
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Its not an issue, its ridiculous to rule out a car on that basis these days, you would have little choice.
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Didn’t bother me until it did.
Got an irreparable puncture in central Paris while on a tight schedule. No spare. Royal pain in all manner of ways.
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No spare with my latest car but there is room for a space-saver under the boot floor so I got one.
Daughter recently had a puncture on a Sunday afternoon. She has no spare or even the gunk to squirt in. AA came, put on their space saver (using some spacers etc) and led her to Kwikfit. All fixed in under 2 hours, on a Sunday too!!!
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I can't remember the last time I had a flat tyre - quite possibly 10-20 years ago, 150-250k miles.
I can't remember whether it was a catastrophic side of the road job, or would have been recoverable with a can of gunk anyway.
Any breakdown for which no spares are carried (most) is at the very least annoying - but driving around with 10-20kg of luggage unused for decades is daft.
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I don't think had one for about 10 years until the last couple of months, I've had 2. One repairable, one not.
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I bought 4 x new tyres at Costco a good few years back.
3 punctures followed in roughly 3 or 4 weeks - the good news was all were repairable.
I got quite used to it and could get the spare one on in say 15/20 minutes even at the roadside in the rain!
One puncture since then - I could see the nail in the tyres, blew a few pounds into it and drove to the nearest tyre place - I had a spare but that was work heavy 18" spare.
Current CRV has skinny spare - never needed, YET!
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I can't see any good reason to reject a car for no spare. My Accord had a seal kit and no spare; my CRV had a space saver; and my Volvo V60 had no spare but a seal kit, so I specified a space saver when I ordered it. No room for a full-size spare in the V60.
Certainly, I would not reject a new car with no spare wheel.
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I felt vulnerable after selling my last BMW with Runflats - brilliant system. When I bought the V60 I spec'd the spacesaver, the XC40 has one which was added by the dealer when I bought it (knowing that I'd ask for it !). Certainly not a deal-breaker, that's actually a daft idea.
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>> I can't see any good reason to reject a car for no spare.
Depends if you live in a remote area with the nearest garage being miles away.
I also like to choose what brand of tyres I want, and not be taken to a garage by a breakdown company and have fitted whatever they have on the shelf at the time.
With a space saver you have more options than not having one at all.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 24 May 22 at 13:11
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>> I can't see any good reason to reject a car for no spare. My Accord
>> had a seal kit and no spare; my CRV had a space saver; and my
>> Volvo V60 had no spare but a seal kit, so I specified a space saver
>> when I ordered it. No room for a full-size spare in the V60.
>> Certainly, I would not reject a new car with no spare wheel.
>>
Well i would and do. Also reject cars that don't provide air vent 'wheels' to adjust air flow.
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I had 2 punctures last year, both caused by nails. I called out one of these 'ere mobile outfits on the 1st one.
£££!! I won't be doing that again.
I'd rather have a space saver spare than a can of gunk, thank you Mr Subaru, but it wouldn't stop me buying a car wivout one.
>>if I couldn't have a spare, I wouldn't buy the car. Shame as it rules out some nice motors.
I'm the same about DSG gearboxes. VAG make some cars that I rather fancy, but I wouldn't touch a DSG.
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>>£££!! I won't be doing that again.
SWMBO's car had a flat. Side wall ripped and obviously the canned gunk would be useless.
I changed both tyres on the same axle and purchased them from Black Circles. They got ATS to fit them at home for a £15 surcharge - bargain imho.
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Yes, it's deal-breaker for me if the car doesn't have a spare or space-saver.
Punctures are rare, but it is sod's law that they happen at the most inconvenient time. My last one was when I spotted a flat late the night before an early morning 600mile drive to the French Alps.
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>> Yes, it's deal-breaker for me if the car doesn't have a spare or space-saver.
>>
>> Punctures are rare, but it is sod's law that they happen at the most inconvenient
>> time. My last one was when I spotted a flat late the night before an
>> early morning 600mile drive to the French Alps.
Pretty much my take. Both current cars have a full size spare albeit the fifth wheel is steel not alloy.
On Friday we're off to the Western Isles. Ripping out a sidewall up some single track back jigger on a Hebridean Sunday (the Free Church still holds The Sabbath Holy) is a recurrent nightmare for what is an annual pilgrimage.
OTOH the last puncture was on the drive at home. Had to call out the breakdown service 'cos I could not get the wheel off the hub - alloy/steel interaction.
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My Yaris has a single front wiper. Having lost it on a wet, dark Sunday night on the M4, I now carry the last one I replaced in the boot.
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...from whence, if I should need to, I can extract it and use the rubber to knit a spare wheel.....
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>> My Yaris has a single front wiper. Having lost it on a wet, dark Sunday
>> night on the M4, I now carry the last one I replaced in the boot.
The BX had a similar set up. Always carried a spare too.
Mind you, a lot of cars have two but of uneven sizes. Even if they're an exact pair it's easier to slot in a single replacement than fanny about peering through the nearside or swapping them on the hard shoulder.
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My pal is on his usual 7 week drive through Spain, well off the tourist trail, and wouldn’t be without a spare of any sort.
He and his mrs love discovering villages at the back of beyond, exploring the remote area to the nth degree and I imagine a flat, or worse a shredded tyre, with no phone signal and skoolboy Spanish would be a trifle inconvenient.
More so than most places in the U.K.
No Quiko Fitto in the areas they visit.
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>> My pal is on his usual 7 week drive through Spain, well off the tourist
>> trail, and wouldn’t be without a spare of any sort.
Lets hope its not in a hire car, most of them dont have spare wheels.
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>> Lets hope its not in a hire car, most of them dont have spare wheels.
>>
No. They always take their own car on those extended trips. Worst part of the entire trip is the long slog south...usual overnight in Winchester before sailing the following evening.
I normally have a spare wheel with my hire cars. I check, and being polite, explaining why I’d like a spare wheel, ( Costa Blanca Mountain Walkers polo shirt is a clue) the rental company often accommodate that requirement.
Final walk of the Spring programme tomorrow...choice of 3 walks, followed by a long sociable lunch at restaurant Amanecer between Xabia & Denia.
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Just worked out I have been driving for 49 years, and over the 7 million odd miles in almost every continent, I have never had to do an emergency wiper change. Some of you are stuck in the man with a flag motoring era.
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I once had my wiper blades nicked in Italy. Ok it was 40 years ago and the car was a Cortina.
Ass pain though.
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...you weren't in Cortina at the time, were you?...
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That would have been mildly poetic, but no, some random coffee stop on an Autostrada.
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I went to capri, none there.
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were you there for the fiesta? I thought about going to Granada for that,
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I'd follow a Cougar (and try not to rear-end it).
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>> were you there for the fiesta? I thought about going to Granada for that,
>>
I went, it was very popular. Pity you missed it, how did you consul yourself?
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I went to Wartburg in the nineties, just saying like :)
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I went to Heidelberg once.
Not much going on really. Suppose they were all Heidelbergers…
Bit sorry…
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...for that, I think you should go to Coventry...
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>> ...for that, I think you should go to Coventry...
For a Climax?
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Harsh, if I may say so, harsh…quite upsetting that to be honest. I’ll get over it in time I guess, but y’know, harsh.
:-)
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...yes, I've been to Coventry; not sure I've got over it yet.
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I’m over it already.
Bigger fish to fry and so on eh?
:-)
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...well, being one-armed, I s'pose fish-frying one of the few practical pastimes left to you... ;-)
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Bit of ‘armless fun…
Yeah ok, I’ll stop now. :-)
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...you should have said that on your last downhill....
;-)
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Apparently...the preferred tyre on the 128ti, being the Michelin Pilot Sport 4, a no cost option, isn’t a run flat tyre.
Even more reason to specify a spare.
I’m sure you ‘modern’ types will disagree. Even my Macan GTS had an inflatable spare which gave me peace of mind. First world problems eh.
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...when I bought my previous X1, 6 years ago now, the purchase just anticipated the mass migration from petrol to diesel cars.
I asked the dealer to find me a "compound" car matching my requirements, and expected a very restricted choice, given I was after the relatively rare petrol, and not the (very) predominant diesel.
As it happens, though there was a restricted choice of petrol models available, the main constraint was finding one with my required spare wheel, one of the few available was, luckily, a good match.
It wasn't, at least at that time, an easy dealer aftermarket option, as the underfloor in the boot was slightly different from the factory to provide a wheel-well.
(didn't want runflats either, the road noise on standard tyres on the X1 was intrusive enough - and commented on in most road tests).
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Out of interest did you had any need to use the spare in all the time you had it?
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...not on that car, but I've had the odd flat in awkward circumstances over the years.
It's a bit like the argument about nuclear weapons; whilst I'm not entirely sold on the idea, I'd rather have them and not need them, than need them and not have them. ;-)
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I negotiated the supply of a spacesaver spare wheel when I bought my pre-reg BMW 118i M Sport (Misano Blue, just 25 miles on the clock).
It takes up most of the space beneath the boot floor but, like others, I treat it as an insurance policy.
At the time the price of a spare wheel was £150 when specified from new. The retail, aftermarket price for the same genuine BMW item was much more.
Out of interest, what sort of delivery time are the quoting for a new 128ti?
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>> Out of interest, what sort of delivery time are the quoting for a new 128ti?
>>
I specced up the car, both at home and at the dealer recently...Lloyd’s South Lakes BMW quoted a vague late 2022, early 2023 delivery date.
I can be very ‘picky’ with specs...whether buying new or second hand. If it ain’t right it ain’t right.
Misano Blue, debadged and no awful cheap looking exterior decals or colour highlighted exterior trim, pano roof, Comfort Pack ( heated steering wheel which I’ve had on my 2 previous cars) and Technology Pack ( currently an unavailable option) which includes the HUD which I now take for granted.
I regularly trawl both the BMW pre owned site and AT. Nothing so far.
Poor Henry. Unloved but not neglected.
Last edited by: legacylad on Thu 16 Jun 22 at 11:03
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I guess so. My personal reckoning is that:
Punctures are very rare these days. It must be at least fifteen years since I have had one
These days I don’t want to change a wheel myself. Certainly not on a busy road or motorway.
I belong to the AA. They carry an emergency replacement wheel.
There is a real cost in fuel carrying a spare wheel about.
Overall the benefit of having a spare wheel - perhaps saving an hour or two waiting for the AA every 20 years are so small I am happy to take that risk.
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>>I belong to the AA. They carry an emergency replacement wheel.
AIUI, they fit it and follow you to a tyre fitting place, (to retrievethe emergency wheel) where they have you over a barrel for the price of a new tyre. What happens if shops are shut?
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Your understanding is incorrect. You can either drive unaccompanied to an approved tyre fitter or complete your journey first.
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Horrified to notice on Monday, that my rears were at or just below the legal limit. Reason for my tyre torpitude was that the previous set wore perfectly evenly, so a glance at the fronts was all I thought I needed. The fronts were on 4-5mm the rears shot.
I forgot to factor in the 3.5kmiles of shed dragging. Should have realised because for the first time ever a car of mine has worn out the rear brake pads before the fronts.
Anyway, whats this to do with runflats. Well the two new rears are Goodyear Efficient grip, runflats. And a huge improvement over the hated Bridgstones, being quieter and more ride compliant.
As an aside, there is no boot underfloor on the G31, there is no room in the car for a spare ~ of any kind ~ so its runflats or puncture anxiety. And I had had one in the Beemer, at 8(cough) MPH the TPWM chimed in urgently and I watched in horror as the pressure dropped to zilch in about 10 seconds.
The car handled perfectly well, it got me 50 miles home, and 7 miles to the tyre place the next day.
Its a no brainer for me. Careful choice of your runflat is all thats needed.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 16 Jun 22 at 10:41
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Run flats seem the ideal solution. Why do other manufacturers mono addopt them? Is it just cost?
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>> Run flats seem the ideal solution. Why do other manufacturers mono addopt them? Is it
>> just cost?
>>
I had wondered that and was told that they are more expensive and a few pounds over a few hundred thousand vehicles soon adds up.
I was also told that the ride dynamics are different from softer side walled tyres and may impact the overall ride which needs to be countered by suspension set up.
I had a work provided BMW 3 series diesel when all BMWs were provided with run flats, except for the specific model given to me it seemed!
The tyre depot were perplexed when it went in for a new set as their computer insisted it needed run-flats.
It was a fine car but it did tend to pull forward when sitting at a stop with clutch disengaged (not a situation where neutral was appropriate).
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I've had 2 x punctures in different tyres over the last 2 years (no spare!)
Both punctures were caused by nails ... on my l-o-n-g drive (chippings)
Not my fault guv - previous owner had the sun room built 3 years ago, so mucho nails and my eyesight isn't wot it was.
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>> Not my fault guv - previous owner had the sun room built 3 years ago,
>> so mucho nails and my eyesight isn't wot it was.
>>
Know anyone with a metal detector?
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>>Know anyone with a metal detector?
Strewth! .. I must be short of marbles. I have a quite expensive Minelab Sovereign knocking about somewhere.
Grrreat idea CG, thanks.
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No spare a deal breaker ? - CGNorwich
