<p>A friend of mine just bought a volvo s60 and found out the hard way he had no spare - when his tire went flat. The salesperson never mentioned it and he never thought to ask.</p>
<p>If you have runflat tires on a Mini–no spare. (The whole point of runflats is that you can limp to a repair facility.)</p>
<p>My 2011 Escape Hybrid has a spare tire. Access is beautifully designed–you crank it down from the top, without having to unload the cargo area. This was a big plus for me, since I always have dogs in the back of my car.</p>
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<p>Wow, we’ve had only 8-9 cars between us, but I have had a spare put on several times to get a car home until the tire is fixed/replaced. I know I’ve had 4 flats and my husband has probably had more.</p>
<p>I would be very annoyed at lack of a spare tire. Thanks for the info OP! We will be car shopping for DS2 this summer and now I know to ask about that.</p>
<p>We have always replaced the donuts with real spare tires, so luckily we would find out in a timely manner whether or not we have a spare. But good to know that the next time we get a new car it’s something to check out.</p>
<p>Sometimes, the spare tire is an option (e.g. Chevrolet Cruze).</p>
<p>If you want a full size spare tire, then also check to see whether the storage space for the spare tire can hold a full size spare tire rather than just a mini spare.</p>
<p>Be sure to check the air pressure of your spare tire as frequently as you check the air pressure in your other tires. Autumn requires more frequent checking, since falling temperatures lower air pressure.</p>
<p>Run flat tires can be a problem in terms of limited available and selection when replacing tires (either due to damage or wearing out).</p>
<p>I get a flat about every six months so I really need a spare.</p>
<p>Having no spare means getting your car towed for a simple flat, and then not having a car to use while you wait (at least a day where I live) for the right size replacement to be obtained by the garage. Ridiculous! So I’d invest in a spare and jack immediately–but is there even a place in the trunk to safely stow them?</p>
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<p>That the salesperson didn’t include that in the delivery ‘talk’. That is usually one of the things that they would go through with you at delivery.</p>
<p>We have run flat tires but decided we wanted a spare because of long distance travelling. You can not go higher than 50 on the runflats if there is a problem and on a freeway that could be a problem these days. I don’t like the runflats because we have had two replaced (when car was fairly new) and they are expensive. I’m glad we bought insurance on the tires. Also both times it was because a screw was imbedded into the sidewall and unrepairable. I’ve never had that problem before with regular tires so I’m not sure if it is a design flaw or not.</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up on the “no spare”. I was upset years ago when they switched to the donuts from the full spare tire. It is true that there will be more towing for something that ordinarily wouldn’t require it. </p>
<p>We get flat tires more than I am happy with. The roads are bad, and a few times we ran over a nail or staple that damaged the tire. A couple of these were slow leaks where we did not even know there was a problem, but the tire was flat with the car in the garage. The lack of a spare would make an inconvenience even worse.</p>
<p>Not directly relevant to no-tire-in-the-trunk, but it is a good idea to check rental cars and ask them about the flat tires policies, and where the darn things are hidden. </p>
<p>I had a shredded tire in the middle of nowhere on a diluvian night in Europe; there was a brand-new donut in the trunk but … no jack. Hertz sent a tow truck, and I was extremely lucky to have a working cell phone to call them in the first place. It could have been worse.</p>
<p>My Mini Cooper doesn’t have a spare, but I do have runflats. I’ve had to replace 2 due to nails. I am so thankful I bought the tire insurance.</p>
<p>It’s hard to imagine buying a new car and not knowing whether it has a spare or not. One of the first things I do with any new car (and I mean within a few minutes of getting it home) is check out the spare and tools and tire changing procedure for the car. But then - I’m a car guy who does all my own work on cars.</p>
<p>Some of the vehicles with no spares, like BMWs, have ‘run flat tires’ meaning even if they get a puncture you can usually still drive on them (at a reduced speed) to the service location but it depends on the type of puncture. The big surprise for owners of those vehicles - the cost of a new tire $$$. They’re ridiculously priced - hundreds for a single tire in many cases. My friend had to replace one in his BMW and the single tire was around $400.</p>
<p>If you don’t know about a spare only to discover the car doesn’t come with one, make sure you also find out if you have run flat tires and what the tire replacement cost is so you can start saving up in the event of a ruined tire or worse - x4 at tire replacement time.</p>
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It should be fairly easy to find one for your car. The two important points are the wheel bolt pattern and any ‘offsets’ (shape of the wheel relative to the hub) and the height/diameter of the tire so it’s match the ride height of the rest of the tires. The width can be narrower. If you actually use one of these, drive as the instructions say - slower than normal and a limited distance and know that they won’t handle like the normal tires so be careful on curves and wet roads. I’ve driven on one for 70 miles before (the closest place that could fix a tire to where I was - in some canyon in Colorado) and it did fine. I’ve never gone to a Walmart for tire things but make sure you go to a place where they know what they’re doing in matching a wheel/tire to the car - especially if it’s a donut type. If you have the room for it, get a normal sized wheel/tire that’s the same size as the rest of them on the car although if it didn’t come with a spare it may be because there’s no room for one. </p>
<p>If you get one, make sure you also have the tools to put one on - a jack and a lug wrench. It’s a good idea to also have some $5 gloves you keep in the car to protect your hands when changing it. You should also practice changing a tire at a convenient time in your driveway if you have no idea how. I know most people just call AAA nowadays (and sometimes wait for hours) but it’s best to know how or at least watch someone else do it so you could do it in a pinch. It’ll also verify you have the right tools to do so.</p>
<p>We bought a Sienna years ago and never even thought about asking about the spare. It was a disaster - the run flats work only for certain types of flats. Fortunately we didn’t have the problem in the middle of nowhere because when we did have to replace the tire, none of tire places close by, including the dealer who sold us the car, had a compatible tire in stock. Add to this was the problem that the original run flat treads only lasted 18,000 miles and the dealer was charging far more than a comparable regular tire that we could get elsewhere.</p>
<p>We finally bit the bullet and bought an extra wheel and five regular tires. It completely destroys the storage available in the minivan because there’s no place to slide away the tire, but it has definitely saved us in situations where a run flat would have left us stranded. Will NEVER buy a car without a spare.</p>
<p>Ucsd ucla dad you sound like my DH. He doesn’t believe in AAA. I have a large car and it does have a spare but the tire is underneath the car. Got a flat once on the way to the airport. You can only imagine the fun and swearing that ensued. I must confess when I saw the thread title I thought “what a show off.”. I have a spare tire and I take care in my eating habits to maintain it!</p>
<p>@swimcatsmom:</p>
<p>May I assume yours’ is a 2011 Hyundai Elantra model? My 2010 Hyundai Elantra (I just checked!) has a donut-size spare tire. (Yes, I like my Elantra, too; great car; great gas mileage; soon to be handed off to my D.)</p>
<p>I’d like to add an engineering perspective to the discussion here.</p>
<p>Spare tires add weight to a car - probably 20 - 40 pounds. That weight requires fuel, so the car is carrying extra weight in exchange for peace of mind in case of a blowout or serious tire damage. It requires fuel to drive that weight around everywhere you go. Multiply that amount of fuel per mile (which is very small) times the number of miles cars are driven (which is huge), and it probably results in a significant amount of fuel burn and carbon emissions per year.</p>
<p>So, while I understand the public’s resistance to lacking a spare tire, I think it’s a great way of cutting down fuel usage and carbon emissions.</p>
<p>PS - I’ve driven about 200,000 miles in my driving career and I’ve used a spare one time. An in-car compressor would have fixed that problem. I’ve had many “flats” but always been able to drive far enough to get them fixed that I didn’t need to change it before getting to the place to fix my tire.</p>
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<p>If you are small and not physically strong*, get a long lug wrench. Wheel nuts or bolts are commonly specified to be tightened to 90 to 100 foot-pounds of torque, but are sometimes overtightened by mechanics who don’t bother to use torque wrenches. With a typical foot long lug wrench, you will need to apply 100 pounds of force on the end of it to loosen the nut or bolt. If you cannot lift 100 pounds (lifting the end of the lug wrench) and do not weigh at least that much (standing on the end of the lug wrench), you will not be able to loosen the nut or bolt. Having a two foot long lug wrench reduces the amount of force needed to 50 pounds. (Review torque from freshman physics.)</p>
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<li>Of course, you may also want to be sure that you can lift and move around a flat tire or spare tire, especially if you drive a full size pickup, van, or SUV.</li>
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<p>@ Denny - yes it is a 2011. I love it. It is nice to drive, has great gas mileage and it is very spacious inside compared to the other small cars I looked at.</p>
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<p>Most of us are far better off getting rid of the spare tire that’s not stored in the trunk. It does a whole lot more good and saves a lot more than fuel, albeit it’s about the hardest task for many of us.</p>
<p>It’s what we’re willing to trade off - if you don’t carry sufficient insurance, you can have more money to pay off credit card bills.</p>