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The Kitchen Table

Spare tire? Does your car have one?

14 years ago

Did not realize than many of the 2011 cars and now the 2012 cars are not coming with spare tires. Reason: to get better gas millage--ok but what if you are in an area, no phone, no Onstar etc, at night or on a country road? They are suppose to give you something to fill it up--but what if it completly blows out?

Scary isn't it.

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Comments (20)

monica_pa Grieves
14 years ago
Don't want to know.
I have a real spare tire, phone and AAA member just because I don't want to know.
azzalea
14 years ago
I'm with Monica. I've got a spare--a REAL one, not a donut. And my tires are huge--well, it's an off-road vehicle, even though it's never gone off-roading except when our street was dug up for 2 years.
And I always take my cell phone, and my AAA membership card when I'm out. And I have a charger for the phone in my car (as long as both batteries don't die at once, I'm okay).

I would never drive without a spare. If I were looking at a new car that had none, I'd make it a condition of the sale that the dealership supply one at no cost to me. If I bought a used car without a spare? I'd buy one within the hour of taking possession.

Question--these cars without spares? Do they come with or without jacks? Seems to me, buying a spare and a jack would really cut into the fake gas mileage savings.
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marie_ndcal
Original Author
14 years ago
Not sure about a jack, but they are suppose to come with something to seal the hole and blow up the tire.
kathyg_in_mi
14 years ago
Yep, I've got a spare on my minivan. In fact, just had it on my van. Flat tire yesterday. DH put the spare on and complained about how you get to the spare. You put a crank together, then plug it into a thing on the floor between the front seats and crank it down. Pain in the butt to reach it too. Then you got to reverse the process.
He told me to have the tire shop put it back together and the guy there was not thrilled with the set up either!
Kathy G in MI
LuAnn_in_PA
14 years ago
We also have full sized spares, AAA and cell phones.
mary3444
14 years ago
My car has a donut. When my daughter had a accident she rode on a donut for 1 month, not a good thing to do but it did not hurt her car. In my rural area most time the cell phone does not work if you are on the back roads. The only good thing is most people will stop to help you just like I remember people doing years ago.
kayjones
14 years ago
I have a full-size spare tire, OnStar and a cell phone.
OklaMoni
14 years ago
No! and I really didn't like it at first... but really, when was the last time you needed one?

I got AAA too, and figure, I will be fine. :)

Moni
wifetojoeiii
14 years ago
Funny you should ask - my very DH drives a 2003 Hinda van. We met friends for dinner Saturday night and when we left to drive home we heard a "thump, thump, thump" - flat tire. We stopped and he tried to get to the "spare" but couldn't! It was under the back seat and then under another layer - we took it to Wallymart and no one there could figure out how to get to it either! The tire could not be repaired and we bought a new one.....
caroline94535
14 years ago
Oh yes! And a jack. And tire tool. And a set of jumper cables. The car's instruction book is kept in the pocket behind the front passenger seat. I can reach it from the driver's seat. (I have to use it twice a year to re-set the radio's clock.)

I live in the middle of no where and cell phone service is iffy. There's no way I'd go anywhere without a proper-serviced spare tire.

I also carry bottled water, my meds, a blizzard kit, food, and blankets when I go anywhere in the winter. If the H-Boy (or Sam) is with me I include more water, dog food, and blankets for them.

I could be a Boy Scout. I like 'being prepared.'
jemdandy
14 years ago
Omitting the spare tire is not so much a gas saving thing as it is a money pinch and advertising gimmic. With the spare removed, the trunk space is larger and that shows up on the list of brand comparisons.

In the interest of saving space in SUVs and pickup trucks, a popular place to store the spare is under the vehicle. This may be ok in warm dry weather, but its the worst place when running in cold, wet climates. Add road salt to the mix and you've got a disaster - the screw threads corrode and it gets impossible to remove the tire from storage not to mention crawling around on the ground.

99.9% of the time, one does not need a spare, but the one time you need it, you really need it because there is nothing else. This particularily true when traveling in lonely remote places. You can be in trouble even on an interstate. I recall crossing the Nevada desert and as you crossed the east side of the state, a sign warned: no service for 250 miles. Myself and a Corvete entered that crossing at the same time. The speed limit was 80 mph but even the Corvete driver slowed to a reasonable, sustainable speed. I drove the entire 250 miles without seeing another vehicle. Yeah, if I should have needed a spare in that stretch, I really would have needed one. Now, about getting the lugs nuts off, that's another problem.
pammyfay
14 years ago
Don't be surprised if the next new car you buy (not a new-to-you used car) will not have a donut, let alone a full-size spare. That's the first thing automakers are dumping to get their MPG up and to start to meet federal MPG regulations.

Starting with the 2011 model, the Hyundai Elantra sedan has had no spare, just a sealant-air compressor kit the manufacturer provides. That's one reason the mileage they list for it seems so good. (I write "seems" just because you need to put a bit of mileage on your car before you see those numbers, from what people on the Hyundai forums say.)

I wasn't really comfortable with not having a spare -- donut or full-size -- so I went with a different model, one that still came with a spare. Whichever way I look at it, I'm still gonna have to call an emergency road service. I'm not gonna be the one by the side of the road messing with a compressor and tire sealant or the one changing my own tire. Yeah, I should be skilled in that, but I'm not.
hounds_x_two
14 years ago
No spare. I have run-flat tires. No flat experience yet, though. I did pick up a nail, and the tire did not go flat.
sjerin
14 years ago
My first thought on seeing the title was that you meant a spare tire around one's middle, which I unfortunately have.
joyfulguy
14 years ago
Erin ... you're a car-d!

And just where, pray, does one put a spare when there's no space engineered for one?

I've never liked those do-nutty things: wasteful - but in the cars a while ago a full-sized spare wouldn't go into the hole arranged for the do-nut.

Now that there's no spare, or even a donut - the auto sellers offer 24/7/365-6 roadside service, do they?

o j
pammyfay
14 years ago
Joyful: Hyundai does offer roadside service, actually! Maybe it's to ease potential buyers' wariness of the no-spare cars.

But I'm still keeping AAA just in case! I have not investigated whom Hyundai contracts with for roadside service.
lazypup
14 years ago
Not only does the car have a full size spare tire,,,I looked at my GF from the back and it appears she has a spare tire in one of those fancy contenental kits hanging on her back bumper too........
arkansas girl
14 years ago
I have a full sized huge suv tire in the back of my Tahoe that takes up half of my "trunk" space. It has never been used in the 16 years I've owned it. If I did have a flat I would most likely call a tow company anyway. I keep my phone book in it and have my cell phone always. I think probably a can of flat fix would be more practical.
susanjf_gw
14 years ago
it's awful how you get to our donut! stored under the mini van so subject to ice, salt and all the lovely goo of michigan...made sure i have michlines from costco....
joyfulguy
14 years ago
Hi Susan JF,

About those "mich-lines" ...

... are they a special brand aimed at/just for Michiganders?

o j

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