Vehicles that come with no spare wheel: what happens when you get a puncture?

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Vehicles that come with no spare wheel: what happens when you get a puncture?

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#2105849 10-Oct-2018 19:27

Manufacturers road side assist. I have only needed to use them once for a puncture and it was no problem. They got the vehicle up and going using the inflation kit and arranged a repair. I have no problem with no spare however I can't physically change a wheel now.

Batman

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#2105925 10-Oct-2018 21:17

Rikkitic:

Two punctures driving into town and back within the past year. Without a spare I would literally have been up the proverbial creek without a paddle. I would never contemplate buying a car that doesn't come with a spare tyre. I never heard of such nonsense!

my 2 tonne van has no spare. no space for a space saver either. this thread reminded me of that ....

mudguard

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#2105935 10-Oct-2018 21:33

I've averaged two flats per year for the last five years. In rentals and my car. Granted I do more k's than average, but most are not in cell phone signal range. So I get out, empty the boot. Change em over and drive straight to the garage to hopefully get it repaired so I can continue my work trip. NB, I have full size spare.

lxsw20

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#2105952 10-Oct-2018 22:07

I had an Astra hire car recently. It had a can of goop, and a 12v pump as the spare, so no issues there. Not sure if it's still the case, but pretty sure once you use the goop the tyre, it could not be repaired? If so, thats the only issue I see.

Kraven

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#2105960 10-Oct-2018 22:30

My car has no space for a spare and the factory specification is run-flat tyres. They're stupid $$$ so it's a can'o'goo and pump for me.

Wife's car has a full spare and roadside assist support, would never want to put her in a situation where she would be stuck somewhere.

Ramjet007

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#2106008 11-Oct-2018 05:17

My brand new car doesn't have a Spare. Investigated getting something but its silly money.

jonathan18

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#2106011 11-Oct-2018 06:46

frednz: I have also read a few reports from Nissan Leaf owners that Leafs don't have a spare wheel either, but perhaps a Leaf owner could confirm this?

Yep, this is correct. Some Leaf owners do elect to buy a spare - there are a few wheels that match from other Nissans, IIRC eg Murano.

We've not elected to buy a spare, and it's not been an issue in the year we've owned the Leaf, but ours is used 95% for urban driving so the consequences of a puncture if we ever got one aren't as great as for some others.

This thread's timing was fortuitous as we're thinking of taking the Leaf with us this weekend on holiday, and this lack of a spare tire did cross my mind - I think there's a can of goop in there that is as old as the car (five years) so I don't know how well that would work!

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jonathan18

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#2106012 11-Oct-2018 06:50

Ramjet007:
My brand new car doesn't have a Spare. Investigated getting something but its silly money.

I assume that is for a new one?

You could find out what other cars use the same wheel and tyre, and then find one second hand, eg a wreckers.

premiumtouring

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#2106014 11-Oct-2018 07:19

To add fuel to this tyre fire, the BMW i3 has different sized tyres (width) on the back and front BUT the worst part is the rims are not interchangeable left to right as all four wheels are unique.

I investigated a spare set of tyres, and it'll be approximately $600 for a front tyre and a back tyre. You only need one of each if you just want to keep a spare in stock so that you can take it to your local tyre shop who won't stock the BMW i3's type of tyre to repair it for you.

However, if you wanted to have a hot swappable spare - you'd have to buy a full set of tyres AND a front left and right, and a rear left and rear right rim. A spare set of rims was $4800 back in February (no tyres).

BMW's solution is the puncture repair kit and inflator which is generally kept in the frunk.

clevedon

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#2106025 11-Oct-2018 07:54

lxsw20:

I had an Astra hire car recently. It had a can of goop, and a 12v pump as the spare, so no issues there. Not sure if it's still the case, but pretty sure once you use the goop the tyre, it could not be repaired? If so, thats the only issue I see.

I've had a few customers with holes/splits in their tyres from stones etc and the goop and pump won't inflate them as the damage was too large, so they have been stuck waiting for a tow truck.

Batman

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#2106062 11-Oct-2018 09:27

I'd hate to be stuck in the middle of nowhere

Rikkitic

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#2106081 11-Oct-2018 09:52

Stuck in the middle with you?

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Bung

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#2106140 11-Oct-2018 11:33

clevedon:
lxsw20:

I had an Astra hire car recently. It had a can of goop, and a 12v pump as the spare, so no issues there. Not sure if it's still the case, but pretty sure once you use the goop the tyre, it could not be repaired? If so, thats the only issue I see.

I've had a few customers with holes/splits in their tyres from stones etc and the goop and pump won't inflate them as the damage was too large, so they have been stuck waiting for a tow truck.

Preparing for worst case where do you stop? On roads that bad is 1 spare enough?

I've done the last 400k without a puncture. Before that there was slow leak but that took ages to go down. Then it goes right back to cross ply and fabric radial days for on road puncture events. I still get plenty of wheel changing experience as they get rotated and checked for screws etc every 10k.

clevedon

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#2106142 11-Oct-2018 11:40

Bung:
clevedon:

lxsw20:

I had an Astra hire car recently. It had a can of goop, and a 12v pump as the spare, so no issues there. Not sure if it's still the case, but pretty sure once you use the goop the tyre, it could not be repaired? If so, thats the only issue I see.

I've had a few customers with holes/splits in their tyres from stones etc and the goop and pump won't inflate them as the damage was too large, so they have been stuck waiting for a tow truck.

Preparing for worst case where do you stop? On roads that bad is 1 spare enough?

I've done the last 400k without a puncture. Before that there was slow leak but that took ages to go down. Then it goes right back to cross ply and fabric radial days for on road puncture events. I still get plenty of wheel changing experience as they get rotated and checked for screws etc every 10k.

Our workshop is only 1/2 hour from Manukau City centre but semi rural. Our roads are also stuffed up by the numerous trucks that pothole them out, we do heaps of puncture repairs.

frednz

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#2106515 11-Oct-2018 21:14

MikeB4:

Manufacturers road side assist. I have only needed to use them once for a puncture and it was no problem. They got the vehicle up and going using the inflation kit and arranged a repair. I have no problem with no spare however I can't physically change a wheel now.

It seems to be a good idea to shop around and compare roadside assistance deals. The AA won't repair punctures, but they do have their own equipment to inflate a tyre, which came in handy the last time we called on them.

I think it's a good idea to have onboard a way of inflating a flat tyre, which might be useful if it's a slow puncture. But, I'm not too keen, after reading the comments in this thread, on using glue to attempt to fix a puncture. Thanks to everyone who posted to this thread, it's been very helpful.

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