no spare wheel in new car

T

theengineer

Registered User
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Hi everyone

Did anyone ever come across a new car which does not have a spare wheel, friend received a new car yesterday,( Opel) with no spare wheel, apparently the manfacturers now provide a compressor and solution which helps seal the punture,

disavantages i see are....
repaired wheel can only be driven for 6 miles according to specs
max speed in 50 mph
solution must be replaced in 4 years ( has expiry date)
it is no use for a serious cut.

any comments from anyone?
did your car come as a spare wheel?

I am intrested in what happens with new cars,
 
Yep a lot of manufacturers are doing that now.Also the catch is if a car comes with run flat tyres and you get a puncture it can't be repaired and you have to buy a whole new tyre,even if you just drove 5 mins out of the showroom.
 
Some cars use run flats and have a tyre pressure monitoring system (e.g. BMW Z etc).

Others use a repair system that includes a sealant and compressor (e.g. Mx5 etc.).

This seems to becoming more popular but it is not without its problems. For example, get a puncture on a run flat tyre and you will be replacing the tyre. You can drive for 150 miles on it though.

The other system allows for the tyre to be repaired unless the tear is severe.

It has some advantages though mainly being weight and space saving. These cars normally come with 2 or 3 years roadside assistance.
 
thanks a million for all the replies,
My friend has got on to the garage they are exchanging the small compressor and sealant for a full sized tyre with tools,

reason
car in showroom has a full size spare
brochure refers to full size spare,


he is going over in the afternoon to collect,

I am amazed as i never heard aout these new developments, guess my car is too old,
i once had a van and used carry two spares, and was still worried as i was miles from help,

maybe it is me, but i would not be comfortable without a spare
 
ubiquitous said:
Simple way around it - don't buy those cars.
Click to expand...

bit of a drastic measure if the car's right, most of them allow you to buy a space saver wheel for about e100. i've the new civic and the spare gives you a bit of piece of mind especially as i hear if you use the gunk to repair a puncture you pretty much have to throw away the wheel after cos the garages won't clean it out
 
My own experiences of a space saver wheel have been unsatisfactory. I would not buy a car without a spare wheel. Others are free to do otherwise if they wish.
 
ignorance, laziness, hassle...
and it is more profitable to change a tyre than to repair one.

michelin said:
A Michelin ZP may be repaired once and once only by a tyre professional following the normal rules and procedures for the inspection, preparation and repair of standard tyres.
ZP tyres which carry sidewall markings indicating that repairs should not be carried out are still considered non-repairable.
Click to expand...
 
bacchus said:
Michelin run flat tyres can be repaired.
Click to expand...

The zp range can be repaired,once and once only and as long as there is no internal damage.Even though it says on the sidewall not to repair michelin have said you can do it once but its up to the tyre dealer/repair shop,it becomes their responsibility if something goes wrong,thats why it will be very hard to get someone to fix it.So in other words you will end up replacing the tyre.
 
The "tyre-weld' solution outlined is all good and well if the tyre is only slightly damaged but (as happened to me recently) in the case of a, say, inch-long split then your in trouble. I'd never touch a car that didn't have at least a space saver.

By the way I'd like to invoke the curse of God on the idiot who designed the sparewheel release on the Nissan Pathfinder. Fiddly in the extreme and possibly un-do-able in the dark without a torch. Grrrrr!!!!:mad:
 
I had a puncture during the week. Swapped to the spare, dropped the puncture into repair on the way to work, picked it up on the way home. Cost €5. Last time I got tyres of this size I had to order them in and it took two weeks. The cheapest, easiest and most flexible solution is to have a spare or space saver.
 
I presume the reference to a "Space saver" is one of just 3/4 size joke spare tyres. What's that all about. I got a puncture recently and opened the boot and found this Micky mouse Dolls house tyre. I went out and bought a new tyre and it fitted into the boot space no problem. The 3/4 size tyre was given its marching orders. I presume it's some sort of a scam for manufacturers to save money and soften the blow for the next step, no spares included.
 
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