Change of car? Maybe.

[yelrow]

do you have a proper spare tyre. These days, its either a funny temporary thing, or in my sons case, none, but a get you home repair kit.

[Walkingthedog]

The car came with a get you home tyre but I had a proper spare that I bought for the previous car that only had one of those stupid inflation kits. So in the car I had the proper spare and at home the get you home wheel. So the spare is on the car and the get you home in the boot. New tyre some time this week.

[bulleidboy]

So many cars come with alloy wheels nowadays, it is very easy for a pothole to take the wheel out of true. Some of the company's that refurbish alloy wheels are able to correct them. One of my boys paid £25 to have an alloy wheel straightened(?).

[IanS]

I lost 4 tyres to pot holes from July 2018 to August 2019. (I then had a crash which wrote off the car a week after replacing a tyre at £280!)

This car hasn't gone through any tyres (yet!). It, like the other one, has not got a spare or even a 'get you home kit' but expensive (very!) 'run flat' tyres that once 'run flat' generally can't be fixed (well mine couldn't!).

It means you have a lot of boot space set aside, but nothing in the space.

Oh well, progress!

[yelrow]

i find this very interesting. Over the years i have had many cars, more than 40, in fact , and only has had a funny spare wheel. I appreciate, its a modern thing , but when changing cars, i would not have considered buying one, unless a spare wheel, was provided, of normal size. Its not that i am difficult, but we did many thousands of miles in europe, on holidays, often, towing and, would have been stuck, had we had this sort of problem. i understand you can buy one, and stick it in the boot, but why is it not included . I presume its something to do with the size of the car. Do many forum members have cars with no spare, and this silly repair kit, and did they knowingly purchase them. Curious.
.

[Walkingthedog]

My Fusion came with a small compressor and a tin of something to put in the tyre to plug the puncture. Very useful if the tyre splits. I binned it and added a proper spare. Proper spares now tend to be and added extra. My Bmax had a slim spare that I replaced with the spare I got for the Fusion.

If you buy a new car new John you are unlikely to get a proper spare wheel. You can moan and shout at the dealer as much as you like but you’ll just end up with a sore throat. Same with a second hand car. If it ain’t got a spare then you have to buy one. It is all to do with saving weight.

[IanS]

The point of the 'run flat' or the gunge that they pump in is to get you to the nearest garage/tyre supplier. In the UK you're probably not more than about 50 miles away from one except in the hills of Scotland.

As already is stated, a spare is 'sometimes' an optional extra, in my case I don't think it was. A previous car had a gunge kit, but the traded in one (same make/model) had a spare. The dealer suggested I keep the spare and even lifted over to the new car.

In the case of one of my 4 replacements the RAC came and escorted me to a tyre place. The car required a size of tyre not many places carry in stock so he spent over 20 mins ringing his contacts in the area to find a place with the right size & speed spec.

[Walkingthedog]

I know what it is for but it a waste of time. What if it isn’t a simple nail. We were on out way to a Station to get a UKrail excursion at 630 in the morning. Got a puncture, big chunk of glass, changed the wheel, caught the train, got back at 10pm and drove home. The gunge would not have worked and a couple of hundred quid for the trip would have been wasted. It is just a useless joke.

[yelrow]

WTD, Heather said i was out of touch and old fashioned when i mentioned this to her, but also said there was No Way, she would ever leave here by car, alone, without a spare wheel. Regarding bottle of Gunge, that would have helped a lot, with your pothole problem, i think not. I fully take on board about new cars, thank heavens i will never buy another. We have, out of interest, found the odd second hand make of car, that still has a spare wheel, and agree, they are exception, rather than the rule. I have a Husqvarna, ride on mower, that had a puncture, and we bought a bottle of Blue Gunge. That was a year ago, and tyre, still holding up, so its horses for courses. I dont understand why cars have to be lighter, unless its for consumption. All i know for sure, is that Heathers peugot 205, and my Volvo 50, both have proper spare wheels, located in wells, in the boot. Ians explanation about getting you to a garage, is fine, i suppose, if you live in a town, but not for us.

[brian1951]

The next mad idea is cars without dipsticks, ( to check your oil with ) not the drivers.