Why aren't cars supplied with 'get-you-home' spare wheels any more?

I recently purchased a Ford C-Max and was amazed to find that it now seems the norm to supply a "pot of glue and a pump" instead of a get-you-home spare wheel. With a jack and a spare wheel the majority of people could change a wheel in probably less than a quarter of an hour, whereas with this modern system one is probably still reading the instructions. Isn't it time that we, the purchasing public, refused to buy a vehicle that does not have a (get-you-home) spare and let the manufacturers know that we dictate what we want?

Asked on 20 July 2013 by RW, Braintree, Essex

Answered by Honest John

The reasons for deleting spare wheels from specs are:

Cost: the manufacturers save a few quid. CO2: no spare wheel means the car is lighter and may qualify for a lower CO2 based tax bracket. Space: more luggage space. Design: a spare wheel well or wheel cage does not have to be designed into the car, which may not ever have been possible with a compact 7-seater.

The answer is to fit runflat tyres, so even if a driver suffers a deflation he does not have to stop and endanger himself and his family on the hard shoulder of a motorway. I came within inches of getting killed changing a wheel on the hard shoulder, so I feel quite strongly about this.

Tags: spare wheel runflat tyres punctures

Similar questions

Why don't you criticise manufacturers who don't fit spare wheels to cars?

Your correspondent RW, from Braintree is right to be disappointed with the lack of a spare wheel in his Ford C-Max and I am astonished at your apparent sycophancy to the manufacturers who perpetuate this...

Why did it take a week for a BMW dealer to replace a runflat tyre on my BMW 530D?

I ordered a new F10 BMW 530D on its launch date and took delivery early this summer. A couple of weeks after delivery, my wife picked up a puncture. She was able to drive the car home satisfactorily, and...