I bought a spacesaver for my Jazz.. But I also bought the bolt and washer to secure it into the spare wheel well.

A loose wheel and tyre in teh boot can do a lot of damage to people in teh car in the evnt of a crash.

The situation with the new Prius is typical of modern trends - makes choosing the right spec. more complicated

"Space saver spare is standard on Active & Business editions with 15" Alloys with a repair kit being a FOC Option

Business Plus and Excel models with 17" wheels have the tyre repair kit"

Presumably the larger-wheeled models need the lighter weight of the repair kit to stay within an emissions band

Nailit, think of it in the same way as using the metal loops most cars have to secure luggage in the boot. You dont declare such luggage as being a fitting. The unfitted spare wheel is simply part of the contents and using it, if it matches the original spec, is not the same as using alloys that are not part of the spec.

Nothing to contribute, but just wanted to say what an informative and useful thread – shows there's more to every subject than you realise!

In nearly all instances where i have experienced a flat tyre in the last 20 years, this was due to a thickly lodged nail. No amount of tyre sealant or whatever would have done any good at all other than for a few minutes. This is exactly the time it would take to foot-pump UP the offending wheel--and drive -very carefully- to a tyre repair place. Much better though would be to change the blinking wheel !

Focussed, that was interesting about the pre-puncture sealant: I hadn't heard of that before. The link says 'Seals punctures up to ¼” (6mm)' - which is about as much as could be expected of it.

I'm not spiteful by nature, but I confess to wishing for the designers who decree 'no room even for a spacesaver' to suffer a puncture due to a one-inch gash (e.g. from a pothole) in a country lane miles from anywhere in one of the many areas where there is no mobile phone reception.

This puncture sealant or pre-sealant has been available for years, the primary interest has always been from touring motorcyclists, which is why I started using it on the basis that the worst thing to happen on a wet night miles from home on a motorway is a puncture.

As well as sealing small punctures instantly some brands which contain granulated rubber threads have been reported as slowing down catastrophic air loss resulting from running over sharp objects, broken bottles etc, sufficently that a controlled stop could be achieved before the tyre went totally flat.

Another benefit is that for some reason tyres run cooler.

Personally I am quite happy to use a space saver tyre. There are no particular safety ssues if you drive carefully with it fitted and it will allow you to continue on your way in situations where the puncture repair stuff wouldn't.

Personally I would be quite happy to drive locally with a space saver fitted. The problem is when we (and others) go on long holiday runs with a fully loaded car. I for one do not want to do up to 400 miles on busy motorways at 50mph with a bike tyre fitted.

Whatever spare you decide upon, don't forget that you will also need a jack and tools to remove the wheel nuts, no-one else seems to have considered that!

Bought the jack when I bought the wheel, pretty obvious you will need one. But some numpties would no doubt overlook the obvious. Socket wrench and socket to get the nuts off.

I have ridden a couple of hundred thousand miles on motorbikes with countless punctures along the way. Pull the nail out, plug it with a kit, get to a repair shop and have the tyre plugged properly or replaced. Is there a reason why this does not work for cars?

Why clutter up the car with extra weight and less space for a low probability event, which has acceptable alternative solutions?

Tyre strings are used commonly by off-roaders - providing an adequate temporary repair.

Only a spare, full-size or space-saver, will suffice after a blow-out.