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"The last 39 years I've been carrying around an unnecessary accessory."
Glad to hear it, Chris M. Punctures are less frequent than they used to be, unless you have low-profile tyres it seems. The only punctures I've had in recent years (touching wood) were with each of the three Skodas I had which had 225x40x18 tyres.
I hope it never happens to you, Chris, but do tell us what you would do if the following happened:
- You have no spare wheel
- A pothole causes a big gash in a tyre, too big to be repaired by the can of goo
- You are on a country lane where (and this is still quite common) there is no mobile reception and you can't call for assistance
- And it's raining.
Edited by Avant on 17/11/2018 at 23:39
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You left out that it's dark and 10pm on a Sunday Avant.
I've considered this scenario. I'd put on the waterproof I keep in the boot and walk. When I got a signal I'd either find a 24hr mobile tyre fitting company, join the AA /RAC or call a cab to take me home. All three options will cost but spread that over 39 years and I can cope with it.
As I'm now retired, time isn't that critical to me and generally I don't travel that far from home. If I were using the car for work (not just commuting), did a high mileage and didn't have other cars in the household, I might come to a different decision.
I really like my Astra but the boot would be too small for the dog crate with a spare wheel fitted. Not having one is no deal breaker for me.
P.S. I've never paid for breakdown cover. That would have been a waste of money too.
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I've never paid for breakdown cover. That would have been a waste of money too.
I have paid for breakdown cover, and have used it at least twice - but not for anything to do with tyres, but engine problems. Maybe summed over several decades it could be argued that it was a waste of money, but on each occasion it definitely wasn't.
Extended warranties are the classic 'waste of money'.
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All warranties and insurance are a complete waste of money - until you need them!
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I've broken down twice in the 25 years I've been driving. On both occasions I called a local recovery company and paid them to take me home. Total cost around has been £150. If I had breakdown cover all those years I would have paid thousands in premiums.
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"The last 39 years I've been carrying around an unnecessary accessory."
The same might be said of at least one of the rear seats in our cars. The three rear weighty headrests of the Focus spend most of their time in the garage.
In the 14 years and 100,000m of our Focus, I can remember being grateful for the space-saver at least twice. And I have already used the Audi spare once in the 4 years of ownership. Like gb, I would always carry a spare.
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Agree with John F.
Alway have a spare too. Have had a few punctures over the years. Had 2 in the space of a month with my works van earlier this year.
My last puncture with my car, I was 200 miles away from home. Was able to fit the full sized spare and continue my journey.
Punctures always happen at the most inconvenient times. I can change a wheel within 1/4 hour.
If you feel you don't need a spare, then read the following article:
www.qashqaiforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=4...3
Still think that you don't need a spare?
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As for being stranded, try a blow out at around 5pm on the M11 near Cambridge at this time of year so dark already.
This was in a new design car transporter with unusual trailer tyre sizes, where the breakdown fitter spent most of the evening running all over East Anglia trying to find the correct tyre at one of their depots, eventually got going again at 10pm.
Not a problem for me, i've got a loaded lorry weighing some 40 tons and a full sized cab with food and drink available so i'm quite safe and warm to sit and snooze it out, but put yourself in this position with your car with passengers, possibly young children, in the dark in poor possibly freezing weather on a 2 lane motorway with one of the narrowest hard shoulders.
The above Qashqai link shows how important it is to know you have everything you need and to make sure the wheelnuts are able to be undone by you with the toolkit, plus torch gloves coat and a hivis in the car, the side of a fast moving road is a dangerous place to be, but there are worse places still you could be.
On a slight tangent, but some people who suffer breakdowns really do not help themselves, if you suffer a breakdown of any sort try to use the remaining momentum of the vehicle to put yourself out of harms way, ie if the engine dies try to run the car at least partly off the road if you can't get it fully off, if you get an offside puncture try to run the nearside wheels off onto the grass so giving you another yard or two of space between you (or whoever is going to change the wheel) and the passing traffic.
Thing is if you try your best to help yourself, you tend to find that the remaining few good samaritans out there are more likely to come to your aid if they see you have done your best, if you simply stop at the most awkward spot you could imagine and make no attempt to mitigate your circs then the few will be less sympathetic and more likely to pass you by...ie those who break down in the most awkward spot and make no attempt to ease the situation when possible, thereby making it more difficult for the breakdown to help who are also stuck in the traffic jam they have caused.
Edited by gordonbennet on 18/11/2018 at 09:53
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... if you suffer a breakdown of any sort try to use the remaining momentum of the vehicle to put yourself out of harms way, ie if the engine dies try to run the car at least partly off the road if you can't get it fully off, if you get an offside puncture try to run the nearside wheels off onto the grass so giving you another yard or two of space between you (or whoever is going to change the wheel) and the passing traffic.
About 20 years ago I was trundling northwards into Hereford on the A465 when the clutch cable failed on the 205 Dturbo. Luckily it was possible to get onto a wide verge before calling the RAC, who was on the other side of town. He arrived after about an hour and managed to crimp the lower end of the cable and we continued our journey home. The crimp lasted until the car was sold some time later, which I was very glad of, as there's very little space to fit another cable behind that engine ....
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Agree with John F.
Alway have a spare too. Have had a few punctures over the years. Had 2 in the space of a month with my works van earlier this year.
My last puncture with my car, I was 200 miles away from home. Was able to fit the full sized spare and continue my journey.
Punctures always happen at the most inconvenient times. I can change a wheel within 1/4 hour.
If you feel you don't need a spare, then read the following article:
www.qashqaiforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=4...3
Still think that you don't need a spare?
One of the (many) reasons I decided NOT to change my (then) 11yo Mazda3 for a new car back in 2017. My car's standard tyres (17in, 16in and 15in allowable and widely available) were widely available and often between 40-60% of the price of the similar, but unusual size combos, and could be sourced the same day should I want to pay a bit more than via mail order.
Not so long ago (but still 2 years in on the latest gen Mazda3 being available) some Mazda3 Sport owners were finding it was taking tyre fitters SEVERAL WEEKS to source the non-standard 18in tyres - God knows what would've happened if they needed a replacement pronto like the above situation.
When I looked on BlackCircles, some of their models had about 20% of the number of tyres available than more standard ones like mine, and this included quite a few winter tyres and very high performance, very expensive summer tyres and run-out models that were (comparitively) noisy and poor on fuel economy.
If any car doesn't at least come with a spare of some kind or with the facility to accept one below the main boot space (and at a reasonable price), then I just won't even entertain buying that car, even if it's brilliant in all other respects. I agree - it's a red line - no spare, no sale.
Hopefully manufacturers will get the drift once people wake up to this stupidity and vote with their wallets to go with cars that have spares, preferably full sized ones, or at least the space to take the flat once the space (weight) saver is fitted. Save weight in other ways - e.g. less unwanted gizmos.
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The Qashqai owner - WHAT A MUPPET. A fully paid up member of today's ever expanding "victim" club.
When he was perusing the spec. list of his Acenta Premium he probably checked it had the 18" bling wheels, 1000w sound system and chrome trim around the gear stick, but failed to look further down to check that it had a spare. He didn't try to familiarize himself with how the jack worked or where to place it under the car (I know where my can of gunk is and what to do with it if required). And he obviously didn't bother to check the pressure in his non-existent spare in the year he had the car. He then blames Nissan. I guess he feels the "bells and whistles" should include backside wiping as well. Why would you go to a main dealer rather than straight to Kwik Fit or similar. The four hour wait was likely due to all the other muppets who can't change a wheel for themselves, can't be bothered to do basic maintenance checks or wait till the car stops even though the warning light has been on for weeks. One reason I won't subsidise these fools. Rant over.
I am wondering though whether those of you who won't leave home without the comfort of a spare wheel also carry a tool kit, overalls, bit of old carpet, piece of wood to jack on soft ground, jump leads, tow rope, top and bottom radiator hoses, clutch cable, engine oil, antifreeze, washer fluid, water and of course, a tin of Damp Start which you last used when you ran a Marina. Most of these would commonly be found in the boot 30 years ago, but time has moved on.
Edited by Chris M on 18/11/2018 at 16:00
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Earlier this year when we were swapping the wifes car we looked at the new Astra. We liked it in just about every respect until we looked in the boot. It was not large but when we lifted the carpet to look if a full size wheel would fit we were stunned to find that there was not even room for a space saver. Dealer tried to be helpful, ordered in a raised boot floor kit that is required if you want a space saver but with that in the boot was simply way too small.
So we did what other above have suggest, we walked.
Bought a Skoda Fabia. Room under the carpet for a space saver or full size spare (that is what we have) and the boot is still a sensible size.
Plenty of cars out there that will carry a spare with no loss of boot space so why buy one that has no spare.
Another warning, Skoda charge a very reasonable £100 for a spare (space saver or proper wheel/tyre including tool kit etc) instead of the bottle of glue. But some manufacturers charge stupid money. Mazda are one, they wanted £450 and I am sure it robs boot space when fitted.
Once I asked a salesman where would I put a full size wheel off the car if I had to fit the space saver should the boot be full of luggage and the wheel well be too small. His answer was get a passenger to have it on their lap. We walked off laughing.
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I agree that for an increasing number of well-informed punters, cars having a full-sized spare or the space to accommodate one is going to be a big plus point. Probably one of the reasons why the likes of Skoda get higher review scores than competitors.
As regards the pricing of the different types af spare tyre/wheel systems available via the manufacturers, it would be interesting to see if the likes of VW, Audi and SEAT offer their equivalent cars with exactly the same specs in terms of space provided for the full sized spare, as well as whether they offer a space-saver or full sized one as standard, an option and the price of them - is this a VAG wide policy or down to each one and there's a wide variance in what's offered.
Looking at John Cadogan's video reviews of cars Down Under, the latest Hyundai i30 has a full sized spare fitted, possibly as standard, although in the UK they only get a space saver (their website doesn't say whether the space is there to stow a full sized one).
You have to wonder how manufacturers can get away with offering lower spec cars in this regard and either not lowering prices or, as Mazda does, charging exhorbitant rates for what others offer for less than a third of the price, as well as significantly reducing available boot space to accommodate them. Like Skidpan, when I was looking for a new car last year, told my local Mazda dealer (whom I've used for maintenance for all my car's life) what I thought of this policy (even if politely). He didn't seem too perturbed about it, at least on the surface, perhaps because he knew that so many punters wouldn't be concerned or know about it, until it was too late, like the QQ owner.
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I am wondering though whether those of you who won't leave home without the comfort of a spare wheel also carry a tool kit, overalls, bit of old carpet, piece of wood to jack on soft ground, jump leads, tow rope, top and bottom radiator hoses, clutch cable, engine oil, antifreeze, washer fluid, water and of course, a tin of Damp Start which you last used when you ran a Marina. Most of these would commonly be found in the boot 30 years ago, but time has moved on.
Add spare plugs, points and distributor cap to that list and it sounds just like my dear old Dad!
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