Just read the road test of the Touran (thanks HJ)...and I am amazed that a major manufacturer is putting out a car with no spare wheel.
Now it is not as though the car has wildly different sizes of tyres front and rear....or even that it has a space saver spare. I assume that it has an emergency inflator/repair system which is fine for a simple nail or thorn but useless for a damaged tyre wall. In this situation you have to be able to replace the wheel to get you moving again.
Are the manufacturers expecting us to call out the AA or RAC or local garage for the sake of a puncture (OK in the case of a busy motorway this might be the safest option)?
A major marketing error in my view and would certainly make me think twice before buying.
regards
Ian L.
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The Honda Accord Tourer doesn't come with a spare wheel but with an inflation/sealer kit. You can specify a space saver wheel for, I think, £100.
Touch wood, I haven't had a puncture for about twenty years and my spare on my present car still has a brand new tyre. However,yesterday, my next door neighbour was telling me that, only last week, he hit a huge steel sheet on the M1 near Luton, which wrote off his front alloy wheel and tyre. He has a 52 model Jaguar with 19" or so wheels. The repair kit wouldn't have been much use in this instance.
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The newest E Class 2003 (when sourced from Germany) does not have a spare either. A good friend only discovered this when I poked around the car after he returned to the UK after collecting it and putting a couple of thousand miles on the clock.
The thought of a bad unsealable puncture in a foreign country at night did not leave him happy. He was going to source a steel spare, I must ask how much it cost!
p
pmh (was peter)
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The Honda Accord Tourer doesn't come with a spare wheel but with an inflation/sealer kit. You can specify a space saver wheel for, I think, £100.
Exactly, it has space for a spare wheel, but the penny pinchers make you pay to have the option. This cannot be excused as weight saving, volume saving just pure penny pinching.
Touch wood, I haven't had a puncture for about twenty years and my spare on my present car still has a brand new tyre. However,yesterday, my next door neighbour was telling me that, only last week, he hit a huge steel sheet on the M1 near Luton, which wrote off his front alloy wheel and tyre. He has a 52 model Jaguar with 19" or so wheels. The repair kit wouldn't have been much use in this instance.
The only puncture I have had was a sharp stone on a dirt road which slashed the sidewall....no way that anything other than a replacement wheel and tyre was getting me anywhere. Nearest garage 300km and no mobile phone coverage.
Ian L.
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Ian L - on the Audi A2 the skinny spare is available as a no cost option, but only on new cars. If one isn't ordered from new the spare is almost £200!
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Good point. I read the report, and had exactly the same thought (ie, "Well I won't buy one of those then"). What a stupid stupid idea.
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The main issue to me is that there isn't even room for a spare. Not having one on our smart doesn't concern me too much, but on a car which could be lugging round lots of people and luggage on holiday it does. My A2 came without a spare, but I managed to pick one up second hand and it fits neatly under the false floor in the boot.
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Only had about 3 punctures in 20+ years - but the last one was on a dark wet night in the Welsh Borders. 15 mins later I was on my way thanks to my 'standard' spare.
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I think that spare wheels are a complete waste of time and money. Strangely enough I have had just three punctures as well in over 20 years. Never had to change a tyre myself. First time some kindly person left tin tacks over the road which took out the two front tyres, spare not much use then, second time I couldn't get the nuts undone! So in both cases I called out my friendly roadside recovery man
So I reckon that I have lugged a useless lump of metal around with me for the last 350,000 miles or so.
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Well, all well and good but I reckon a spare wheel is like insurance: a total waste of money until you don't have it.....
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If I remember correctly, when I looked at the launch models at my VAG dealer a couple of months ago, the 5 seater version does have a spare wheel, but the 7 seater does not (the seats have to fold somewhere...)
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One other thing to bear in mind, is that many breakdown policies state (in the T&C) that in order for them to provide assistance you must be able to provide a serviceable spare wheel/tyre. I think this even applies to Smart (car) Assistance, and they don't have room for a spare. If you don't I guess you could end up being charged for a call out fee, which would normally be met by them.
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My new E-Class luckily has a space saver and not the silly repair kit thing but it doesn't help when some zoom decides to put a knife through both your back tyres whilst you are helping a freind fit his kitchen.
My freind has some smashing neighbours.
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Personally I would never buy a car that didn't have a full-size spare wheel and tyre. Ever had a puncture in France with 2 hours to go to catch a ferry back home, with 5 people and an estate car fully loaded to the roof level and 100 miles to go to the port? Even a space-saver wouldn't have done but thank goodness for a full-sized spare - which was checked and properly inflated before we set out 2 weeks earlier.
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According to my local VW dealer, all seven seat Tourans built after March 2004 will have a space saver spare wheel as standard. As you know, the five seater has stopped production and the seven seater reduced to the cost of the old five seater making a reduction of around £550 (+ £100 to £200 for the spare wheel). Given this incentive, I have ordered a Touran via Brokers4cars - I'll let you know how it works out.
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My A2 came without spare but with glue instead. One can buy space saver from Audi for £200.
I just bought full size 17 in alloy replica spare wheel and tyre for £180 ! I`ll take it with me on trips, 30+ miles long.
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I too heard rumours about not producing the five seat version (they don't sell many). But even the five seat does not have a spare as standard any more.
If the "new" 7st touran does come with a spare, I don't know where they will put it. If they hang it underneath (like the zafira), it will be behind the rear silencer as this sits behind the rear bumper. There is no room in the boot for the spare due to the other seats.
When you get your one, please let us know where it is.
As an aside, when you convert most vauxhalls to LPG you loose the spare wheel.
Joe
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I believe the new 7 seater scenic will only come with a spray can repair kit. This is because the extra seats fit into the floor and it will also save on weight and ensure a healthy MPG remains.
I guess if one companies does it, the others will follow.
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[awaiting being shot down in flames] isn't there something in the MOT about a spare tyre?
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I read that the new Kia Picanto doesn't come with a spare.
A car without a spare wouldn't effect me from buying it.
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Apparantly in a few years they will be obsolete anyway. Tyre companies already make run flat tyres, problem is the car needs tyre pressure sensors. As the price of the tyres themselves and the sensors drop I would suspect every car will have them.
They can run for a good few hundred km at 90?kph at 0 psi
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Apparantly in a few years they will be obsolete anyway. Tyre companies already make run flat tyres, problem is the car needs tyre pressure sensors. As the price of the tyres themselves and the sensors drop I would suspect every car will have them. They can run for a good few hundred km at 90?kph at 0 psi
But run-flat = very stiff sidewalls = awful ride. Not necessarily a step forward.
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IIRC, if you have a spare, it must be legal. However, there is no legal obligation to carry a spare!
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I must be terribly unlucky - 3 punctures in the last 3 years/80,000 miles. Fortunately all within 500 yards of a tyre centre, but I'd never buy a car with no spare wheel.
Not nearly as bad as when I lived in Kenya. I regularly took 3 or 4 spare wheels and a high-lift jack when going on Safari as you can be so far from anywhere. There's something about getting stuck in the mud or having a puncture within 100yds of a lion or cheetah eating its prey!
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"There's something about getting stuck in the mud or having a puncture within 100yds of a lion or cheetah eating its prey!"
Yep, I wouldn't want to be getting out to change a wheel if that was the case!! I'd hope I had one of those aerosol things (and a powerful gun)
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Ian,
There are no regulations at all regarding spare tyres. You can carry one in any condition you like and you will not be comitting an offence unless you put it on the vehicle.
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I picked up my Touran Sport TDi on Friday. Delighted with it but no sign of a spare wheel! Apparently, the 2005 Model Year may come with one. I am still amazed how they always managed to find something to make the next Model Year that little bit more attractive. Still, better than computers or digital cameras where you need a Model Month!
Philip
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Harryhammer - checked out a Grand Scenic in local dealer a couple of weeks ago. No spare wheel as standard but looking underneath the rear of the vehicle, there is room for one to be fitted. I didn't bother to ask any of the salesman if one could be ordered as an "extra".
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Looked at a brochure at my pal's house last night and you can order a spare wheel as an option. However, the small print says something ridiculous like you can't have that and the sunroofs as well!
Why, I don't know!
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Maybe the spare is bolted on the roof??
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Well after 20 odd tears of driving I was unlucky enough to have two punctures in a year. Both involved serious damage to the sidewall of what were virtually new tyres - less than 500 miles on both :( A repair kit would have been about as useful as a chocolate teapot!
Don't like silly space saver spares (they remind me of bicycle stabiliser wheels) and can't help thinking it won't be long before the RAC, AA etc. start charging drivers who call them out because they don't have a spare. Luckily my new motor has a full size spare and, unlike my last estate, I don't even have to unload the car to get at it.
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"tears of driving" - I didn't think I was that bad :)
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