I think this is a bit like overseas call centres and self service tills, they sound like a good idea, until you use them - or is that just me?

For fear of repeating myself...

"I perceive any manaufacturer who won't include one to be short-sighted and mean-spirited and unless they'll throw one in gratis won't consider a deal with them. "

Vote with your feet & wallets and walk away. It won't change the way/the contempt the industry treats us (Joe Public individuals in particularl)/has for us, but you may feel better for it?

Buddy of mine went into our local Audi 'palace' on a quiet Saturday afternoon recently to enquire about a short test-drive in a Q3. 'The one out front is going to be put on the road as our demonstrator as soon as we have the tax disc in our hands. We'll contact you on Monday to arrange.' He left his details but is still waiting for a call from 'matey'. He's serious about one so has gone elsewhere. Different strokes/general consumer malaise/whatever...

I'd rather have a spare (at least a space-saver) than half the gizmos and gadgets they fill cars with these days (one more thing to go wrong). Given that its doesn't cost that much compared to the overall value of the car when new, I don't see the problem.

As regards saving weight, I wonder how much all the gizmos and gadgets weigh? They could always not keep making each new model 5% larger than the previous one, which would keep the weight down...