Hi,

does anyone know when Skoda stopped supplying full size spare wheels with the Octavia and would a car registered in Septemper 2009 ( '59 plate Elegance 1.9 TDI PD) be supplied with one?

Regargs

Graham

They are still supplied as an option. The change to having a kit as standard rather than a full sized wheel (although it is a 16" even if, like me, your car came with 18" wheels!) was with the facelift introduction last year (about the time of that plate). The only real way to know is to look or ask, but it shouldn't really be a deal breaker as the car will still have space for any full sized wheel you like and that you could probably source for buttons from fleabay etc...

They are still supplied as an option. The change to having a kit as standard rather than a full sized wheel (although it is a 16" even if, like me, your car came with 18" wheels!) was with the facelift introduction last year (about the time of that plate). The only real way to know is to look or ask, but it shouldn't really be a deal breaker as the car will still have space for any full sized wheel you like and that you could probably source for buttons from fleabay etc...

Does your "full size spare" have speed restriction stickers on the "out" side of the wheel? If so its not what I would call a full size spare really, and I think thats what Skoda call a space saver (at least on the VRS).

Skoda and other manufactures introduced the repair kit and compressor to get over the problem of injury whilst lifting out/in the spare or changing the wheel. Going with the optional spare wheel puts the responsibility on purchaser.

Skoda and other manufactures introduced the repair kit and compressor to get over the problem of injury whilst lifting out/in the spare or changing the wheel. Going with the optional spare wheel puts the responsibility on purchaser.

Hmmm, I'd kind of assumed it was a cost thing. Where did you get this angle from? I wouldn' t have thought selling the spare as an optional extra makes any difference to the manufacturer's potential liability for any injury.

Now I heard it was a weight saver, to bring the emissions ratings down, the more weight they shed the better it performs on tests

Hence, no matts, Spare Wheel, minimum oil levels, minimum Air con gas etc....

Steve

Hi,

does anyone know when Skoda stopped supplying full size spare wheels with the Octavia and would a car registered in Septemper 2009 ( '59 plate Elegance 1.9 TDI PD) be supplied with one?

Regargs

Graham

My early Elegance F/L, supplied in May 09, came with a standard matching (Crateris) 16" Alloy spare. Shortly after this it was dropped and replaced by the very popular gunk/compressor system. Standard power fold mirrors were also dropped around the same time.

My June 09 Scout has 17" wheels and 16" spare. Dealer and Skoda both said OK as a spare - didn't say it was illegal either. I'll treat it same as one of the narrow space savers if I have to use it. Just hope it doesn't happen when towing caravan!

Edited 11 August, 201015 yr by Normcall

The spare wheel was dropped in the brochure from 01 July 09.........I had ordered mine in June 09 and was not pleased but dealer included one at no extra cost when I said that I would not drive a car without a spare........a can of gunk is no good with a damaged alloy rim!

Hyperviper has supplied a most interesting piece of information. I hadn't considered this at all before, but I have to say it sounds highly plausible and makes a great deal of sense, given that everybody is ready to sue anybody for the slightest thing nowadays..

IIRC the spare wheel stopped being supplied as standard during build weeks in May 09. Depending on stocking levels vehicles supplied after June may not have them.

Edited 11 August, 201015 yr by xman

I ordered a full size spare. It looks about the right size but still has a 50mph warning label on it :(

I ordered a full size spare. It looks about the right size but still has a 50mph warning label on it :(

yes, it will be the standard 'full size' skoda spare, as far as I know every model got the same 16" wheel as standard unless you specified otherwise when purchasing (and even then I'm not sure what the options were), until the changeover to the sttandard repair kit rather than wheel (to save money more than weight I think). The repair kit thing isn't unusual these days - it was a standard feature on my last car (a Kia), but obviously a proper wheel is better.

It is only meant to be enough to allow you to drive to a garage to get a proper replacement (hence the 50mph limit - but this is also a liability safeguard given you are changing the thing yourself and may not be all that confident!), but a 16" spare wheel (and mine is full size 16" - not a narrow tyre) will be fine for that even when your other wheels are 18" - I've seen it done, and while you wouldn't want to go in the fast lane of a M-way or take a corner at speed it will do what its designed for and get you around until you can replace properly, although that said I would always want it on the back not the front - and if a front wheel needed changing I would swap a back one on there first before I got the spare 16" out...

Hyperviper has supplied a most interesting piece of information. I hadn't considered this at all before, but I have to say it sounds highly plausible and makes a great deal of sense, given that everybody is ready to sue anybody for the slightest thing nowadays..

It makes no sense to me whatever to suggest that the manufacturer can avoid liability by selling the spare wheel as an optional extra...but if this info comes from a reliable source that Hyperviper can share with us I will be happy to admit I was wrong of course....

Edited 14 August, 201015 yr by juan27