I bought a 1 yr. old Fabia 2 from a Skoda dealer 2 weeks ago. I wasn't aware that the makers no longer give a spare in the event of a puncture, just the tin of sealant and a comressor. I find that many makes are no longer giving a 'spare'. I wasn't happy driving around like this, and rang many dismantlers if they had a Fabia wheel. Nine said 'no' immediately. My 10th. try was at Broadbent rd. dismantlers, which is a Rd off Rippondon rd. Oldham, just about 3/4 mile up Rippondon Rd. These lads 'thought outside the box' and one lad thought a certain Seat wheel would be suitable ( part of VAG ) and if I wanted to nip up, they would try it, unfortunatley it didn't. Another laddy thought that the 'new' Polo would fit, and all the specs met. They had a 2 yr. old Polo ( no spare wheel ) and an alloy off the front was brought round to try, MARVELLOUS! it was the same fit etc; Being a full size wheel and alloy, the cost was £50, the Polo's jack, brace etc; ( all unused and in the hard foam holder) was thrown in free. The peace of mind I now have is tremendous. None of the previous breakers I rang 'thought outside the box', well done to Broadbent Rd lads ! The wheel sits slightly high in the well ( about 3/4 inch.) but is not at all obtrusive .

I paid £45 for a spare wheel when i bought my Fabia, it does have a punture repair kit but i prefer another wheel to rely on.

I fully agree. Whatever the reasons for manufacturers not providing a spare wheel, the majority of drivers want one. I think it is a bit of a con to expect customers to pay extra for a spare wheel. A can of gunk is no use whatsoever if a tyre gets slashed. Give me a proper spare wheel every time.

One of the bees in my bonnet about Skoda as well. Presently I`ve got a complaint on this subject, I posted on another thread, ongoing with Buckingham Trading Standards. If you buy a spare wheels, after order, its over £100...rip off. Interestingly though on the `gunk` fix I`m told by my dealer that whoever comes out on Skoda assist carries a different type of `trade gunk` with them, that actually fixes the job in a lot of cases and is far better than the `gunk` you pay for when buying the car!!!!...somehow that doesnt suprise me....... Wonder if anyone knows of a vag group wheel that would fit a 16`` on a FL Fabia....please

I fully agree. Whatever the reasons for manufacturers not providing a spare wheel, the majority of drivers want one. I think it is a bit of a con to expect customers to pay extra for a spare wheel. A can of gunk is no use whatsoever if a tyre gets slashed. Give me a proper spare wheel every time.

One of the bees in my bonnet about Skoda as well. Presently I`ve got a complaint on this subject, I posted on another thread, ongoing with Buckingham Trading Standards. If you buy a spare wheels, after order, its over £100...rip off.

So how much is a new tyre for your Fabia? add that to the cost of a new wheel and you will find it is WELL OVER £100.

One of the reasons they do not come with spare wheels any more is to lower the emissions band the car come in (lighter car = a lower band)

Forgot to mention in my original posting above, that the well in the rear of the car even had the threaded 'thingy' that you secure the wheel down into, with a hand-friendly bolt...SO, if the car is One year old, when I wonder, was the 'body' of the car actually made, in comparison with the day the spare was NOT included ???? As I said, the wheel I bought sits slightly 'proud' in the well, but this is due to the fact that it would have most likely been a 'spacesaver' wheel, that would have sat much lower in the well...and also, the alloy I bought, has 'spokes' that curve outwards, which would account for the wheel sitting slightly proud in the well. It's going to be : Why was the well designed and made for a spare wheel to be FASTENED down in the well, and when did these Skoda people decide to omit a spare..???? I don't go along with the excuse that it's a lighter car without a spare wheel, and therefore makes the car 'greener'... codswallop !!

When I ordered my Fabia 1.2 TSI DSG elegance estate I managed to get the spare wheel thrown in, also bootliner, mudguards, underseat storage and rubber mats :yes: Trouble is I ordered it on 31st Aug, and was given week 1 build date, now extended to week 3 :'( :'(

Forgot to mention in my original posting above, that the well in the rear of the car even had the threaded 'thingy' that you secure the wheel down into, with a hand-friendly bolt...SO, if the car is One year old, when I wonder, was the 'body' of the car actually made, in comparison with the day the spare was NOT included ???? As I said, the wheel I bought sits slightly 'proud' in the well, but this is due to the fact that it would have most likely been a 'spacesaver' wheel, that would have sat much lower in the well...and also, the alloy I bought, has 'spokes' that curve outwards, which would account for the wheel sitting slightly proud in the well. It's going to be : Why was the well designed and made for a spare wheel to be FASTENED down in the well, and when did these Skoda people decide to omit a spare..???? I don't go along with the excuse that it's a lighter car without a spare wheel, and therefore makes the car 'greener'... codswallop !!

The standard spare wheel is always a steel wheel, not an alloy one, and not a space saver as such. It usually has the correct tyre for the vehicle on it too, but some use a 'limited use' tyre. It does always fit into the space provided with the 'screwy' thing without protruding into the boot area. All Fabia's have the threaded hole in the spare wheel well, and usually a plug of some kind in there. To build the car without that hole in it would cost too much money. However, this allows owners to buy the spare as an accessory if desired. Some Fabia's may have had the 'screwy thing' included instead of a standard rubber plug to seal the hole in the wheel well floor. The weight of the steel wheel, inflated tyre, jack and winding gear with wheel brace etc is a small but significant weight to carry around. Removal saves space and weight that makes your car lighter and more fuel efficient. It's surprising, but true! My car has a spare wheel as standard, but just after I bought mine in 2008, it seems they stopped fitting spares as standard.

If you do not have a spare wheel, you can if you wish have something called Puncture Seal (formerly Ultraseal) installed into your tyres. This compound lives in the tyres all the time and instantly seals any puncture. If you have a nail or screw in the tyre, if you remove the nail, the leak will seal immediately and permanently usually without any pressure loss at all. It seals leaks and does not require any further repair. The only proviso being if the nail or leak has occurred in the sidewall or on the shoulder of the tyre you must change your tyre as you would normally as soon as you can, unless it is safe to repair professionally at the tyre shop. It's been around for 40 years in use by the military, police and big commercial operators and IT WORKS! It has been available to the general public for around 10 years now I guess. It's used by the Military, big commercial vehicle fleets, motorcycles (including the police motorycycle division), and all Post Office vehicles of over 132,000 in number use it. Other big fleet operaters use it too. It works, it saves lives, time and money. Do not confuse it with other lesser products that you add to the tyre after a puncture and that is only temporary. Puncture Seal is permanent and works. As a keen motorcyclist I use it in my tyres on my big motorcycle. It has so far sealed punctures in both back and front wheels without the need for further attention. My tyres on my bike cost £150 each so that's good! It's available online (do a google search) or most motorcycle shops keep it, but only some car franchises. It's not expensive either, £25 treats big wheels on a motorcycle and not much more for a car. It makes the tyres last longer too due to better heat dissipation. :yes:

Opted for the spare option on the wife's new Fabia Elegance, this turned out to be a 'spacesaver' in that it was the same steel wheel and tyre size as fitted to the 'S' trim; 195/55 R15. Quite happy and at least we can get home, wouldn't trust a tin of gunk in the middle of the Wolds an a rough night :S

Also took the spare option with our Yeti which does not have a wheel well at all, just a shallow circular impression in the boot floor (due to the 4x4 Haldex underneath) This results in lost boot space due to the necessary raised false floor so the spacesaver 16" 195 tyre can fit in.

TP

The standard spare wheel is always a steel wheel, not an alloy one, and not a space saver as such. It usually has the correct tyre for the vehicle on it too, but some use a 'limited use' tyre. It does always fit into the space provided with the 'screwy' thing without protruding into the boot area. All Fabia's have the threaded hole in the spare wheel well, and usually a plug of some kind in there. To build the car without that hole in it would cost too much money. However, this allows owners to buy the spare as an accessory if desired. Some Fabia's may have had the 'screwy thing' included instead of a standard rubber plug to seal the hole in the wheel well floor. The weight of the steel wheel, inflated tyre, jack and winding gear with wheel brace etc is a small but significant weight to carry around. Removal saves space and weight that makes your car lighter and more fuel efficient. It's surprising, but true! My car has a spare wheel as standard, but just after I bought mine in 2008, it seems they stopped fitting spares as standard.

If you do not have a spare wheel, you can if you wish have something called Puncture Seal (formerly Ultraseal) installed into your tyres. This compound lives in the tyres all the time and instantly seals any puncture. If you have a nail or screw in the tyre, if you remove the nail, the leak will seal immediately and permanently usually without any pressure loss at all. It seals leaks and does not require any further repair. The only proviso being if the nail or leak has occurred in the sidewall or on the shoulder of the tyre you must change your tyre as you would normally as soon as you can, unless it is safe to repair professionally at the tyre shop. It's been around for 40 years in use by the military, police and big commercial operators and IT WORKS! It has been available to the general public for around 10 years now I guess. It's used by the Military, big commercial vehicle fleets, motorcycles (including the police motorycycle division), and all Post Office vehicles of over 132,000 in number use it. Other big fleet operaters use it too. It works, it saves lives, time and money. Do not confuse it with other lesser products that you add to the tyre after a puncture and that is only temporary. Puncture Seal is permanent and works. As a keen motorcyclist I use it in my tyres on my big motorcycle. It has so far sealed punctures in both back and front wheels without the need for further attention. My tyres on my bike cost £150 each so that's good! It's available online (do a google search) or most motorcycle shops keep it, but only some car franchises. It's not expensive either, £25 treats big wheels on a motorcycle and not much more for a car. It makes the tyres last longer too due to better heat dissipation. :yes:

Hello 'Estate Man' ..... you are obviously far more technically minded than I am, and my days of 'fiddling' around with cars go back to when I was about 20yrs old. This might be the last posting I'm allowed, so I'm hoping you can explain why it would be too costly for Skoda to make the Fabia without the drain hole in the wheel well. I had a new Fabia in 2001, the well in that is exactly the same as this 1 yr. old Fabia I bought 2 wks. ago. ie: the threaded hole in the centre ( that I called a threaded 'thingy' ) AND the the hole with a rubber plug is also there. I do remember there was a full size spare steel wheel, that's why I was horrified to find the well configured for a spare, but none supplied as standard in this one. ( didn't find out until I was driving off with it from the dealer ) ! It was on here, briskodia, that I learned about the 'no spare wheel' these days. So, out of interest, why would it cost more to produce without this hole ? I can't work it out. Cheers, and interesting to read your further knowlege too.

For information purposes..The new Fabia II vRS comes with a spare wheel as standard

When I bought my Fabia 2 Estate, I was told I was lucky I got a spare wheel as I think from Feb 2009 (Mine is a august 08 example) they went tireless in regards to the spare wheel, which was a relief as the last car I owned never came with a spare wheel and I had to purchase one from a scrappy and then purchase a new tyre I personally think all cars should come as standard with a spare wheel.

Hello 'Estate Man' ..... you are obviously far more technically minded than I am, and my days of 'fiddling' around with cars go back to when I was about 20yrs old. This might be the last posting I'm allowed, so I'm hoping you can explain why it would be too costly for Skoda to make the Fabia without the drain hole in the wheel well. I had a new Fabia in 2001, the well in that is exactly the same as this 1 yr. old Fabia I bought 2 wks. ago. ie: the threaded hole in the centre ( that I called a threaded 'thingy' ) AND the the hole with a rubber plug is also there. I do remember there was a full size spare steel wheel, that's why I was horrified to find the well configured for a spare, but none supplied as standard in this one. ( didn't find out until I was driving off with it from the dealer ) ! It was on here, briskodia, that I learned about the 'no spare wheel' these days. So, out of interest, why would it cost more to produce without this hole ? I can't work it out. Cheers, and interesting to read your further knowlege too.

Hi burgundyboy,

Sounds daft doesn't it. But it's cheaper for manufacturers to produce one boot floor well with the hole in it and use it for all vehicles, than to have to set-up a process to manufacturer, store, fit, and generally handle another identical floor well, but without the hole/s in it. That's even though the one with the hole in it has a steel threaded insert which obviously costs money in it's self. This is because the manufacturer, once they decide to make two versions of the floor well then have to not only have the manufacturing process to not put the hole in it, but the floor well has to be handled differently, given different part numbers, stored somewhere else, and then they need to have a fitting process, one for vehicles with holes, one without. To us, this doesn't sound much, but to a manufacturer, this adds huge costs in terms of making it with out a hole and then fitting it.

It's not quite the same but worth mentioning as it is a similar cost cause situation...I once ordered a very high end brand new Ford Ghia. It had all the trimmings. However, I didn't want the sunroof. The sales guy pointed out they all came with the sunroof. I said well order it without the sunroof (a full electric opening version etc etc). They made a lengthy phone call. Then I was promptly informed it would cost over £700 NOT to have the sunroof. The reason...someone would have to pull the body off the production line before the hole in the roof was cut. They were not geared up for that so they had to stop the production line, Then it would also need a different headlining, tailor made, and some parts of the wiring loom would need replacing to avoid the risk of fire etc etc it just went on and on. Being in the motor trade myself, I then investigate these claims and found they were indeed correct. And being charged £730 extra for not having a sunroof was quite cheap. I still ordered the car however, and didn't order the sunroof either so I was happy to pay the £730 extra for less equipment. Incidentally, the cost of the sunroof that would have been fitted was itself just peanuts, motors, seals, frame and glass with the covers etc came to a trifling £180 trade as supplied to the factory.

And for arguements sake - our Superb came with another alloy (18"!) as its spare.

And for arguements sake - our Superb came with another alloy (18"!) as its spare.

Yeah...but sadly not the Fabia's.

Edited 28 September, 201015 yr by Estate Man

I have just ordered the spare wheel on my new fabia,the gunk does not feel safe enough for me especially if your stuck in the wilds driving rain sleet or snow,spare wheel is a must!

When I bought my new Fabia a year ago I considered buying the spare but was persuaded by the salesman's weight saving fuel argument. Now I am looking for a spare since 2 weeks ago got a bolt in the tyre on the way to an evening out about 50 miles away on a Sat evening. Couldnt get the bolt out but didnt want to risk a motorway drive so had to abandon the evening, dont think the breakdown cover would take me somewhere and back! And of course couldnt get the right tyre on a Sunday and had to wait till Mon. The tyre supplier told me if I had used the gunk (assuming the tyre is repairable), it would take them about an hour to clean it out and would charge for it. So the gunk is a waste of time and I am looking for a spare- useful tips from you all, thanks. Used to have a Polo which had the little tray and the threaded thingy which I am now looking for- I work in Oldham so will try the same breakers yard.

A techie friend tell me that the diameter of the wheel fixing holes is fairly standard I think the Fabia is 100mm pcd and logically a 15" wheel & tyre is the same outer dia as my 16" alloy otherwise they would have to recalibrate the speedo. And it would do to keep you going which is what I wanted the other week.

After all my efforts, and finally getting a spare wheel, jack etc, I am trading the Fabia in tomorrow, for an Octavia estate. 1.4 tsi 122bhp DSG... 10 plate. THEREFORE, I have just taken out of the Fabia, the spare wheel I got from a breakers ( with an unused jacking kit ) I was thinking of adverising this wheel & jack on E-bay ( The Octavia has a spare )!! I paid £50 for the wheel etc ( read my first post at the very top) and I would be prepared to sell it for the same. So if you are a Fabia 2 owner, with just the gunge and compressor...contact me 07878710122 07878710122 I'm in Failsworth.. david.