A neighbour of ours has a Seat Ibiza, which like most Skoda's only has a tyre repair kit as standard. He had a blow-out last night close to home and just managed to get back to his house; tyre beyond repair.

Unfortunately none of the local tyre fitters currently hold stock of the tyre size needed and he's had to have the AA take the car away to the tyre place while they await a tyre to arrive. With it being a weekend, then Tuesday at the earliest is when he's expecting his car back.

Good example me thinks of the wisdom of having the spare option.

TP

+1 from me. This demonstrates the flaw in manufacturers claimed suitability of the gunk option, it's even less use at the end of the warrenty period as you then can't call Skoda assist if the tyre is beyond gunking so you have to either take a chance or join a breakdown company. plus of course if the car is undrivable you've then got to wait for the breakdown truck to arrive, when had you got a spare you could have been on your way. I've seen elsewhere that if you can gunk your tyre you have to get it repaired fairly quickly otherwise it's new tyre time. Nearly as bad IMO is the run flat tyre as that's irrepairable too and expensive, though they are safer in a sudden blow out and at least you can drive on it. I paid the £130 for the spare kit as I couldn't add mine as a ff option but don't regret it as to me any slight increase in fuel consumption is worth it to me.

After seven and half years and 144,000 miles in a 7-seat Renault Grand Scenic with no spare, just a can of gunk / mousse, then touch wood, I'm relieved to say the original gunk is still in it's container, unused. Such is the puncture resistance of modern tyres. That said, I admit I've been lucky, as my other car (with a conventional spare) has had two punctures during that time.

So while on one hand I can understand manufacturers making a heavy and expensive spare an option, or even deleting it altogether, it has to be said I dread anything other than a slow puncture. As that would mean a breakdown call rather than a 5-10 minute delay. I can also concur with those who point out that after using the mousse, your tyre is often unrepairable anyway. So tough if its still got plenty of tread and only a nail through the middle of the tread.

Hence, I'm pleased my new (to me) Yeti has a spare option.

FlintstoneR1

We've got a Focus CC3, took it down to Spain last year and my research showed that in Spain a spare is a legal requirement ( and common sense on 600mile motorway trips).

eBay provided spare and tool kit for £70 -only possible in the Ford as it has a wheel well but no spare!