Interesting article in latest Which? magazine about trend now to not have a spare wheel but a repair kit instead. Skoda does this on nearly all new models, although you can buy a spare as an extra. I hadn't realised that if you have to use the repair kit, the tyre often cannot be repaired so you have to buy a new tyre at much greater cost that a puncture repair, plus a new repair kit at about £30 - £40. Much cheaper in the long run to get a real spare at the outset, as a new tyre will easily outweigh the saving in fuel by having no weight from the spare. Also if the puncture is more than a small hole the repair kit won't fix it anyway, so you're stuck.

Its just for moving cars down a tax bracket and increasing repair revenue. There's nothing positive for the buyer in the new arrangement. I would never have a car without a spare as the only punctures I've had to sort at the roadside would not have been fixed by a can of shaving foam.

It may be cheaper to buy, it may be more 'eco', but that won't do you any good if you're ever out in the middle of nowhere, with no mobile signal and you split the tyre.

Im sorry to say I was recently looking under the boot floor of some south korean cars and was pleasantly surprised to see a full alloy waiting. I got a matching one off ebay for my Octavia some time ago too, so I can carry on without using a stupid bicycle wheel one, especially on long journeys.

I had a car for four years that didn't have a spare - I was jammy in that I never had a puncture in that time. Would never buy another car that doesn't have a spare. The foam stuff is useless in most puncture situations plus you pretty much wreck the tyre.

When I got my pre-reg Rapid I fully expected the wheel well to be empty and was quite happy to go out and buy a steel wheel and a part worn tyre for it (it only needs to get me to a tyre place).

Me and dad went to look and it came not just with a space saver but a full size spare. Result!

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I would never own a car without a spare wheel,

Apparently alot of it is down to health and safety and companies scared of been done by muppets and the eco thing aswell,

Having had a blow out at 9pm on a saturday night on m62 just before saddleworth junction i was more than happy to loose 0.5mpg to have a spare to put on to get me home

Likewess would never have a car without a spare except where they was no choice like the Mini Diesel where they put the battery in what would be the tyre well because there was not room to put it elsewhere.

Skoda's are brilliant for being able to carry a full sized and spec'd spare in the tyre well which we do on the Fabia and OCtavia VRS.

Actually tend to buy two or four spares wheels, sometimes matching alloys and sometimes steels so as to have winter pairs or double pairs to put on if the weather changes or other reason as dropping one off for alloy repair etc.

When i bought my Fabia i asked for a proper spare tyre as i would feel safer knowing i had it instead of a bottle of foam.

My superb came with a spare wheel..not full size.....but it was a surprise to see it in there.....had to use it after 300 miles as a stone put a very large unrepairable hole in the tyre....so was happy about the spare but not about buying a new tyre after 300 miles

It may be cheaper to buy, it may be more 'eco', but that won't do you any good if you're ever out in the middle of nowhere, with no mobile signal and you split the tyre.

Surely it's more eco to repair a tyre wherever possible? Typical greenwash to justify penny pinching.

Friend of mine had a tyre literally explode (no amount of foam is going to fix that) while doing 70mph on the motorway the other day in his 2 year old Corsa. Car didn't come with a spare. He's now pricing up a cheap steel wheel + tyre to go in the empty wheel well.

Part of the deal before I agreed to buying by vRS was that the dealer supply a spare wheel instead of the tin of repair gunk that Skoda supply as standard. It's rare that punctures happen, however when they do I want to be able to swap the wheel and continue with my journey. If the puncture happens at speed or is caused by a decent sized piece of debris, then all the squirty gunk in the world is not going to repair the tyre.

I hated my old BMW 1-series as it had runflats (not even a tin of gunk) and no ability to carry a spare - there was no place for one at all. Not much use if you have a blow-out at 11pm on a cold wet night in the middle of no where.

Repairing an old tyre is a lot more eco than making a new one

I potholed a tyre less than 2,000 miles into ownership of my Roomy.

I was pleased I had specified a spare wheel instead of the goo can.

The spare was a £50 option - and a no-brainer in my opinion.

Surely it's more eco to repair a tyre wherever possible? Typical greenwash to justify penny pinching.

Thats why I put eco in quotes

Thats why I put eco in quotes

Exasperation aimed at manufacturers not your good self :sun:

I was talking to a man from one of the major roadside assistance companys yesterday. He was saying how cars have got more reliable and he was unsure about his future employment, he then said 'thank God they don't put spares in cars these days, it's keeping me in a job'

I had what I thought was a blow out in my Mazda 6, pulled over to find that there was just a hole in the alloy where the valve used to be!

In the boot there was a Bose sub where the spare wheel should have been.

Had to explain to three different people at the AA why I couldn't just use the repair can.

Ended up on the back of a breakdown truck instead of a simple wheel change.

I was quite surprised to find my Passat has a full size alloy spare.

Edited 27 May, 201313 yr by DaveI

Can a Superb II Estate fit a full size alloy in the wheel well? If I would get one, it would be the holiday car so I'd get a 5th alloy for it.

Don't get me started!! Spare wheel is as essential as the engie, in my opinion - not an optional extra.

Even if you can't change it yourself, someone else can help get you going again.

Wot about time sensitive journeys e.g. ferries, channel tunnel, weddings, performances etc - they don't wait until tyreman has finished with you and your wallett!

I was pleased the previous owner of my Octavia had opted for a full size spare (I think for its age, a space saver would have been standard) as it's not something I need very often but when I do, it will be well worth having particularly as a lot of my longer drives are late at night where I wouldn't want to be stuck trying a repair kit or dealing with the limitations of a space saver.

I was amused at work as they have a Ford Galaxy as a shuttle vehicle and they needed to change a wheel so the team responsible spent a while trying to work out how to get to the spare wheel but they couldn't seem to do so. Eventually they realised that despite being a decent sized vehicle, there was no spare tyre. I can understand on small cars where there simply isn't the space for it but on larger vehicles I think it's a bit of a joke.

John

It's not all bad (for manual Octy CR vRS owners). The spare would have put it into the next VED band, so the spare I bought after I got the car will be paid for in 3 years. Those who managed to get one as a FF option will be 'free' after 18 months.

I think the omission is a stupid idea personally. My RX-8 didn't have one and the foam was useless (although I did steal it before PX'ing it, so I've got a nice electric tyre pump etc. now). My sisters MINI doesn't have anything at all, not even foam in a can which is pretty bad (unless it came on run flats?).

I wonder how much is really driven by being 'green' (because the AA van that rescues you runs on air and magic after all) and how much is down to maximising profits. . .

We got a wheel and tyre from a scrap yard for £10 for my sisters old Corsa, so there's a cheap option for emergencies I guess if you've not got one.

Thankfully, I've a full sized tyre well on mine so no limitations.

Yes, minis have run flats.

If the mini doesn't have runflats then there is certainly a jack and a tub of tyre gunk in the boot.

I was faffing around in there recently, looking for the locking wheel nut, while changing from summer to winter tyres.