If you order a car with the useless gunge with a shelf-life of four years max, do you get a different vehicle than one specified with a spare wheel?

spare wheel, preferrably a full size one, every time. Gunge is **** and not fit for purpose IMHO. HTH

If ordering spare wheel on the Estate you lose out on storage compartments under the boot floor. Probably the same with the hatch.

I had the gunge with my last car, a Honda Civic. Spare wheel would have been better when I hit a pothole and blew a big hole in the side wall !! 2hr wait for RAC. Wouldn't be without a spare again.

Spare wheel every time. Run flats are a very good alternative as fitted to BMW's, but ride tends to be quite hard and very expensive to replace.

Spare every time.

Ordered a spare with mine when it comes.

My motorhome came without a spare also !

Ordered a spare with mine when it comes.

My motorhome came without a spare also !

 

Same for me.. I don't have a spare on my motorhome, got a compressor and some gunge?

 

When I bought my Octy I ordered the optional spare. In the 4 years I have had it I have used it 2 times, fortunately it was only for doing wheel cleaning and swapping front to back after buying new tyres so I didn't have to leave the car on the jack. You couldn't do that with a tin of gunge!

If you order a car with the useless gunge with a shelf-life of four years max, do you get a different vehicle than one specified with a spare wheel?

Seeing as no one has answered your question I will. The car is the same with or without the spare wheel.

Spare wheel = extra weight and unnecessary expense/space taken up for an eventuality that, let's be honest, doesn't happen too often....

 

How much is a new can of gunge after four year expiry date?

So far as I can see, on the estate the spare wheel (plus the jack and wheel brace which you also get, so it's good value) goes into its own circular well below the boot floor.

What is that space filled with if you don't have a spare wheel, just the gunge and the compressor?

Problem with gunge is that it isnt guaranteed to fix a puncture, any major surface/sidewall damage youre stranded and done for until the AA come to you aid.

Changing a tyre is a ballache at the best of times but its nice to have that option and know you can in most cases remain mobile until you get the existing tyre repaired/replaced.

Spare wheel = extra weight and unnecessary expense/space taken up for an eventuality that, let's be honest, doesn't happen too often....

How much is a new can of gunge after four year expiry date?

10kg in weight is 0.7% additional weight. You can save much more weight by only half filling you fuel tank each time you refill, speccing a petrol engine over diesel, or choosing manual over auto. The spare wheel will make virtually no decernable difference to performance or economy, but may save you lots of hassle if ever you need it. Spare wheel = no brainer.

Gunge spray is no use for a blowout,like i got in my last mk2le,spare wheel meant the only delay was 10mins fitting it

Its not even a consideration for me. No spare = no sale.

10kg in weight is 0.7% additional weight. You can save much more weight by only half filling you fuel tank each time you refill, speccing a petrol engine over diesel, or choosing manual over auto. The spare wheel will make virtually no decernable difference to performance or economy, but may save you lots of hassle if ever you need it. Spare wheel = no brainer.

I agree, I was just curious as to whether the vehicles were different; after all if you've got a spare wheel bay in the boot it either houses a spare wheel or it doesn't.

 

And, going off at a tangent, when I got my last puncture (1 of 3 I've had with this car) the recovery agents said I'd be liable for a £75 callout charge because I didn't have a serviceable spare wheel, just a can of gunk that I didn't want to use because it would wreck a £195 tyre that had less than 2k usage.......it took a lot of haggling with them on the phone before they reluctantly agreed to attend.

Spare wheel = extra weight and unnecessary expense/space taken up for an eventuality that, let's be honest, doesn't happen too often....

How much is a new can of gunge after four year expiry date?

you're right it doesn't happen very often but when it does you're bu88ered. Each time I've had a puncture the gunge would have been useless so I got a spare. It can be the difference between doing it yourself in 15 minutes to being seriously delayed waiting for the AA to get you another tyre and lets face it when things like this happen you just want to get going again, rather than having to wait for ages. Just another short cut by the motoring industry in general IMO. At least with Skoda you can get a spare if you want.

you're right it doesn't happen very often but when it does you're bu88ered.

 

Yeah, faced with a puncture on Bodmin Moor at 2a.m on a January morning in temperatures of -10C the whole "spare wheel / no spare wheel" is a complete non-runner.

 

What are car manufacturers upto?

Edited 18 October, 201312 yr by JuanCarr

Spare wheel = extra weight and unnecessary expense/space taken up for an eventuality that, let's be honest, doesn't happen too often....

 

How much is a new can of gunge after four year expiry date?

 

Well give everyone your registration number, so that when you're sitting on the roadside like a lemon (and by law of sod it will be raining hard too), with your silly can of foam which will cost you a new tyre anyway as soon as you use it on the tyre as I have previously stated because it fecks the tyre, so all of us who have a modicum of sanity & sense can have good laugh & shout at you: "Told you, you should have had a spare wheel". 

 

You might never get a puncture or a blow out, but then again you only need to hit a deep pot hole or run over something sharp & you're knackered. Now which would you rather, spend 15 mins doing the replacement wheel or a couple of hours waiting for a recovery/breakdown service?

 

For me it's a no brainer. 

Yeah, faced with a puncture on Bodmin Moor at 2a.m on a January morning in temperatures of -10C the whole "spare wheel / no spare wheel" is a complete non-runner.

What are can manufacturers upto?

think its partly to do with emmissions and the 'official' mpg figures and saving money. Multiply the savings they make supplying the gunge vs the spare kit by the number of cars they sell and it adds up to a nice wedge. Their view is you've got skoda assist so ring them up which is fine if you don't get a flat in the middle of nowhere (I have been too - in mid Wales) or your cars still in warrenty but after the 3 years they're not bothered and you're on your own.

The only flat I've had in my Octy was on the side of the M6 where I didn't feel comfortable changing the wheel myself, so had to wait an hour for the RAC to show up, tyre needed to be replaced anyway so a can of gunk would have probably saved me time and trouble as I could have attached it to the tyre and retreated to a safe distance while it did it's thing.

The only flat I've had in my Octy was on the side of the M6 where I didn't feel comfortable changing the wheel myself, so had to wait an hour for the RAC to show up, tyre needed to be replaced anyway so a can of gunk would have probably saved me time and trouble as I could have attached it to the tyre and retreated to a safe distance while it did it's thing.

Isn't it illegal to change your own tyre on the motorway anyway?

If I remember right and it is does anyone know if, as Anddenton said above, you could legally set up the compressor and gunk then move away?

I have the foam in my new vRS - though i have 3 years 'skoda' breakdown coverage so it would only be time wasted waiting for the rac to arrive. How does the RAC deal with a flat that foam cant fix?

They will probably try and get you another tyre or recover you to a garage I guess.

Spare wheel = extra weight and unnecessary expense/space taken up for an eventuality that, let's be honest, doesn't happen too often....

Skydiver's reserve chute = extra weight and bulk taken up for an eventuality that hardly ever happens either...

 

Extreme of course, but it's not just the likelihood, it's also the severity of the impact that needs to be considered. At best, I'll have a long wait (as an able-bodied single bloke, I'm perhaps understandably less of a priority for recovery services - the one time I did need one (double blowout) it was a two hour wait. ) I'd rather have my immediate destiny in my own hands (even if they are a little grubby from changing the wheel).