My dealer has found a Yeti for me and this one comes with a spare wheel (unusually ?).

 

Now I've not seen the boot space with a wheel in there - but I think its a higher floor ? 

 

The dealer will swap it out for the tyre weld if I want - but is it a problem ? I'm not sure how much space it takes out of the boot.

 

And if it WAS a problem - could I just take the wheel and leave it in my garage or is the floor rigid and doesn't give me any more space ?

 

Thanks !

The spare wheel brings the floor level with the boot sill. Personally I wouldn't be without the spare. You can remove it and the storage boxes that surround it if you want to.

 

Andy

Edited 12 January, 201610 yr by AndyC

With a spare wheel, the boot floor will be at the same level as the bottom of the tailgate opening.

Without a spare wheel, the floor is lower by the depth of the wheel.

 

See photos here

 

If you take the spare wheel out, and the storage boxes either side of it, you would need to obtain a low boot floor as the high one is designed in such a way that it won't drop down into the space vacated by the wheel & boxes.

You bought a car for lots of money and it will be useless if it won't roll because you have no spare wheel.  :no:

I'm one of those with a spare wheel and wouldn't be without it. I won't repeat what others have said but when deciding whether the spare takes up too much space remember that although the length and width of the boot area may seem a bit small there is a LOT of height available to you so sometimes you just need to think a bit laterally when packing stuff in. (There are various threads on this forum showing just how much you can pack in - including stacks of pallets - if you search for them). 

 

The other thing is, if you are unsure it's a lot cheaper later on to take the wheel out and buy a small compressor and tin of gunk than it is to buy a spare wheel and the bits to go with it.

Hello, 

I also have a question regarding the spare wheel. Does it restrict any functionality? I mean, now I'm searching for a car with modular rear seats and besides the Yeti the other option was Ford C Max until I found out that the spare wheel option is not compatible with the sliding rear seats. From what I read this is not the case for the Yeti but a second confirmation would be nice. I think the bike rack is not compatible with the spare wheel, right? But are there any other incompatibilities? 

The spare wheel brings the floor level with the boot sill. Personally I wouldn't be without the spare. You can remove it and the storage boxes that surround it if you want to.

 

Andy

 

+1

The spare wheel brings the floor level with the boot sill. Personally I wouldn't be without the spare.

Andy

always get the spare wheel.

A can of foam will never replace a buckled wheel , will it?

The dealer will swap it out for the tyre weld if I want - but is it a problem ?

I bet he would    Personally I wouldn't buy a car without a spare wheel of some sort.

 

I've never found the raised floor to be a problem in fact if anything it's a benefit. You don't have to lift stuf up and over to get it out of the boot. Handy little compartments under the floor flaps hide my tow rope, jumper leads, electric pump and first aid kit.

Handy little compartments under the floor flaps hide my tow rope, jumper leads, electric pump and first aid kit.

plus a whole load of paraphernalia when going on holiday!

 

Just ordered my second Yeti, and wouldn't be without a spare wheel. The can of gunk is absolutely no use at all if you damage the tyre sidewall, especially when in a remote part of the UK - or after the tyre depot has closed for the day!

I bet he would    Personally I wouldn't buy a car without a spare wheel of some sort.

 

I've never found the raised floor to be a problem in fact if anything it's a benefit. You don't have to lift stuf up and over to get it out of the boot. Handy little compartments under the floor flaps hide my tow rope, jumper leads, electric pump and first aid kit.

I'd never run a car without a spare, just seems daft.

I also prefer the raised floor; easier the load/unload and tidier as all the odds and sods (rope, tarp, first aid, emergency food, spare bulbs etc...) live in the storage boxes under the floor leaving the boot empty.

Sliding the rear seats forward and putting them upright increases the boot space significantly. 

If you never have 5 in the car consider removing the middle rear seat.

I always make sure I have a spare wheel in my cars. I think a lot of people now wouldn't even think of changing a wheel so wouldn't care if the spare was there or not - if they've got to wait for recovery to change the wheel they might as well wait to get recovered to Kwik Fit or wherever. I'm not one of these people BTW... ;-)

In the Yeti I like the way it raises the boot floor to flat too. I never use the whole boot anyway so it's no bother.

Edited 12 January, 201610 yr by rriggs

Whether to carry a spare wheel or not is all about risk mitigation. A tyre is without doubt one of the few "critical parts" on a modern car, the failure of which, can not only stop it in its tracks but more importantly, is also a fairly common occurrence. I can't think of any other vehicle component on a modern car that is in the same unique position.

It is therefore necessary to adopt measures to mitigate the high probability of this occurrence.

Punctures come in several forms, including some that don't actually prevent the car being driven. I won't go into the details of these as they are well known. The question therefore is "what is the best way to deal with punctures in all their various forms". The only approach that is guaranteed to deal with every type of puncture requiring immediate intervention at the side of the road is of course the spare wheel.

However, it can quite properly be argued that most (I hesitate to say the vast majority but that is probably the case) punctures can be temporarily effectively be dealt with by the application of the tyre sealant. In the time I have been driving, since 1967, I've had many punctures but actually, never one that couldn't have been dealt with by a sealant approach.

Each individual therefore has to balance the risk against all the pros and cons of the mitigation approaches, e.g. The weight of and space required for, a spare wheel against the same for a small can of sealant and pump or the probability of a tyre failure that sealant can't deal with at a time when tyre dealers are closed.

Another consideration is the fact that having a tyre that has been treated with sealant repaired is very often far from straight forward.

Personally I would never have a car without a spare and with my current Honda, I didn't get the choice - it comes with a spare.

Is it "" a fairly common occurrence""?

 

I have had my Yeti for 5 years and done 100k miles, and before that I had 2 Freelanders over a 6 year period and did a similar mileage, and I have NEVER had a puncture in that time, and that includes on the off-road tracks I drive. I rarely see anyone on the side of the road changing a wheel.

 

I do have a spare in my car, but it has now got to the age where the tyre trade are saying it should be replaced due to it's age!

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I have had too many to count over the years and my wife has had 2 in the last 4 years.

One person's experience one way or the other isn't of much relevance in this sort of statistical issue.

If punctures were't common, I doubt that manufacturers would provide some sort of solution for every car sold.

Thanks for the comments - I shall go with the spare !  I must admit I can't remember the last time I got "one" - so that's probably jinxed it for me.

 

In my experience carrying a spare battery round would have been better value - but I guess everyone has different experiences. 

 

Cheers Chaps !

I got my first puncture after 1.5 year of driving and only 10.000 miles. I did have a spare wheel but it was useless. I was on a highway and it wasn't a full wheel. But I do prefer to have one. 

I got my first puncture after 1.5 year of driving and only 10.000 miles. I did have a spare wheel but it was useless. I was on a highway and it wasn't a full wheel. But I do prefer to have one.

?

I got my first puncture after 1.5 year of driving and only 10.000 miles. I did have a spare wheel but it was useless. I was on a highway and it wasn't a full wheel. But I do prefer to have one. 

 

Can you explain that?

It could be due to the regulation in Luxembourg that all tyres on a car must be of the same type and standard, either winter tyres marked M&S on the sidewall or summer tyres.

The spare wheel was limited to 45 mph. I don't know how it is usually called. Space saver wheel? Anyway it wasn't a full-size wheel, something smaller and more fragile. So I couldn't go back on the highway with it and I had to call an assistance truck to get my car out of the highway. And yes it is mandatory to have all 4 tyres the same: either winter or summer or 4 season. Can't combine them.  And in fact because I had the puncture while driving at 80 mph  it was beyond repair. So I had to order 2 new tyres: the garage didn't want to change only one tyre saying that having a used and a new one in parallel can cause handling problems.

 

I'm talking about my current car. But since I'm planning to buy a Yeti I will take the spare wheel option too. What is the speed limit for it? And for extra safty some anti-sealant like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Slime-1800330-Repair-Automobile-Dispensor/dp/B003QHY000/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452706088&sr=8-1&keywords=flat+tyre+repair+kit. 

I would also say not that common. Sure, some people have more bad luck than others but in 20-odd years (many of those years at more than 50k miles per year) I have had only three punctures while driving and one that I cam out to one morning on my drive.

If they were that common, manufacturers would have been less willing (or certainly less confident) about removing spare wheels quite as completely and as quickly as they have.

I agree that puctures are quite infrequent but in my experience they always happen at the most inconvenient time, and I personally would prefer to have a spare that could be fitted quickly, than a tube of gunk that may or may not get me going again.

My dealer has found a Yeti for me and this one comes with a spare wheel (unusually ?).

 

 

I think that the previous owner was a very sensible person or was previously in a position where he/she had tyre damage that no "bottle of milk" would fix, and done the wise move and got a spare wheel!!...................there is no substitute, not even run flats!