Hi

Can anyone tell me the best place to get a spare wheel kit for my car.

Dealer was meant to order one but haven't done it so I told them not interested as they now want to charge full price 180.

It was the first option I ticked when I ordered my new car (as detailed below) and when I actually had a puncture and instead of using a "can of gunk" I was able to use the full size (allbeit not an Alloy) wheel to see me home and driving around for a few days, it was worth every penny of the £50 the option cost me.

 

Ebay quite often have spare wheel "sets" retrieved from written off and scrapped vehicles etc. Worth a look.

I have been searching for a few months for a decent full size spare, with or without tyre, as my sealant is now time expired. 

The only ones I have found have been for silly money or the slim type with "get you home at 50mph max" tyres. I don't want to travel at 50mph on a motorway while being passed by a convoy of trucks.

There must be a strong market for spare wheels as the prices seem to keep rising. I should have bought from Skoda last year when they had a special at £150 or less.

I have just bought a full size genuine Skoda steel spare wheel, bolt to secure it in the wheel well and tyre. The wheel is a 16" where my alloys are 18", but with the right size tyre the rolling resistance is the same. The tyre size is 205/55/16. If you have to use it you can of course still drive at normal speeds. I bought the wheel and bolt from Trade Parts Specialists. I believe they are part of the Ridgeway dealerships. The cost of the wheel and bolt was £74.72. The cost of a tyre locally was £42. All in all a good overall price. Better that using that darn gunk if you ever have a puncture. Even better if you split the tyre, as the gunk is then useless to get you home.

There are loads of genuine kits on eBay, here is one delivered to your door for £90...

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-SKODA-OCTAVIA-UNUSED-16-SPARE-WHEEL-TYRE-JACK-KIT-04-ON-/231821273992?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

 

They are all limited to 50mph / 80kmh as per the sticker on the face of the wheel.

 

They aren't space savers, they are the same 16" steel rims fitted to the basic spec Octavia. The speed limit is simply a precaution for when it is fitted to cars with 17" and 18" wheels.

There are loads of genuine kits on eBay, here is one delivered to your door for £90...

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-SKODA-OCTAVIA-UNUSED-16-SPARE-WHEEL-TYRE-JACK-KIT-04-ON-/231821273992?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

 

They are all limited to 50mph / 80kmh as per the sticker on the face of the wheel.

 

They aren't space savers, they are the same 16" steel rims fitted to the basic spec Octavia. The speed limit is simply a precaution for when it is fitted to cars with 17" and 18" wheels.

There is no 50mph sticker on the wheel I have just bought  and I must admit, with the taller tyre on the smaller wheel, I personally would not have a problem driving at 70mph. Would drive with a bit more caution around the bends mind. If the spare wheel is on the car, I would just have to drive like my age. That should be steady enough till I got the puncture on the alloy fixed. 

A lot of places take the standard 16" steel wheel from the basic model Octavia and sell them as spare wheels.

 

No issues here as the wheels and tyres are identical, the only problem being you miss out on the warning sticker.

A lot of places take the standard 16" steel wheel from the basic model Octavia and sell them as spare wheels.

 

No issues here as the wheels and tyres are identical, the only problem being you miss out on the warning sticker.

Thanks for the info mate, I did not know that. I guess they stick the 50mph on there to cover themselves, health and safety eh! Would still run mine at 70mph though and act my age through the bends. Of course on my normal rims, there are moments in the drive I feel 18years old again, know what I mean! The only difference is now, I can handle a car a dam sight better than I could then. 

I ran my spare for a few hundred miles at speeds of 70mph to 80mph without issue...

 

if its a genuine spare for a vrs it will be a 16" as an 18" does not fit in the wheel well hence the 50mph sticker on it as it is a different size to the rest. but you can drive as fast as you like on them if you want.

 

i was driving within the 10% speedo allowance on the motorway & was passed by a guy doing a ton you could just make out the yellow 50 mpg sticker on his space saver as he went by

There are loads of genuine kits on eBay, here is one delivered to your door for £90...

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-SKODA-OCTAVIA-UNUSED-16-SPARE-WHEEL-TYRE-JACK-KIT-04-ON-/231821273992?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

 

They are all limited to 50mph / 80kmh as per the sticker on the face of the wheel.

 

They aren't space savers, they are the same 16" steel rims fitted to the basic spec Octavia. The speed limit is simply a precaution for when it is fitted to cars with 17" and 18" wheels.

Thanks for the link. I have bought it subject to the age of the tyre.

Thanks too for the info on the reason for the 50mph speed limit.

I'm running on my spare at the moment - the lovely sticker on the outside telling me to stick to 50mph for all to see

My tyres are a mess at the moment, I've got a leaking valve on the offside front and a slow puncture (takes 3 weeks for TPS to alarm) on the offside rear.

Wouldn't mind but all 4 of my tyres are just a year old and have plenty of meat on. So need to get both of those tyres hopefully repaired or else I'll have to replace - which I'd rather not have to do, and then of course there is a chance one can be repaired and the other not, so then I'm only replacing one. Plus they are GY AS2's and we seem to have moved on to AS3's now......a mess I tell ya!

Sadly as mine was used when I bought it. It was supplied with tyre repair gunk and a compressor.

I asked the dealer to order one the day I said I was buying it. Asked again when I picked the car up on 22nd December.

Dealer said should have it in a couple of weeks. Turns out they never actually ordered it all.

Have a butchers round here:

http://www.skospares.com/

or

http://www.skodaparts.com/

or

http://www.asm-autos.co.uk/
 

If the two tyres on one 'axle' (at the front or at the back) are a different size then the car is legally limited to 50mph (actually 80kph) and the non-standard tyre can only be used in an emergency. To be considered the same size the tyres must have the same diameter, section and aspect ratio - the same overall diameter is not enough to qualify as 'the same size'.

A friend of mine was fined and had points on his license when he was seen twice, 3 days apart, with a non-matching tyre on his car. That was a couple of years ago and involved a newly qualified policeman who really knew motoring regulations.

Thanks for all your tips and advice. Will keep an eye on eBay and those links Stuart posted.

Think this guy might be a little delusional.

Correct me if I am wrong but does that tyre not state 205 55 r16?

http://r.ebay.com/UWoDlO

How much realistically is just the wheel and tyre worth?

Yep, the item description is wrong / misleading.

 

That is a standard 205/55 R16 full size spare wheel fitted to all models of the MkII Octavia that were supplied with either 16", 17" or 18" alloys from the factory.

 

It isn't 18" that's for sure!

 

Might be worth dropping the seller a quick email letting him know, the return postage on the wheel will be expensive.

Edited 31 January, 201610 yr by silver1011

I thought that. Have mailed the seller advising him to amend the post.

Thanks for the link. I have bought it subject to the age of the tyre.

Thanks too for the info on the reason for the 50mph speed limit.

The wheel and tyre came with all tools and the two part plastic turnscrew for mounting in the well

The wheel etc came from a 2007 car and the tyre looked like new but of course it is 9 years old and should be replaced if tyre manufacture's advice is followed. I thoroughly inspected the tyre, looking for cracks. The tyre looks perfect.

I will replace it with one of my current tyres though when I buy new ones in the summer.

It is interesting that the spare had never been fitted in all the time it was in the boot on the original car. I can see why car manufactures want to avoid the cost of the spare and remove what, in effect, is a very heavy lump that reduces performance.

When I read the instructions for using the repair gunk, there are too many circumstances where it won't work and you probably need to replace the tyre as well. That risk was too high for me.

A friend of mine, who works for Michelin selling tyres to large customers (police, ambulance, etc.), tells me that it is the ultraviolet component in sunlight that causes the rubber to degrade and form the small cracks. A tyre under the boot floor is protected from sunlight and should be safe to use for many years. The spare wheel in my last car (a Civic) was 8 years old when I sold the car and was still in perfect condition.