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rocmoc's avatar
rocmoc
Explorer
Sep 27, 2013

New Toads without a factory Spare Tire!

Need to beware more new cars do not have a spare tire. Some of the new models of Ford, our C-Max Hybrid being one of them, does not come with a spare tire. Ford supplies a plug kit, small 12v air compressor & Ford road side service as a replacement for not having a spare tire. The caution is reports I have read on other boards, second hand from me, that if you have to call Ford road side service your car MUST be towed to the nearest Ford Dealership, not a tire repair shop. In this case some posters have reported very expensive tire replacements if the tire can not be repaired. Also a couple of the posters reported of their cars being towed to a closed dealership (weekend) and having to wait until Monday to get their cars back. This certainly does not work if you are on the road pulling your car behind your motorhome and reservation somewhere down the road.

What we have done; went to local wrecking yard and picked up a spare tire from a Mercury Sable ($26.75, also sold on Ebay for a lot more, close to $200 if purchased from the dealer), found one of my existing jacks that works (or purchase scissors jack while at wrecking yard), a lug wrench and as most do carry a different road side service, CoachNet (our current), Good Sam or another. We are now prepared.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

13 Replies

  • tatest's avatar
    tatest
    Explorer II
    Oct 05, 2013
    Whether you aregoing to tow it or not, you will find that many modern cars do not have a spare tire, not even a temporary spare. With more than 90% of the population living in major urban areas, car sellers can assume road service and replacement tires are readily available.

    I've not had to use a full size spare on any car I've bought since 1992, and have not been able to include a spare in a rotation program since 1980 because of special wheels or minispares.

    But not living in an urban area, and usually travelling in wide open spaces, I like the idea of carrying a spare tire I can actually use.
  • conmoto's avatar
    conmoto
    Explorer
    Oct 04, 2013
    We just returned from a north eastern trip as we were exiting the Mass turnpike to fuel we hit a HUGE pothole that bent the alloy wheel of our right front tire of the Fusion Hybrid. The 2011 does have the donut spare but when you are 950 miles from home with a bent wheel that donut will not get you home but did allow us to drive at 50 mph. Coach-Net was great but on the turnpike Mass will not allow a private company help with service so a Mass DOT truck came promptly to help and then the next day I was on my way to get a steel rim and cheap tire to get home. In that case I was very glad to have that donut and will travel with the full size replacement in storage in the future. Sorry for the long post but hopefully it gets some to think "what if?".
  • Dutch_12078's avatar
    Dutch_12078
    Explorer III
    Sep 28, 2013
    mowermech wrote:
    Dutch_12078 wrote:
    mowermech wrote:
    Dutch_12078 wrote:
    Our 2011 Toyota RAV4 Sport does not have a spare tire, but it is equipped with run flat tires. The RFT's are rated for 50 miles at 55 MPH.


    That's great, if you are never more than 50 miles from a tire store.
    I have been on paved highways here in the West when we have been 75 miles in either direction from any town, and some of those small towns don't have tire stores. Oh, yes, there may be a gas station or farm store that has tires, but will it have the tire you need? Probably not.
    A spare tire, out in the middle of nowhere, where there is no cell service, and nobody listening to the CB or the 2-meter ham bands, could be a lifesaver.
    YOUR safety, first and foremost, is up to YOU.
    Good luck.

    If you run at slower speeds, it's possible to double the miles the RFT's are capable of. And keep in mind, the mileage spec is the distance/speed the tire is rated for without causing damage to the sidewalls. If necessary, sacrificing the tire will take you a lot further. If that won't get you at least within cell range of your ERS, then you're probably not in the US anymore.


    Well, OK. However, there is still the question:
    "Oh, yes, there may be a gas station or farm store that has tires, but will it have the tire you need?"
    For example, long ago and far away I bought a brand new 1981 AMC Eagle station wagon. It was a great car, but it had an oddball tire size. My then-father-in-law blew a tire in Central Washington, on I-90 (driving too fast, but that's another story). The Eagle had a Compact Spare, so he had to find a new tire to continue the trip. I was told that he had a terrible time finding a tire of the correct size. When he did find one, it was quite expensive! A spare tire of the correct size would have reduced the problem greatly.

    Our tire size is common enough that some sort of workable tire will likely be available, although finding a matching OE RFT certainly could be more of a challenge. Worst case though, TireRack.com or one of the other online tire retailers will ship overnight if I really needed one that badly. The odds that neither my ERS or myself could locate a suitable tire within a reasonable distance are pretty long though.
  • CKNSLS's avatar
    CKNSLS
    Explorer
    Sep 28, 2013
    willald wrote:
    Our '13 Ford Fusion is like this, has no spare tire. In order to keep weight down, where the 'donut' spare tire normally would be, they put a tire repair kit, and inflator.

    When we first got the car, I was about to order a donut tire and rim for it to put in there in place of the kit. Then, I started thinking about it: In the last 25 years, living, driving in in sooo many different states, probably several hundred thousand miles of driving, total over the years....I can count on ONE HAND, the number of times I've ever needed a spare tire. And, in those (very rare) instances, help from roadside service was only a phone call and less than an hour away.

    Given that, I basically decided that for us it didn't make much sense to sink over $100 into a spare 'donut' tire and rim that will most likely just sit and rot back there and never be used. In many cases I wouldn't want to trust one of those donut tires anyway, and will try to find another solution if at all possible. Thats what we have emergency roadside service for.

    Sooo, we chose not to get a spare tire with the Fusion.

    Yes, this is basically an extension of the ever ongoing debate, about whether or not to carry a spare tire on a Motorhome. We don't have a spare on our Motorhome, either, for similar reasons.


    Yea, but when you need it-YOU NEED IT!
  • mowermech's avatar
    mowermech
    Explorer
    Sep 28, 2013
    Dutch_12078 wrote:
    mowermech wrote:
    Dutch_12078 wrote:
    Our 2011 Toyota RAV4 Sport does not have a spare tire, but it is equipped with run flat tires. The RFT's are rated for 50 miles at 55 MPH.


    That's great, if you are never more than 50 miles from a tire store.
    I have been on paved highways here in the West when we have been 75 miles in either direction from any town, and some of those small towns don't have tire stores. Oh, yes, there may be a gas station or farm store that has tires, but will it have the tire you need? Probably not.
    A spare tire, out in the middle of nowhere, where there is no cell service, and nobody listening to the CB or the 2-meter ham bands, could be a lifesaver.
    YOUR safety, first and foremost, is up to YOU.
    Good luck.

    If you run at slower speeds, it's possible to double the miles the RFT's are capable of. And keep in mind, the mileage spec is the distance/speed the tire is rated for without causing damage to the sidewalls. If necessary, sacrificing the tire will take you a lot further. If that won't get you at least within cell range of your ERS, then you're probably not in the US anymore.


    Well, OK. However, there is still the question:
    "Oh, yes, there may be a gas station or farm store that has tires, but will it have the tire you need?"
    For example, long ago and far away I bought a brand new 1981 AMC Eagle station wagon. It was a great car, but it had an oddball tire size. My then-father-in-law blew a tire in Central Washington, on I-90 (driving too fast, but that's another story). The Eagle had a Compact Spare, so he had to find a new tire to continue the trip. I was told that he had a terrible time finding a tire of the correct size. When he did find one, it was quite expensive! A spare tire of the correct size would have reduced the problem greatly.
  • willald's avatar
    willald
    Explorer II
    Sep 28, 2013
    Our '13 Ford Fusion is like this, has no spare tire. In order to keep weight down, where the 'donut' spare tire normally would be, they put a tire repair kit, and inflator.

    When we first got the car, I was about to order a donut tire and rim for it to put in there in place of the kit. Then, I started thinking about it: In the last 25 years, living, driving in in sooo many different states, probably several hundred thousand miles of driving, total over the years....I can count on ONE HAND, the number of times I've ever needed a spare tire. And, in those (very rare) instances, help from roadside service was only a phone call and less than an hour away.

    Given that, I basically decided that for us it didn't make much sense to sink over $100 into a spare 'donut' tire and rim that will most likely just sit and rot back there and never be used. In many cases I wouldn't want to trust one of those donut tires anyway, and will try to find another solution if at all possible. Thats what we have emergency roadside service for.

    Sooo, we chose not to get a spare tire with the Fusion.

    Yes, this is basically an extension of the ever ongoing debate, about whether or not to carry a spare tire on a Motorhome. We don't have a spare on our Motorhome, either, for similar reasons.
  • j-d's avatar
    j-d
    Explorer II
    Sep 28, 2013
    Wondered how Toyota got rid of that ugly external RAV4 spare...

    This is an extension of the debate about having a spare (and a jack and a lug wrench) aboard the RV itself. I want it ALL. I hope that (A) I won't need any of it and (B) I can get somebody else to change it but I still like (C) Yes, I can deal with this.
  • Dutch_12078's avatar
    Dutch_12078
    Explorer III
    Sep 28, 2013
    mowermech wrote:
    Dutch_12078 wrote:
    Our 2011 Toyota RAV4 Sport does not have a spare tire, but it is equipped with run flat tires. The RFT's are rated for 50 miles at 55 MPH.


    That's great, if you are never more than 50 miles from a tire store.
    I have been on paved highways here in the West when we have been 75 miles in either direction from any town, and some of those small towns don't have tire stores. Oh, yes, there may be a gas station or farm store that has tires, but will it have the tire you need? Probably not.
    A spare tire, out in the middle of nowhere, where there is no cell service, and nobody listening to the CB or the 2-meter ham bands, could be a lifesaver.
    YOUR safety, first and foremost, is up to YOU.
    Good luck.

    If you run at slower speeds, it's possible to double the miles the RFT's are capable of. And keep in mind, the mileage spec is the distance/speed the tire is rated for without causing damage to the sidewalls. If necessary, sacrificing the tire will take you a lot further. If that won't get you at least within cell range of your ERS, then you're probably not in the US anymore.
  • ontheroad101's avatar
    ontheroad101
    Explorer
    Sep 27, 2013
    Our HHR came with a spare. It is a 2011. Not listed as an option as another poster reported.
  • mowermech's avatar
    mowermech
    Explorer
    Sep 27, 2013
    Dutch_12078 wrote:
    Our 2011 Toyota RAV4 Sport does not have a spare tire, but it is equipped with run flat tires. The RFT's are rated for 50 miles at 55 MPH.


    That's great, if you are never more than 50 miles from a tire store.
    I have been on paved highways here in the West when we have been 75 miles in either direction from any town, and some of those small towns don't have tire stores. Oh, yes, there may be a gas station or farm store that has tires, but will it have the tire you need? Probably not.
    A spare tire, out in the middle of nowhere, where there is no cell service, and nobody listening to the CB or the 2-meter ham bands, could be a lifesaver.
    YOUR safety, first and foremost, is up to YOU.
    Good luck.

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