Exorbitant Tyre sealant!!

[Andy Northface]

I have just bought a S/H 16" steel wheel with tyre for my S80 as a replacement for the supplied spacesaver. £20.

[Marty Dolomite]

As I have said plenty of times before the foams are pretty much useless most of the time and some like the BMWs have a mileage limit of six miles. there are plenty of scrapyards/ garages/ ebay/ preloved etc that will sell you a s/h space saver and jack for £20-25.

If you must carry a can of gunky and I admit to having a can in the focus as well as a proper sized wheel you can get the large (don't bother with teh small cans) cans of tyreweld for about £10.

[Will M]

Originally Posted by pagan8c

Have you found this source for £60 spacesaver wheels.I have just bought a V70 and the garage quoted £309 for the spacesaver wheel and kit of jack etc.

Am I understanding this right, you have to pay extra for a spare, if so thats rediculous.

[wooble]

That's the case on most new cars now, the spare wheel is an optional extra if you can even get a spare. Quite often you just get the stupid goo can and no place to even store a spare, which is just wonderful should you suffer a damaged wheel or a hole in your tyre larger than a nail or screw. Every spare wheel not fitted improves mpg by a miniscule % and saves the manufacturer a tenner or so.

[Bill_56]

I suspect the fuel-saving aspect to be an urban myth, it would be so insignificant that all of the cars in the universe would have to drive for trillions of miles before it even became measurable. Hopefully no self-respecting car maker seriously claim fuel-economy to be reason?

Nevertheless... a spare wheel is an insurance, and could save heaps of trouble if you suffer a puncture unpexpectedly. And like any insurance, you have to measure the cost against the likely benefit.

The last time I remember being 'stranded' (as opposed to inconvenienced) by a puncture was in 1978, I was able to change the wheel and drive home, great. Since then, I estimate I've driven about 600-700k miles, without ever facing a situation where the spare wheel proved indispensable. For me then, it's an insurance I'm happy to skimp on, and it WILL lead back to the consumer in the form of cheaper cars.

[Marty Dolomite]

Originally Posted by Bill_56

The last time I remember being 'stranded' (as opposed to inconvenienced) by a puncture was in 1978, I was able to change the wheel and drive home, great. Since then, I estimate I've driven about 600-700k miles, without ever facing a situation where the spare wheel proved indispensable. For me then, it's an insurance I'm happy to skimp on, and it WILL lead back to the consumer in the form of cheaper cars.

Yet imaging you are heading home late at night from your week long driving holiday with caravan and very tired kids in tow, you get a puncture 500 miles from home. wait two hours for your breakdown provider to arrive in a service van and explain that you will have to wait another hour for a truck that can take your family , car and caravan off the motorway to somewhere safe. another tow truck driver arrives after an hours wait and eventually manages to get you to a local services where you wait another hour for another truck to take you 200 miles ( 5 hours) as thats as far as he can go due to driving hours then another wait for the other company to arrive in a a truck that can not tow the caravan and a suitable truck will be within two hours........ so 12 hours later you are still 100 miles from home all because you bought a car with a can of goo!
Okay so thats extreme but it does happen.

The missing wheel will have no effect on the price of the car, cost price of a steel wheel/ tyre =£25-30.

[Volvon]

Spacesaver wheel and tyre weighs 15kg, fuel saving about 0.2% in stop start trafic, 0.0000001% motorway driving. In other words; the value of having the spare saver onboard exceeds, nay, totally blows out the water, any reasoning for fuel saving/weight saving benefits.

I have space saver AND tyre weld on board.

[Andy Northface]

On my runs up and down to Blackpool there is always at least 2 cars I see with destroyed tyres and people waiting on the bank for the recovery truck. Some new cars,some old. I drive about 15.000 miles a year and in the last 5 years I have had 2 punctures that lead to destroyed tyres. I always replace my tyres before they get to the legal limit as well. I wil admit that I am old fashioned in my attitude though and if my car had no spare provided ,I would buy a spare and keep it in the boot. I wouldn't buy a car that had no place for a spare. See.....old fashioned.

I have had a puncture on the M6 before,( 2 years ago )I stuck the family on the bank and I had the wheel changed in under 5 minutes and we were on our way. It was also chucking it down. I must be unlucky with punctures as I know some people who never have them!!!!

[david philips]

i think if i bough a newer car without a spare wheel i would buy a set of 4 wheels and have winter tyres fitted keep one as a spare in the car and still have 3 another spares,idea of driving about without a good spare is silly to me.

[Gazdok]

The foam repair is a once only and temporary fix. Tyre places will not be able / willing to fix the puncture.

The more viscous stuff like tyre weld is a pretty permanent fix. I have used it on car and bike tyres before and it definitely seals permanent. Many motorbikers squirt half a bottle into the tyre from new as an insurance. The sealant just wipes off. Changing tyres later is not a hassle either. These bottles are sold a lot on ebay fairly cheaply.

The same is true for second hand wheels, steel or alloy. If you do not want a space save wheel go for a full size. You may just have to remove the black tray in your boot (V70 II).