I want a spare wheel – not a puncture repair kit!

am i right in thinking that when the puncture repair kit supplied with your new vehicle is used that tyre is no longer suitable for use and must be replaced ,like the others before me i bought a new car without thinking i would not get a spare with it until i looked into the boot,inevitably i got a puncture within 1 week of buying this new car,on getting the equipment from the boot and reading what has to be done i then ,as instructed connected the hoses then plugged in the compressor only for it to blow the fuse in the car ,so i ended up with the good old footpump then drove to the garage and had the puncture repaired without having to replace the tyre i may add

Hi,
What they dont tell you with the can of sticky foam and compressor method is that use it and your tyre is a right-off, – whether or not the puncture is sealed. You cannot use a foam repaired tyre on the car other than for getting you to a new tyre depot. Having arrived there the metal wheel has to go through a special cleaning process before a brand new tyre has to be fitted. It all adds to the cost & delay.
You cannot beat a full size spare and jack kit.Try crossing a desert without a spare!!!
I have refused two new cars which were supplied with a foam kit and compressor; a BMW and a Volvo. Its all crap what they say about saving weight, etc. Foam saves weight at your wallets very heavy expense. Refuse a car without a spare tyre. Keith

Looking at all the posts it appears to me, as usual, that car manufacturers know what the public want better than their customers.

Fact is a spare wheel’s weight compared to the gross vehicle weight is probably <1% of the same so the fuel economy/emission argument is rubbish. There is more saving by driving effectively with forward planning and being light on the gas.

What the car manufacturers fail to appreciate with all the stats saying on X% of customers have a puncture every X000 miles is that if it affects you half way across France or Germany on a Sunday is that it's a 100% disaster involving a great deal of inconvenience to the paying public.

They should be honest and state it's simply a money saving exercise and nothing else.

Iv had no spare Wheel for along time (11yrs), also there are no spare Wheels on a motor bike. so i dont know what all the fuss is about. Iv only had one puncher in that time and doing some 80,000 miles a year in a car and 40,000 on the bike i keep my eyes on the road. Oh by the way i only carry a spare get you home canister. So can we all just grow up and get into the New centry.
Roger Green 67yrs.

It’s a dumb sales gimmick.
Try using the Glue and Gas when the tyre is shredded.
Space Savers a a little better but where do you put the flat, full sized wheel??

I recently had a flat tyre on my new vw touareg i used the puncture repair kit supplied as per the instructions what a waste of time and effort .i then called the r.a.c who were very good but he informed me the tyre was scrap he then phoned round to find a tyre to fit eventually he found one he took my wheel came back and refitted the wheel a great service the cost for the tyre was over £312.00. On returning home i called into the dealer from where i bought the car the parts dept informed me vw do not manufacture spare wheels for this model and a matching wheel would cost over £1,100.00 needless to say i was pretty disgusted with his reply and lack of concern its such a shame as it is a fantastic car only let down by the lack of a spare wheel

[There seems to be more than one thread by WHICH on this topic but never mind and will post what I have posted on its other thread] Worse case scenario without a spare tyre? You are at the top of Ben Nevis without a spare wheel and also have no food nor drink. But you have a can of foam that doesn’t repair your puncture and you are left stranded for 24 hours. Never mind worse things happen at sea and also changing a tyre at the side of the motorway.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084806/Lorry-driver-drifted-hard-shoulder-killed-men-instantly-stopped-change-tyre.html

Get a sense of perspective people for Gawd’s sake.

Very frustrating to find out that our new car did not have a spare tyre we did not find this out till we took delivery of the car which is my wife’s mobility vehicle. last year a week before Xmas we had gone shopping to our local Sainsbury’s store ten mins away from home only in there 20 mins when we came out the drivers side passenger tyre was completely flat out came the repair kit which failed to do the job as there was a split in the tyre at the top.

After phoning Kwik Fit Mobility for assistance I was told it would be Thursday the day now being Tuesday afternoon 4-15pm I was told to contact RAC Mobility for assistance they said it would be 5-45pm before they could attend, when the van arrived the operator said there was nothing he could do and organised an independent recovery operator to load the vehicle take me home and take the car to our local Kwik Fit garage the next day for repair it was 9-45 pm before recovery arrived 10pm when I got home rang the recovery firm the next day and was told the car was taken to the kwik fit outlet.

After ringing them I was told that it would be the next day before thy could access a replacement tyre, the tyre at just come in the garage at 12pm and I collected the car an hour later.

In all not a very good service for a new vehicle I dread to think what the situation would have been if it happened in the country and there was no mobile signal, needless to say the issue of not having a spare wheel needs to be re-thought by the manufacturers, the car in question is a Nissan Juke

According to the Daily Mirror a poll carried out by the RAC said 90% of drivers want a return to a spare being supplied. 11/06/13

Isn’t it about time that Which gathered all the comments together and sent them to all the car manufacturers to show the strength of feelings on this subject?

Six months on and the situaion hasn’t improved . I’ve had three punctures in 3 years . In each I was “saved” by having a real spare wheel on my Zafira . Tried a tyre repair spray once . Totally useless .
Trying to buy a new car is proving diffiult ! New Tourer has emergency small spre only ( a manufacturer’s fitted £100 option ! ) Some estates still have real spares … Insignia with 17 inch wheel option , Hyundai i 40 SW …

+ Alloy wheels are also often difficult get off to change

Being Which, I’m surprised not to see mails above about consumer rights on this subject. It seems a corrupt trading practice on several fronts.

Cheat 1) Manufacturers have been forced to reduce their cars CO2 to fight global warming. Instead of doing this through improvements and innovations, they have simply cheated by taking out the weight of the spare wheel & jack. Once they have cynically cheated on the test, they have to cheat their customers as they can no longer sell their cars with spares in them. They reduce their customers’ safety by doing this.

Cheat 2) Cars are then sold on fictitious mpg figures (without the weight of the spare wheel). Customer will always tend to drive out the showroom with the spare wheel put back, so the fuel consumption figure become a lie, even before they leave the showroom.

Cheat 3) The car is taxed on its CO2 emissions. For instance some Fiesta’s pays none, as they just scrape by the CO2 limit. As most customers sensibly insist on a spare for the safety of their families, the tax man also gets cheated and the country does not get the CO2 savings that it is paying for.

Cheat 4) Cheating the customer of a spare wheel; becomes a new profit center for the manufacturer. For instance, Ford happily knocks off 10% from their RRP. They’ll then tack back extras like the essential spare wheel at an undiscounted price. Manufacturers’ profits gets increased, but some customer’s safety gets compromised.

Cheat 5) You only have to look on the internet to see the large number of people who have only discovered they’ve just a pump-up can in their wheel bay, once they breakdown with an unrepairable blown tyre. In other words the manufacturer has cheated these customers. They though they were buying a car, but they drove-off with only 97% of the car they’d expected.

Cheat 6). While some manufacturer’s cheat like this and others don’t. The honest manufacturers get penalized in every published CO2 & mpg figure and their RRP looks comparatively higher by £100-£300.

I’d ask Which to consider lobbying that..
1) That all mpg & CO2 tests should be done with a real-world spare wheel & jack in the car. All fitted spares will then tend to be in light alloy not the current heavy iron ones & the country’s CO2 will be reduced.
2) That UK car prices should include the cost of a spare in their RRP to make a level playing field (if the customers wants to refuse the spare, a reduction could be made)
3) That all customers are personally made aware that they are being sold a car with the spare removed from the spare wheel bay & the increased risks involved have been outlined.

I had a puncture on the B846 Tummel Bridge to Keltneyburn road at 5.10pm on Friday 10th October.

If the car had had a spare wheel I would have changed it and been on my way within 30 minutes.

As no spare wheel in the car I tried the wheel repair kit which proved useless as it has on the other occasion I used it. (Tyre wall damage) I called the Accident Management Line for Lookers Leasing and got through to the AA who with difficulty I got her to understand where I was. She then said she would phone me back and did and passed me to Skoda Assistance who I then with difficulty got them to understand where I was. They said a patrol would be with me to recover the vehicle by 6.55. At 6.55 the patrol phoned me and asked where I was he had got the wrong directions. He arrived about 7.05. and the car was loaded on to the lorry and off we set on a 95 mile journey to our destination arriving at 10.30. The lorry was from Blair Atholl garage and the driver was efficient, friendly. Very good service.

Saturday morning Skoda Assistance phoned at 8.15am and said patrol on way. AA arrived about 9.00am from Glasgow (30 miles away) and took off tyre. AA man phoned Kwik Fit in Dumbarton (13 miles away) and they said computers down so could not get authorisation and because computer down could not check tyre stock.
AA man decided to go to Kwik Fit depot anyway. Arrived at Kwik Fit and the manager said he could not get authorisation. We suggested he phone Lookers Leasing. He did this and after being on phone a few seconds hung up and said no use their computers were down as well. We agreed to leave the tyre and he would phone us when he had got it repaired.
The AA man suggested we phone Lookers ourselves from his van We spoke to Claire and she knew about Kwik Fit computers not working but that the manager just needed to fill in a pending form and enter on computer later. She phoned the Dumbarton Kwik Fit depot and we heard the phone ringing and then the manager looked out and saw we were still in the yard. Claire said to go back in which we did and the manager found the tyre in stock and got it changed fairly quickly.
AA man took me back to my car and fitted wheel. AA man was excellent. The situation for him was made awkward by the Kwik Fits mans attitude.

Skoda Assistance (Jordan) were good but it is always difficult when they do not know the area and accents and mobile phones do not help in understanding each other.

This operation must have cost hundreds of pounds but thankfully for me was paid by the leasing company. If you add up the cost and time involved in above I think the inclusion of a spare wheel with a vehicle should be standard. We must try to get manufacturers to listen to the customer.

I ordered a Vauxhall Mokka in June and took delivery this week. One reason I chose this car was because it came with a space saver tyre. When I took delivery I was told that it now comes with the dreaded repair kit although there is the indented space for the wheel. Am pushing to get a spare wheel from them as this was part of the deal when I ordered the car and paid a deposit. If this practice is acceptable they could remove any of the kit you thought you were getting!

You need to ensure its not a cheap kit or one supplied by the manufacture. I have a great one:
https://www.racbenefits.co.uk/offers/rac-shop-puncture-repair-kit