No more conventional spare tires on new cars.
06-19-11, 03:43 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
No more conventional spare tires on new cars.
Those of you who follow my car reviews know that the omission of conventional spare tire/wheel assemblies and traditional anti-ding body-side mouldings is, along with manual hood prop-rods and non-locking gas caps, things that I regularly b**ch about in my list of MINUSES. Automakers, in public, try to justify this with a number of reasons, but I consider it just simple cost-cutting/penny-pitching with some smooth-talk attached to it.
However, I am tolerant enough to accept other, contrasting opinions on the subject, and let others have their say, even if and when I don't agree with them. AOL did a good article here on practical reasons how and why automakers are eliminating the traditional spares. Three significant factors remain, though. First, the article is a little late.....it's just being published now, while I have been noticing the elimination of traditional spares for the last several years. Second, a number of off-road-capable vehicles (and a few regular passenger-cars, like the Toyota Avalon) DO still have conventional spares....even standard, in some cases. Second, on many regular cars, conventional spares are not available as options like the article says. Third, the article omits (or doesn't mention) the fact that regular, conventional spares can extend the life of the other four tires by being a regular part of the tire-rotation schedule.....temporary spares, of course, cannot.
Anyhow, for what it's worth, here's the article, and what it says:
http://autos.aol.com/article/elimina..._lnk3%7C216420
However, I am tolerant enough to accept other, contrasting opinions on the subject, and let others have their say, even if and when I don't agree with them. AOL did a good article here on practical reasons how and why automakers are eliminating the traditional spares. Three significant factors remain, though. First, the article is a little late.....it's just being published now, while I have been noticing the elimination of traditional spares for the last several years. Second, a number of off-road-capable vehicles (and a few regular passenger-cars, like the Toyota Avalon) DO still have conventional spares....even standard, in some cases. Second, on many regular cars, conventional spares are not available as options like the article says. Third, the article omits (or doesn't mention) the fact that regular, conventional spares can extend the life of the other four tires by being a regular part of the tire-rotation schedule.....temporary spares, of course, cannot.
Anyhow, for what it's worth, here's the article, and what it says:
http://autos.aol.com/article/elimina..._lnk3%7C216420
Automakers have been quietly eliminating one pretty heavy piece of equipment from cars in an attempt to make cars lighter and more fuel efficient.
But a lot of consumers don't know it's gone until they're stranded on the side of the road, wondering where their spare tire went.
Over the past few years, several automakers have removed spare tires from the trunk. Some car companies today are making the spare tire an option – costing as much as $350.
In addition to saving fuel, taking out the spare could eliminate the danger of standing on the highway shoulder trying to change a tire while trucks and cars whiz by. Although no one keeps track of how many people die each year changing tires, about 4,000 pedestrians are struck and killed each year, according to the government's Fatality Analysis Reporting System encyclopedia. About 700 of those pedestrians are people working in the roadway.
While some drivers might be shocked to open their trunk and find no spare tire hiding anywhere in the back, the industry says it isn't unsafe to go without. Mandatory tire pressure monitoring systems, which are on all cars since 2006, should alert drivers before their tires deflate. Blowouts are rare, and even if the tire is punctured on the side wall, most drivers have cellphones or access to emergency services through their car.
"Getting rid of something as important as the spare tire wasn't a decision we made lightly," said Terry Connolly, General Motor's director of tire and wheel systems. "The universal implementation of tire pressure monitoring systems over the past five years has significantly reduced the likelihood that a flat tire will leave you stranded by the side of the road."
Chevy, which is owned by GM, eliminated the spare tire on the Chevy Cruze when it debuted last year, and began offering one as a $100 option. In 2011, 85% of customers bought that option, the company says, so they've decided to make it standard equipment again on all Cruze models except the Eco version.
On the Eco model, you can't even get a spare as an option.
"Customers who purchase the Eco are looking for the ultimate in fuel economy and as part of our mass optimization efforts on the Eco model the spare tire is not an option," says Lesley Hettinger, a spokeswoman for GM.
GM says the spare tire saves 26 pounds. That alone doesn't improve fuel economy too much, but the company made 42 other changes in addition to cutting out the spare tire that improve fuel economy by 5%. The Eco version will get 39 mpg on the highway, compared with 37 mpg for the regular models.
The auto industry is under massive pressure to increase fuel economy. One of the ways they do that is by reducing vehicle weight, and when you start looking at heavy things that can be ditched, the spare tire seems like an obvious choice.
There are several models that don't come with standard spare tires, including almost every vehicle that comes with a run-flat tire. To get a spare on a Cadillac CTS, it will cost $350. The Fiat 500 spare tire comes optional for $100. The Ford Focus and Honda Fit don't come with a spare in Canada, but they do in the U.S. Some sports cars don't have them, like some versions of the Ford Mustang, Camaro ZL1, and Audi TT.
The all-wheel drive versions of the Toyota Sienna minivan also don't come with spare tires, but that's because they are equipped with run-flat tires.
Run-flat tires seem like a great compromise between fuel efficiency concerns and consumers desires for lug around a heavy tire "just in case." But they caused problems at first – they wore out quickly, and were expensive to replace. Consumers complained that they got flat tires more often on run flats, and had a hard time finding new run-flat tires at dealers. They can also produce harsher rides, which is especially troublesome since road conditions in snow states have gotten worse the last couple of years.
Newer generations of the tires seem to have fixed some of those problems, says Jennifer Stockburger, program manager of vehicle and child safety at Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports has been tracking run-flat tire wear since 2007, when drivers began complaining about their quality.
Part of the problem was that people didn't know they had them, she says.
"They weren't aware they didn't have a spare tire until something happened," she says. "And then they found out about all these extra problems."
Now, though, run flat tires can last around 40,000 miles if they are taken care of diligently. Consumer Reports has been keeping the tires inflated perfectly and rotating them on schedule, and Stockburger says they haven't had any problems with the tires.
Stockburger says she feels more safe in a car with run flats than one without a spare but with an inflator kit. Inflator kits don't help if the tire is damaged on the sidewall. Run-flat tires give you the ability to get someplace safe, off the side of the road, or even miles down the road to a service station. Not having a spare at all can you leave you stranded if the side-wall of the tire is damaged, or there is no cell signal.
"We don't appreciate that people living in really rural areas sometimes don't have cellphone signals," she says.
AAA expects 1.2 million people will call for help this summer. Many will be flats, but the agency says that many of those could be avoided if people took care of their tires properly.
The group recommends that drivers who buy a car without a spare take into consideration the kinds of roads they travel. "Not having a conventional spare tire would probably not be advisable if an individual travels long distances and on lightly traveled roads," says Mike Calkins, AAA's national manager of approved auto repair. But if virtually all your driving is urban and suburban, you could probably do without.
Membership to AAA costs about $50, depending on where you live. The group frequently responds to calls where drivers have no spare tire, or where the spare is unusable. If the leak is slow, they try to air up the tire and then follow the driver to a nearby repair shop. Some AAA clubs can repair tires roadside, and if that doesn't work, AAA will tow or flatbed a vehicle to a place of repair.
Even though there are ways to work around not having a spare, some customers are uncomfortable with the idea. Tim Huckaby, a reader in Fort Worth, Texas, says he simply won't buy a car without a spare. He's had to change tires by the side of the road several times, and can't see going without one.
"It has come in handy several times ... I want and need the spare," he says.
But a lot of consumers don't know it's gone until they're stranded on the side of the road, wondering where their spare tire went.
Over the past few years, several automakers have removed spare tires from the trunk. Some car companies today are making the spare tire an option – costing as much as $350.
In addition to saving fuel, taking out the spare could eliminate the danger of standing on the highway shoulder trying to change a tire while trucks and cars whiz by. Although no one keeps track of how many people die each year changing tires, about 4,000 pedestrians are struck and killed each year, according to the government's Fatality Analysis Reporting System encyclopedia. About 700 of those pedestrians are people working in the roadway.
While some drivers might be shocked to open their trunk and find no spare tire hiding anywhere in the back, the industry says it isn't unsafe to go without. Mandatory tire pressure monitoring systems, which are on all cars since 2006, should alert drivers before their tires deflate. Blowouts are rare, and even if the tire is punctured on the side wall, most drivers have cellphones or access to emergency services through their car.
"Getting rid of something as important as the spare tire wasn't a decision we made lightly," said Terry Connolly, General Motor's director of tire and wheel systems. "The universal implementation of tire pressure monitoring systems over the past five years has significantly reduced the likelihood that a flat tire will leave you stranded by the side of the road."
Chevy, which is owned by GM, eliminated the spare tire on the Chevy Cruze when it debuted last year, and began offering one as a $100 option. In 2011, 85% of customers bought that option, the company says, so they've decided to make it standard equipment again on all Cruze models except the Eco version.
On the Eco model, you can't even get a spare as an option.
"Customers who purchase the Eco are looking for the ultimate in fuel economy and as part of our mass optimization efforts on the Eco model the spare tire is not an option," says Lesley Hettinger, a spokeswoman for GM.
GM says the spare tire saves 26 pounds. That alone doesn't improve fuel economy too much, but the company made 42 other changes in addition to cutting out the spare tire that improve fuel economy by 5%. The Eco version will get 39 mpg on the highway, compared with 37 mpg for the regular models.
The auto industry is under massive pressure to increase fuel economy. One of the ways they do that is by reducing vehicle weight, and when you start looking at heavy things that can be ditched, the spare tire seems like an obvious choice.
There are several models that don't come with standard spare tires, including almost every vehicle that comes with a run-flat tire. To get a spare on a Cadillac CTS, it will cost $350. The Fiat 500 spare tire comes optional for $100. The Ford Focus and Honda Fit don't come with a spare in Canada, but they do in the U.S. Some sports cars don't have them, like some versions of the Ford Mustang, Camaro ZL1, and Audi TT.
The all-wheel drive versions of the Toyota Sienna minivan also don't come with spare tires, but that's because they are equipped with run-flat tires.
Run-flat tires seem like a great compromise between fuel efficiency concerns and consumers desires for lug around a heavy tire "just in case." But they caused problems at first – they wore out quickly, and were expensive to replace. Consumers complained that they got flat tires more often on run flats, and had a hard time finding new run-flat tires at dealers. They can also produce harsher rides, which is especially troublesome since road conditions in snow states have gotten worse the last couple of years.
Newer generations of the tires seem to have fixed some of those problems, says Jennifer Stockburger, program manager of vehicle and child safety at Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports has been tracking run-flat tire wear since 2007, when drivers began complaining about their quality.
Part of the problem was that people didn't know they had them, she says.
"They weren't aware they didn't have a spare tire until something happened," she says. "And then they found out about all these extra problems."
Now, though, run flat tires can last around 40,000 miles if they are taken care of diligently. Consumer Reports has been keeping the tires inflated perfectly and rotating them on schedule, and Stockburger says they haven't had any problems with the tires.
Stockburger says she feels more safe in a car with run flats than one without a spare but with an inflator kit. Inflator kits don't help if the tire is damaged on the sidewall. Run-flat tires give you the ability to get someplace safe, off the side of the road, or even miles down the road to a service station. Not having a spare at all can you leave you stranded if the side-wall of the tire is damaged, or there is no cell signal.
"We don't appreciate that people living in really rural areas sometimes don't have cellphone signals," she says.
AAA expects 1.2 million people will call for help this summer. Many will be flats, but the agency says that many of those could be avoided if people took care of their tires properly.
The group recommends that drivers who buy a car without a spare take into consideration the kinds of roads they travel. "Not having a conventional spare tire would probably not be advisable if an individual travels long distances and on lightly traveled roads," says Mike Calkins, AAA's national manager of approved auto repair. But if virtually all your driving is urban and suburban, you could probably do without.
Membership to AAA costs about $50, depending on where you live. The group frequently responds to calls where drivers have no spare tire, or where the spare is unusable. If the leak is slow, they try to air up the tire and then follow the driver to a nearby repair shop. Some AAA clubs can repair tires roadside, and if that doesn't work, AAA will tow or flatbed a vehicle to a place of repair.
Even though there are ways to work around not having a spare, some customers are uncomfortable with the idea. Tim Huckaby, a reader in Fort Worth, Texas, says he simply won't buy a car without a spare. He's had to change tires by the side of the road several times, and can't see going without one.
"It has come in handy several times ... I want and need the spare," he says.
Last edited by mmarshall; 06-19-11 at 03:47 PM.
06-19-11, 03:54 PM
#2
i remember that in early to mid 2000's, toyota's in europe got a lot of bad reviews for lesser trunk space, and at that time, ALL toyota's had full sized tire... after that, they started taking it out.
06-19-11, 04:22 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Toyota, though, like some other automakers, sells a number of smaller vehicles in Europe and other countries that, for various reasons, are not available in the U.S. That, of course, means smaller trunks and cargo-areas, on average, than what is found on the American-market vehicles.
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06-19-11, 08:39 PM
#8
Lexus Test Driver
If you're a man stuck out in the middle of nowhere who can't change your own tire.....
what the hell has happened to society?
I can see a woman having to call AAA(although when I get married, I plan to train my wife in tire changing and various basic skills). What about women who are stuck in the middle of nowhere at night and too scared to call a mechanic? With all the psychos out there today, and all the scared women, this could be interesting.
what the hell has happened to society?
I can see a woman having to call AAA(although when I get married, I plan to train my wife in tire changing and various basic skills). What about women who are stuck in the middle of nowhere at night and too scared to call a mechanic? With all the psychos out there today, and all the scared women, this could be interesting.
06-19-11, 09:13 PM
#9
Out of Warranty
Given the flimsy factory jacks provided with today's cars, I wouldn't attempt a roadside change with the OEM equipment. I destroyed the factory jack for my Dad's Olds 98 some years ago trying to jack up my boat trailer that weighed about 20% of what the car did. The jack that came with my K-20 Suburbans was a complete joke for raising a 3.5 ton vehicle.
Add to that the sheer size of the spare on many SUVs and large passenger cars. I rather doubt that a 120-130 pound woman (or MAN, for that matter), could wrestle it out of the trunk or out of the carrier without a considerable chance of injury. Considering the likelihood of having a flat, particularly somewhere it would be safe to change, I'd opt for the "temporary" spare for anything less than an off-roader.
Add to that the sheer size of the spare on many SUVs and large passenger cars. I rather doubt that a 120-130 pound woman (or MAN, for that matter), could wrestle it out of the trunk or out of the carrier without a considerable chance of injury. Considering the likelihood of having a flat, particularly somewhere it would be safe to change, I'd opt for the "temporary" spare for anything less than an off-roader.
06-19-11, 09:29 PM
#10
If you're a man stuck out in the middle of nowhere who can't change your own tire.....
what the hell has happened to society?
I can see a woman having to call AAA(although when I get married, I plan to train my wife in tire changing and various basic skills). What about women who are stuck in the middle of nowhere at night and too scared to call a mechanic? With all the psychos out there today, and all the scared women, this could be interesting.
what the hell has happened to society?
I can see a woman having to call AAA(although when I get married, I plan to train my wife in tire changing and various basic skills). What about women who are stuck in the middle of nowhere at night and too scared to call a mechanic? With all the psychos out there today, and all the scared women, this could be interesting.
That's the first thing I did when my sister got her first car. She lives in the city and though I love it greatly, there are some shady people there- anywhere for that matter. I went over which tools she would need to do a proper tire removal/install with, and how to quickly do it herself should she ever need to. We have AAA in the event of a dire emergency- a luxury for peace of mind- but everyone should at least know how to change a spare tire.
06-19-11, 10:37 PM
#11
Lexus Champion
Not to mention, do you really want random people stopping by to "help" you? I think I'll stick to a full sized spare and a decent scissor jack. The older Toyota jacks are excellent (look for the ones with the fine pitched worm gear) I buy them up when I see them at my local salvage yard.
06-19-11, 11:02 PM
#12
Lexus Test Driver
My car didn't come with the factory jack(some ******* i guess decided he would need it more than the person he sold the car to). Since I generally don't have anything in the trunk, i just keep a hydraulic floor jack in there. Talk about quick tire change if needed. overkill anybody? Knock on wood, but nobody in my immediate family has had a spare tire outside of our own driveway in over 10 years now...........
06-20-11, 12:54 AM
#13
Lexus Test Driver
One thing not mentioned here.
A hidden advantage to having a full size spare is it allows you to buy one less tire when it's time for new tires. You can buy three new tires and use the unused spare as the fourth, in essence saving a few bucks. Then one of the old tires goes on for the spare, which you'll likely only use in an emergency anyway. Why let a perfectly good tire sit as a spare?
Another thing to ponder. Since eliminating spares, have we seen a discount reflected in the sticker price? Of course not. For the elimination of a spare, I want one free option I'd normally have to pay for. What's fair is fair, right?
A hidden advantage to having a full size spare is it allows you to buy one less tire when it's time for new tires. You can buy three new tires and use the unused spare as the fourth, in essence saving a few bucks. Then one of the old tires goes on for the spare, which you'll likely only use in an emergency anyway. Why let a perfectly good tire sit as a spare?
Another thing to ponder. Since eliminating spares, have we seen a discount reflected in the sticker price? Of course not. For the elimination of a spare, I want one free option I'd normally have to pay for. What's fair is fair, right?
06-20-11, 06:06 AM
#14
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
One thing not mentioned here.
A hidden advantage to having a full size spare is it allows you to buy one less tire when it's time for new tires. You can buy three new tires and use the unused spare as the fourth, in essence saving a few bucks. Then one of the old tires goes on for the spare, which you'll likely only use in an emergency anyway. Why let a perfectly good tire sit as a spare?
A hidden advantage to having a full size spare is it allows you to buy one less tire when it's time for new tires. You can buy three new tires and use the unused spare as the fourth, in essence saving a few bucks. Then one of the old tires goes on for the spare, which you'll likely only use in an emergency anyway. Why let a perfectly good tire sit as a spare?
