These things really matter A LOT for long road trips.
Something my old car is not so good at anymore.

But, they need to stop with the <no spare tire> craziness.
Stop it now. Lol

 

Honestly, the lack of a spare tire doesn't bother me really. Plugging tires is so easy, I can just do that myself, so really what you have a spare to protect you against is some sort of blowout or sidewall damage. Blowouts are pretty uncommon today because tires are much better made, and I watch my tires for issues as a part of overall vehicle maintenance. Neither of my cars have spare tires and I don't even think about it.

If it really bothers you, there are companies that make portable spare systems. www.ezsparewheel.com is one, www.modernspare.com is another. I have thought about getting one of these for each car and only carrying them when we travel. Around here we're never that far away from being ale to bring the spare to each other to avoid using up the trunk space.

 

Totally agree. Plug kit is small, fast, and easy and usually all you need....I have compact ones and small jump parks in all the nice cars.

Work car has a tool bag that is brought with on trips that has enough to fix anything sane to fix on the road. If it's bad enough more tools are needed the car is getting shipped home

 

Thank you @SW17LS , that makes me feel better.

Now that I think about it, I haven't used a spare tire in 30 years.

If I get a nail I just plug the tire while it's still on the car and keep going.

I guess I'm just afraid of needing it and not having it and then stranded

 

I had one flat in the last few years where I could have used a spare, I tore the sidewall in the S560 and had to have it towed. What the spare would have saved me is the tow, which was free, I still would have had to have the tire replaced the next day. Then I had those two flat tires on the Pacifica but you don't have two spares and that was a fluke. Otherwise the only tire issues I have had in 25 years have been nails that were plugged. I had one in the LS460L and I had the trunk all emptied for roadside assistance so they could get the spare, but he just plugged it when he got there.

If I had one of those modern spares my wife could have brought me the spare and the car would have spent the night in my garage instead of in front of the tire shop...which would have been nice.

 

I guess if I really want to be paranoid, I can maybe put a hitch on any car I buy and mount a spare on it for trips.

When I'm traveling on the highway in the winter and it's cold and I have my wife and two dogs -I don't want to wait for a tow truck unless I have to. 🫸🫷

 

30 years? With a few exceptions such as off-roaders, we haven't seen REAL spare tires and wheels in most new vehicles (that you could rotate with the rest of the four tires) for almost that long LOL. Since then, most vehicles have come with either full-size temporary-spares, Donut (small-diameter) spares, run-flat tires (which are good only for about 50 miles or so if air is lost), or Fix-a-Flat compressed-air bottles, which are all but worthless if you have a serious leak.

Mostly done, of course, in the name of cost-cutting, although automakers often use the excuse that it saves weight and cargo-space.

 

I have a full size spare with matching rim all original.
But, it's a 20 year old car.

Oh yeah, it's cost cutting. 💯
But some space saving too on modern designs maybe.
My spare hangs under the car.

 

same here.

 

Yeah, I think the last real spare I had was on my 2001 IS300....24 years ago.

Since your spare hangs underneath, it might be a good idea to take it off and check it from time to time, just to make sure that not only dopes it have the recommended PSI, but also that it has not gotten abraded or damaged from running over any road-debris, or that salt on the roads has not caused any corrosion on the wheel. Even if there is no actual salt on the roads in your part of Florida, if you are very near the beach, salt-air and salt-spray can be corrosive.

 

Thank you @mmarshall .
I need to do a better job at that.

My spare gets forgotten until I'm traveling for holiday.

 

Ok, here goes the dumbest post on Club Lexus but I have a theory to run by y'all.

Maybe low profile tires are less prone to sidewall damage due to reduced sidewall surface area for a puncture to occur.

If true, this could greatly reduce the risk of needing a spare- just plug and go
However, I have no idea if my theory reflects actual sidewall puncture totals and tow truck calls and may be naive on my part. Lol

 

Sure...glad to help. And your politeness and courtesy is commendable...always has been.


Not dumb at all. You have an interesting theory there, but, nevertheless, damage to low-profile tires and wheels is (usually) caused by impact with potholes and other sharp bumps on the road. Their smaller sidewalls give them less rubber to flex and absorb the impact before it penetrates to the wheel itself.

 

Last full-size spare tire on a matching wheel I had was my 2017 LS460L

 

Yes....recent LS models were one of the few exceptions. So was the Australian-designed Holden Chevy SS, where a real spare tire and wheel were an option. But, unless a vehicle was specifically designed for off-roading, most new American-market vehicles have not had them (like Margate originally said) for a good 20 years or more.