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Does you car come with a spare tire?


Allen

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Mine has a donut, worthless piece of crap should be illegal.

My wife bought an Accord and didn’t involve me until it was time to sign the papers. I asked what kind of spare it had and they said a donut. I told them I won’t sign until you give her a real spare. They said no problem and got her a new wheel and tire. My wife never had to use it but I felt better knowing she had it.

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Both mine have donuts, and only used the Civic on once when my wife drove over a screwdriver(!).  It worked fine, and I had the tire changed pretty quick.  I find the jack more frustrating than the spare.  In any case, 18+ years in, and I am not sure if or how to replace the spare???? :dontknow:

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Both my Accord and my wife's Odyssey have a donut.  I carry a 12V mini compressor as well, but I used my can of fix-a-flat (on the mower)... I should get another can.

Just carrying a can of FAF but no spare is not a workable plan, in my book.

I put the donut on my Accord once, maybe 4 years ago?  Under an overpass but with road spray from the rain, wearing a suit, on my way to a client meeting.  Good times.

My old (2000) Jetta had a full size spare... that was indeed nice.

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14 minutes ago, Allen said:

Dear Acura customer,

We hope you have a pleasant unexpected day off from work. 
Good luck with it. 
 

Sincerly,

Acura Accounting Div. 
 

P.S., The weather is here, wish you were beautiful.

But YOU bought the car with a donut. They didn't hold a gun to your head, did they?

Is this your first flat? Or are you having a string of them, and the donut is starting to frustrate you?  What does the donut fail to do for you?

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16 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

Donuts in our car but in all honesty if I get a flat on a drive I’m breaking out my AAA card. 

I think I can change a tire faster than I can get through to the AAA folks to confirm my location and account etc.. 

When we moved to CA, the FiL hybrid had a dead battery, and we didn't know how any of that stuff worked, so we called AAA - with like a week left on his membership. They came out pretty darn quick (in my experience), and jumped it no problem. Bought a new "normal" battery (hybrid ones were fine), and it was fine from then on.  Maybe CA AAA is a little more robust.

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My wife had several Hyundai’s and none of them came with a spare either. Fortunately it was never an issue.

3 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

I think I can change a tire faster than I can get through to the AAA folks to confirm my location and account etc.. 

When we moved to CA, the FiL hybrid had a dead battery, and we didn't know how any of that stuff worked, so we called AAA - with like a week left on his membership. They came out pretty darn quick (in my experience), and jumped it no problem. Bought a new "normal" battery (hybrid ones were fine), and it was fine from then on.  Maybe CA AAA is a little more robust.

It’s only happened to me once and AAA was out really quickly.  No way no how am I getting out on the shoulder of the freeway to change a tire.

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1 minute ago, ChrisL said:

No way no how am I getting out on the shoulder of the freeway to change a tire.

Yeah - highway like the 5 or 405 or 95 in rush hour?  NO EFFING WAY.  In fact, I would keep driving to an exit.  My crappy standard wheels are replaceable!

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12 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

Yeah - highway like the 5 or 405 or 95 in rush hour?  NO EFFING WAY.  In fact, I would keep driving to an exit.  My crappy standard wheels are replaceable!

I hear you. Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta, yeah, I’d dig a rut with the brake caliper to the next exit. Even if my car was on fire there would be a moment of consideration, do I bale, or do I turn the AC on full blast and see if that buys me enough time to get the hell off of this thing. 

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My Kia Forte did not have a spare. WoJSTL's Nissan has a donut. 

The Chrysler minivan has a donut but it was very hard to find. It's not in the trunk; underneath near the rear bumper; or even under the hood like a few cars. Rather it's under the floor near the driver and passenger seats. There's a special tool to lower it. One bad design feature is that you have to then remove the tire from the driver's side which could put you near traffic if you pull off to the side.

PSA: Make sure to inflate your spare tires at least every 6 months. Donut tires are usually 60 psi. It's a shame when people find out the hard way that they don't have a flat tire. Rather they have two flat tires including the spare.

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37 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

No way no how am I getting out on the shoulder of the freeway to change a tire.

that's a good point.  I've never had to field change a flat tire in an area where I felt really unsafe - though in my field of work I've spent a whole lot of hours walking on the shoulders of freeways, or even surveying in the median* - so I might be more comfortable than some.

*surely that doesn't count - I was in the Pittsburgh region where all yinz drivers are courteous and observant.

The only time I ever had to use a road service I waited something like 90 minutes.  Assuming I can get the car to a reasonably safe place - no way am I going to sit on my hands and wait when I can be rolling again in 15 minutes.

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Current car has run flats.

0 space in "trunk" for any type of spare / compressor...

Last car had a donut.  One night a few years ago, left work around midnight.  Pouring like crazy.  Hit a pothole, ripped the tire open.  In the rain, put on the donut, it was dead.  Called AAA - sure, we can help, it will be at least 4 hours.  Cop pulled up, called tow truck.  Arrived in 5 minutes.  Nice guy, filled my donut, refused to take a few bucks, on my way I went.

Not crazy about the run flats I have now as they give a stiffer ride.  Dealer says suspension is tuned for them and it would be best to keep them.  Will likely need new ones in spring, will get more run flats.

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10 minutes ago, Rattlecan said:

It came with a can of Fix a Flat, which I have never used in my life, so don't know how effective it is.

It will seal a small puncture on the tread, but it's likely not going to be effective on the sidewall. 

And it'll put in enough air so you can safely drive to an air pump, but it'll be low.  Even on my old Mercury Lynx, 165/80R13 tires, it didn't come close to filling a tire to standard pressure.

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Bought my car used from a dealer, it had no spare and no fix-a-flat kit when I test drove it.  Told the salesman it had to have one or the other when we agreed to the deal.

Salesman calls, "Car's all ready!"  Get there and check it out and you know it: no spare, no flat kit.  We go to sit down and sign the papers and I tell the salesman "I'm not signing anything until you put a spare or a kit in the car."  He goes and gets a flat kit (probably stole it out of a new car on the lot) and puts it on the table.  I said to him "Go put it in the car.  I said I'm not signing anything until it's in the car." 

I have snow tires on separate rims for the car, so whatever is the 'off season' tire I put one of those in the wheel well for the spare.  I bought a heftier jack to replace the flimsy factory one, and still keep the fix-a-flat kit in the car besides.

 

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All 3 of our cars and donut spare times. 

When I was buying my 2016 Prius, I found out that some versions of the Prius didn't have a spare tire, to save even more weight.

4 hours ago, ChrisL said:

No way no how am I getting out on the shoulder of the freeway to change a tire.

Yeah been there done that once.   The expressway was under construction.  Something was on the road, I had to drive 1 or 2 miles before I could find a safe, if that was possible at all.  I changed the tire then the real fun was trying to get back on the expressway still in this construction zone.   I had to wait a while...   The tire that went flat was heat damaged, I drove on it too much and had to be replaced.  I'd replace the tire and find a safe place to change to the spare.

3 hours ago, JerrySTL said:
3 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

Kirby's Task Of The Day:  Locate and verify the spare tire situation!

And check the tire pressure!

Yeah... I check the air pressure in in the donut tires about once every month or two.  A flat donut tire is indeed worthless, except it still could be used to drive on it for a while.  I'd rather ruin that rim than the aluminum rims on the cars.

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Donut that I check enough to keep it aired up (hmm, about due!), and AAA.  AAA can be very slow, but on a freeway in a pouring rain, it was the best option.  In the recent storm I flatted in a parking lot, drove over roofing with exposed nails, and there I got the donut on a lot quicker than AAA would have come for sure.  That was the first time I used the donunt and jack since I bought the car in 2014.

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1 hour ago, Airehead said:

the Subaru has a donut 

Did you ever read the owners manual for your Subaru about the spare tire?  OMG could they make it more difficult...

If the flat is on the front of the car, you get to move a good tire from the rear to replace the flat.  Then install the donut tire on the rear.  Then pull (or move, I'd have to read the manual again) a fuse to disable the AWD system, essentially making it a FWD car.  

If the flat is in the rear of the car, you install the donut tire on the rear.  Then pull (or move) a fuse to disable the AWD system, essentially making it a FWD car.  

Apparently the difference in tire sizes on a Subaru is VERY important for the Subaru AWD system.   The donut tire is not the same diameter as the other tires, and that could damage the AWD if you don't follow their procedure for flats.     

And... if you do have a flat and need to replace one tire, the new tire circumference needs to be within 1/4 of an inch of the other tires.  The new tire may need to be shaved, to match the circumference.  Not to many places do that any more.   Worst case one flat, you may need to buy 4 tires. 

You never just buy 2 tires for a Subaru you buy 4.  

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11 hours ago, Bikeguy said:

Did you ever read the owners manual for your Subaru about the spare tire?  OMG could they make it more difficult...

If the flat is on the front of the car, you get to move a good tire from the rear to replace the flat.  Then install the donut tire on the rear.  Then pull (or move, I'd have to read the manual again) a fuse to disable the AWD system, essentially making it a FWD car.  

If the flat is in the rear of the car, you install the donut tire on the rear.  Then pull (or move) a fuse to disable the AWD system, essentially making it a FWD car.  

Apparently the difference in tire sizes on a Subaru is VERY important for the Subaru AWD system.   The donut tire is not the same diameter as the other tires, and that could damage the AWD if you don't follow their procedure for flats.     

And... if you do have a flat and need to replace one tire, the new tire circumference needs to be within 1/4 of an inch of the other tires.  The new tire may need to be shaved, to match the circumference.  Not to many places do that any more.   Worst case one flat, you may need to buy 4 tires. 

You never just buy 2 tires for a Subaru you buy 4.  

I new it was complex, now I need to go read it. 

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