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Cars with no spare wheels

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    Cars with no spare wheels

    Got a puncture on my RAV4 on Sunday. Car has no spare wheel - you get a bottle of gunk instead & that is supposed to fix you up so you can get to a garage to get it repaired. On this occasion, it didnt work so I had to remove the wheel, borrow a car & get to the only place in miles that was open. When I got there they told me they don't fix tyres that have had gunk in them. New tyre was 180 quid & there was a 3 hour wait . Oh, and it's another 50 quid to replace the gunk that didn't work in the first place. Might just settle for tyre weld next time.

    Never really thought abput the potential inconvenience of this when I bought the car but apparently it's becoming more and more common. WTF are you supposed to do if you're on the way to catch a plane or something? Those spacesaver wheels are crap too - you're not supposed to drive at over 50 mph on them.

    Oh for the days when you got a puncture & just slung on the spare vowing to get it fixed at the earliest opportunity but completely forgetting about it until you got another one

    While I'm at it, here's another thing I don't like & I don't know if this is common to most new cars but my dashboard lights up whenever I start the engine. I'm still not used to this & it leads to a subconscious acknowledgement that my lights are on when, in fact, they are not. This has led to a couple of close calls in dusky conditions or in places that are lit by streetlights where it's easy to be unaware that your lights are off.

    #2
    Originally posted by wurzel View Post
    Got a puncture on my RAV4 on Sunday. Car has no spare wheel - you get a bottle of gunk instead & that is supposed to fix you up so you can get to a garage to get it repaired. On this occasion, it didnt work so I had to remove the wheel, borrow a car & get to the only place in miles that was open. When I got there they told me they don't fix tyres that have had gunk in them. New tyre was 180 quid & there was a 3 hour wait . Oh, and it's another 50 quid to replace the gunk that didn't work in the first place. Might just settle for tyre weld next time.

    Never really thought abput the potential inconvenience of this when I bought the car but apparently it's becoming more and more common. WTF are you supposed to do if you're on the way to catch a plane or something? Those spacesaver wheels are crap too - you're not supposed to drive at over 50 mph on them.

    Oh for the days when you got a puncture & just slung on the spare vowing to get it fixed at the earliest opportunity but completely forgetting about it until you got another one

    While I'm at it, here's another thing I don't like & I don't know if this is common to most new cars but my dashboard lights up whenever I start the engine. I'm still not used to this & it leads to a subconscious acknowledgement that my lights are on when, in fact, they are not. This has led to a couple of close calls in dusky conditions or in places that are lit by streetlights where it's easy to be unaware that your lights are off.
    My Qashqai has one of those spacesaver efforts as I discovered when I got a puncture touring the west highlands. I bought a proper spare wheel and leave the boot with I bulge a can live with.
    Last edited by Cliphead; 3 February 2011, 21:56.
    Me, me, me...

    Comment


      #3
      I'm a paranoid loser and always used to have spare tyres in the garage, and a spare taking up room in the boot, like CH says. I've got runflats now which I hate.
      Practically perfect in every way....there's a time and (more importantly) a place for malarkey.
      +5 Xeno Cool Points

      Comment


        #4
        My car is a few years old now but it came with a full size spare.

        Space saver tyres are a good compromise but the gunk stuff sounds like a nightmare.

        Comment


          #5
          Just leave your headlamps on all the time. It's safer anyway
          Coffee's for closers

          Comment


            #6
            I had a tyre repaired (nail hole) the other week, the bloke that did the repair checked if I'd used that gunk before he took the tyre off. Apparently in 90+% of cases that gunge knackers something inside the tyre that means a £15 repair isn't viable.

            I've got an el cheapo tyre inflater you plug into the cig lighter which works pretty well for emergencies.

            Comment


              #7
              Don't be a tight arse, go and buy a spare wheel

              Just because the car manufacturers economise doesn't mean you have to follow suit
              Doing the needful since 1827

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by wurzel View Post
                Got a puncture on my RAV4 on Sunday. Car has no spare wheel - you get a bottle of gunk instead & that is supposed to fix you up so you can get to a garage to get it repaired. On this occasion, it didnt work so I had to remove the wheel, borrow a car & get to the only place in miles that was open. When I got there they told me they don't fix tyres that have had gunk in them. New tyre was 180 quid & there was a 3 hour wait . Oh, and it's another 50 quid to replace the gunk that didn't work in the first place. Might just settle for tyre weld next time.

                Never really thought abput the potential inconvenience of this when I bought the car but apparently it's becoming more and more common. WTF are you supposed to do if you're on the way to catch a plane or something? Those spacesaver wheels are crap too - you're not supposed to drive at over 50 mph on them.

                Oh for the days when you got a puncture & just slung on the spare vowing to get it fixed at the earliest opportunity but completely forgetting about it until you got another one

                While I'm at it, here's another thing I don't like & I don't know if this is common to most new cars but my dashboard lights up whenever I start the engine. I'm still not used to this & it leads to a subconscious acknowledgement that my lights are on when, in fact, they are not. This has led to a couple of close calls in dusky conditions or in places that are lit by streetlights where it's easy to be unaware that your lights are off.
                You could have called the AA to sort it out.
                "A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices," George Orwell

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by Paddy View Post
                  You could have called the AA to sort it out.
                  Don't think they'd have fixed me up with new tyre though. The old one was irrepairable.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by wurzel View Post
                    Don't think they'd have fixed me up with new tyre though. The old one was irrepairable.
                    They would have either taken you and your car to a tyre repair shop or taken your tyre and bring it back repaired (renew + cost of tyre) or taken you and your car to you destination or home. No need for the gunk.
                    "A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices," George Orwell

                    Comment

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