buwho 40 points 2 years ago

most new cars dont, its wild

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Telorand 10 points 2 years ago

Do they come with runflats? I dunno what's common anymore.

My 2013 Volvo doesn't have a spare, but it makes use of runflats instead, and that was considered a luxury back then.

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skulblaka 17 points 2 years ago

Lots of new cars just give you a bottle of fix-a-flat and a "fuck you"

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photon_echo 16 points 2 years ago

There a number of arguments as to why this is the case and the article touches on these:

One could make an argument that most drivers don't use their spare (or don't know how) and would call for roadside service anyway.
Another argument is that the extra weight of the spare has to be hauled around for months or years before it gets used, if ever, and fuel is used for that extra weight costing the owner and increasing carbon emissions.
More pragmatically the most likely answer is the auto makers found out they could simply stop giving out spare tires and it doesn't cost them any customers, and increases the auto maker's profits. Some will even sell you a spare tire at an extra fee meaning even more revenue.

My guess is of all these reasons, the third answer, cash grab is the real answer. The author gives us one sentence, but agrees with me.

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Eyekaytee 7 points 2 years ago

Another argument is that the extra weight of the spare has to be hauled around for months or years before it gets used, if ever, and fuel is used for that extra weight costing the owner and increasing carbon emissions.

For me this makes sense, driving for 20 years and not used a spare tire once, hyundai also offers 24x7 road assist

touch wood!

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Blackmist 4 points 2 years ago

Ours didn't. It had some bullshit to spray into the tyre to do a repair. That failed, and made it unrepairable to boot.

So now we have a spare. Have a spare. It can a slimline one, it just needs to get you to a garage.

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CameronDev 3 points 2 years ago

I dont think its that unreasonable. A flat tire happens so rarely, and for most people, they can just call a tow truck. For most, I dont think its worth carting a tire and wheel around for potentially zero use over the life of the car.

Some people definitely need spares, but realistically, most dont.

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Coreidan 7 points 2 years ago

Ya. Emergencies are rare so why bother being prepared.

Calling a tow truck isn’t a solution.

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CameronDev 6 points 2 years ago

Your being sarcastic, but yes. A flat tire is rare, and minimal impact. Not preparing for it is perfectly reasonable. If you are in a situation where a flat is high impact (driving into the bush, etc) then you need a solution, and you should prepare for that.

But for the vast majority of drivers, and especially EV drivers, a tow truck is actually a solution, because they are almost always in a metropolitan area.

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Xatolos 0 points 2 years ago

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ShepherdPie 0 points 2 years ago

How is a flat tire an emergency?

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Bytemeister 2 points 2 years ago

In the city, not much of one. Rural roads with bad cell coverage at night in the dead of winter? Life or death situation.

That being said, I think a spare is unnecessary for 99% of drivers. In ~20 years of driving, I've only used a spare maybe 3 times, and those were more for convenience than necessity. My last car just had a pump, and I got a screw it in. I just aired it up and drove to the tire shop. After that I bought a plug kit for a quick roadside repair.

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lka1988 2 points 2 years ago

My minivan has a donut spare that is stored under the car (inside a cover). Super easy to get to, and never in the way. The tire and winch mechanism together adds maybe 30lbs of extra weight.

I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. I couldn't imagine the embarrassment of having to call a fucking tow truck because of a flat tire.

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Shikam 1 point 2 years ago

Enshittification isn't exclusive to software it seems

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gnu 8 points 2 years ago

The number of people who would even know how to change a tyre is unfortunately decreasing. Manufacturers therefore have less reason to include something that requires allocating space, carrying extra weight, and a small extra cost for each car, because they know not enough people are going to care about the loss of a spare to make a difference to sales. I'd wager this is particularly true for EVs as they seem to attract a lot of people who are scared of basic maintenance. It's pretty poor of a company to not include a spare on something that's advertised for use on dirt though, even if the model in question doesn't actually seem like something that its buyers will actually take off the tar.

I personally would want a proper full sized spare in any of my vehicles, though I'm prepared to make an exception for my motorbikes due to the obvious logistical problems. Space savers are better than nothing but then you have to deal with speed restrictions and having to change wheels twice if you get a flat on the front. It's rare for me to get a puncture but it's nice to know that I can just quickly change wheels and carry on even if I somehow managed to put a big gash in a tyre or bend a rim. Even for just a basic puncture in town I can't imagine wanting to faff around on the side of a road for ages waiting for roadside assistance to come and fix something I could have done myself and been back on the road in 15 minutes.

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trk 7 points 2 years ago

Our EV doesn't have a spare, which I wasn't concerned about as I've had maybe two flats in my driving history and one of those I just pumped up and drove to the tyre shop for a repair.

What did catch me out recently was not having a jack. It makes sense though - car has no spare, so why include a jack?

We got a screw in the tyre a few weeks back and it was leaking too bad to pump up for even a short drive. I figured I'd jack up the car, take off the rim, and take it in the wife's car to the tyre joint.

Things to note:

No jack, as mentioned. Went to the local auto store and bought a pretty mid range scissor jack that looked like every other car jack I've ever used.
EVs are really bloody heavy. A standard 1600KG scissor jack could barely move the thing. Went back and bought a much heavier duty trolley jack.
A 3200KG trolley jack makes lifting the car easy, but the jack itself is huge and leaves no space on the lifting points to put jack stands.
An EV is really stiff - lifting the rear passenger side resulted in every wheel except the front drivers side coming off the ground.

Didn't want to leave it perched on a jack and a single wheel, so took the tyre off and ended up replacing the screw in the hole that was leaking with a bigger screw... Then pumping it up and driving it to the tyre joint.

Moral of the story - might be easier to just carry a small selection of different sized screws and a screw driver.

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higgsboson 6 points 2 years ago

The last time I shopped for a car, I eliminated two vehicles from selection because of this. I won't have a car that doesnt offer a spare.

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Bytemeister -1 points 2 years ago

You know you can just buy a spare and stick it in the car...

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higgsboson 1 point 2 years ago