It pisses me off to no end that 2 of the 3 cars I’ve owned have not had a spare, but that shitty flat repair kit. Thankfully, the one time I needed a spare I had one, as the flat repair kit would have been worthless the day I clipped a curb on a turn and completely blew out my tire.
Fucking cheap asses making life harder for people…
Most consumers have no need for a spare. The vast majority of drivers have cell phones and never drive anywhere more than 15 minutes from a tow truck or other driver’s assistance. Most people I know wouldn’t use the spare to fix a flat even if they had one.
It’s also not just about the cost of the tire. It takes up space, and decreases fuel efficiency over the entire life of the vehicle.
The hope of all emergency features is that you never use them. I’ve never been in a collision but I’m also not stripping out air bags to cut weight.
A spare tire is not exactly what I would consider a safety feature. It’s more of a convenience feature, and not even that in most circumstances.
In most situations it’s far safer to get roadside assistance. It’s not a great idea to be sitting at the side of the road outside the protection of your vehicle and involved in a reasonable that holds much of your attention. A professional with the right tools can change that tire in a fraction of the time, and they will have far more protection from the positioning of their vehicle and it’s lights.
In some cases, for some people, a spare tire could be a safety feature, some of the time. For instance, if you frequently drive back and forth across the US, there are lots of areas where assistance will be far away and potentially even unreachable. Nothing stops people from getting their own spare and throwing it in the trunk of it makes sense for them.
Why would I willingly give up my ability to help myself? Roadside assistance is great, but relying on it being available is foolhardy. If you only ever drive in the city you live and work in, sure I guess. I don’t trips of 40+ miles are that unusual though.
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Yep. The shrinkflation of cars. Cutting out extras like spares to save a buck. Yeah it’s weight that affects economy, but I don’t want to calculate the weight of a 40lb spare on gas consumption vs the cost of the tire or a tow service. FWIW the do make these little collapsible/inflatable spares that can fit in small spaces, but I’d be wary of them with some AWD cars. Can really F up the limited slip allowed in some of the systems.
Passerby6497@lemmy.world 8 months ago
That honestly sounds worse than using a donut, and the one car that came with a donut got it replaced with a full-sized spare because fuck donuts.
AA5B@lemmy.world 8 months ago
The one time I had to use a donut, it was plenty to get me to a tire shop. And because I changed the tire myself and was able to hand it to them, they were able to take care of it immediately even though their bays were full
RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 8 months ago
It’s better than no spare being the point. If it gets you somewhere better instead of being out $$ for a tow and waiting for the tow to show up. YMMV, though.