Worth buying a space saver, would you?

naughtysmurf

OK, recently bought a newish car, previous owner had a full size steel wheel in the boot but no jack etc
Car came with can of gunk & compressor

Thinking of getting a space saver & jack etc, will fit into boot neatly, the full size steel wheel just lays in the boot unsecured, main dealer quoting €200 for the full kit

I do 10-12k per year mainly town driving, would you buy one if you were me & what do you think of price quoted?

Thanks

martinr5232

What car is it did they come as an option when new ?? If the did try ringing around a few breakers or even ebay might be worth a look.

biko

If I do mainly town driving I would just stick with gunk and compressor.
Do you have road assistance in your insurance?

martinr5232

biko wrote:

If I do mainly town driving I would just stick with gunk and compressor. Do you have road assistance in your insurance?

Sealant is no good if you have anything more than a nail in the tyre plus it goes out of date.
It really has to be the worst idea any car maker came up with.

naughtysmurf

Yes I have roadside assist but to be honest I'd be ashamed to call somebody out for a puncture

Car is a civic, comes new with gunk only

dor843088

naughtysmurf wrote: »

Yes I have roadside assist but to be honest I'd be ashamed to call somebody out for a puncture

Car is a civic, comes new with gunk only

Im a breakdown mechanic for a major insurer and if no one calls I wont have a job so dont be embarrassed, we get puncture no spare jobs all the time . I also have a civic with no spare and it is a worry but the price of buying one is ridiculous so im hoping ill come across one in my line of work ( 2years on ) :rolleyes:

Toyotafanboi

i'd definitely buy one. nothing worse than being stranded with a can of piss and a **** compressor. you'l pay the price of a spare tyre and jack kit the first time you have to call a tow truck anyway.

biko

Tbh, the likelihood of a major issue to your tyre is small. A nail, a piece of glass, these are the more common punctures around town.

Your call of course, but you asked.

dor843088

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

i'd definitely buy one. nothing worse than being stranded with a can of piss and a **** compressor. you'l pay the price of a spare tyre and jack kit the first time you have to call a tow truck anyway.

He just said hes got breakdown cover on his insurance and that kit is around 250 quid if I remember correctly.

ratracer

dor843088 wrote: »

He just said hes got breakdown cover on his insurance and that kit is around 250 quid if I remember correctly.

I've got breakdown cover on my policy and only that gunk stuff. To me its the time lost waiting for the recovery service to come that would annoy me more than the call itself. Through no fault of the call out company, they are not an emergency service after all, but any call is going to result in a delay of at least an hour!

I'm on the lookout for a 17" spacesaver wheel myself, but as you said, they are expensive!

naughtysmurf

Leaning towards buying it, agree, waiting for assistance when I could be on my way again in 20mins is significant

Toyotafanboi

even on here alone, there's been a fair few threads over the last few months... "does this tyre need to be replaced" - sidewall damage.

i'm not saying breakdown isn't an alternative, but with a spare wheel in the boot, 10 minutes or so tops and you are back on your way.

Caliden

Buy a space saver. I had no spare (switched out the space savers for normal tyres) and got a flat on my way home from Dublin to Galway on the M6 near Rhode.

By the time I came to a stop the tyre was wrecked. I had breakdown cover (thank ****) but I still needed the car to be lifted to the nearest garage and then I had to make my own way to the nearest car rental that was open at the time (9pm) which was Athlone.

So had to spend 100 quid on a taxi and drop the car back 2 days later so I had to get a lift from Athlone to pick the car up.

ratracer

Caliden wrote: »

Buy a space saver. I had no spare (switched out the space savers for normal tyres) and got a flat on my way home from Dublin to Galway on the M6 near Rhode.

By the time I came to a stop the tyre was wrecked. I had breakdown cover (thank ****) but I still needed the car to be lifted to the nearest garage and then I had to make my own way to the nearest car rental that was open at the time (9pm) which was Athlone.

So had to spend 100 quid on a taxi and drop the car back 2 days later so I had to get a lift from Athlone to pick the car up.

All of this^^^^

So much hassle for a simple puncture. I'm taking the car to France in the summer and no way do I want the bother of trying to explain all in French!!
Those gunk kits really are the worst piece of sh1t ever put in a car

dor843088

I think one thing we all probably agree on is manufacturers not putting spares in cars nowadays is shortsighted and leaves customers a little vulnerable.

Kevin!

dor843088 wrote: »

I think one thing we all probably agree on is manufacturers not putting spares in cars nowadays is shortsighted and leaves customers a little vulnerable.

It's all due to the downwards pressure on making cars competitively priced, they do usually have a place for them and sell them separately though

dor843088

Kevin! wrote: »

It's all due to the downwards pressure on making cars competitively priced, they do usually have a place for them and sell them separately though

Are they really saving a whole lot by replacing a spare with a small compresser and o bottle of gunk ? Im sure if you told the salesman you werent prepared to buy a new car with no spare it would suddenly come with one .

Chris_Heilong

I would just get a full spare wheel in there.

eringobragh

they can be picked up for next to nothing as well - got a brand new spacesaver for the Honda Civic never used warts and all on the tyres they are over €200 from Honda and I picked it up for €60 on adverts

creedp

Purchased a space saver for an s-max for €50 from a breaker - essentially a mondeo spacesaver - after I got 2 punctures in quick succession requiring call out and a new tyre fitted at €200 a pop for a budget brand tyre. 4 years later I didn't have cause to use it until a couple of weeks ago when I came out of work and found a rear tyre flat with a metal shard sticking out of it. Very glad I had the spacesaver in the boot and was on my way in 10 minutes. If I had to wait for a breakdown service I would have been late for an appointment. So yes I would pick up a spacesaver whenever you come across one.

creedp

dor843088 wrote: »

Are they really saving a whole lot by replacing a spare with a small compresser and o bottle of gunk ? Im sure if you told the salesman you werent prepared to buy a new car with no spare it would suddenly come with one .

Problem is some cars especially mpv's have no official space for a spare wheel .. the 2 seats in the back have gobbled up the space.