No Spare Wheel On Many New Cars

AdrianC

Iceweasel wrote: »

there are many parts of it where one is far away from any tyre dealer and waiting for one of the recovery services might entail a very long wait indeed. Try finding a less common size like 255/40 17 in Wick or Thurso - they'll likely have one sent up on the train!

Out in the boonies, every small local garage will have a tyre fitting machine - and couriers will have a tyre with them normally on a next day delivery, for all bar the _REALLY_ unusual sizes.

255/40 17, you say?
Generic fit?
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s321p0
Merc OE spec?
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s5054p0
Porsche OE spec?
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s3993p0
or Runflat?
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s3037p0

So - from just one supplier - you have 1 brand for dispatch same working day, and a choice of about another 20 for dispatch next working day, plus more within 2-3 working days if you're being REALLY picky...

OK, you might have to pay a premium for the delivery, but the locals will know the best couriers to use.

Iceweasel

AdrianC wrote: »

OK, you might have to pay a premium for the delivery, but the locals will know the best couriers to use.

You are right up to a point.

I've used Camskill in the past and I thought that 3 days was good.

But too many sellers/couriers charge a lot extra for North of Aberdeen.

So yes, it's possible - but a whole lot easier to have a spacesaver in the boot if you are going to a more remote / less populated area.

Arfa__

Iceweasel wrote: »

According to your experiences the tyreweld stuff has been successful on 3 out of 5 occasions - so that according to my Maths is 60% - that's too far off the 99% of the time you suggest that one would 'get by', for tyreweld aerosol cans to be a viable alternative on their own.

Some interesting stats I gleaned from Telegraph after 5 seconds of Googling:-

"...the average driver does only get a flat tyre once every 44,000 miles or five years."

So my experiences of 5 punctures in as many years are certainly not national average. The two tears: first by my wife after she recently passed her test and scraped wheel on curb - common learner error. Second tear was when she was run off road at a chicane: she had right of way, but had to go up kerb to avoid a head on smash with an oncoming idiot speeding and refusing to give way.

Richard Durance from Continental says: “Our research shows 95 per cent of punctures are caused by objects up to 5mm in diameter"

All of which should be repairable with TyreWeld.

"According to tyre firm Continental, spare wheels are only effective in about 70 per cent of punctures because they’re either unroadworthy or drivers don’t have the right tools, strength or knowledge to change a wheel."

So in nearly a third of instances a spare tyre is of no use anyway...

Iceweasel wrote: »

I would only chance having tyreweld alone if I lived within, and never ventured outside of, the area enclosed by the M25.

Ironically, all my punctures have occurred within the M25. Even though I put a lot of miles in travelling up North to see family on a regular basis.

Iceweasel wrote: »

My solution for my summer tyres which are runflats with a 50 mile range at up to 50 mph, is to carry a spacesaver.

For my winter non-runflat tyres I do carry 2 aerosol repair cans in addition to the spacesaver, and a compressor.

I can sympathise with choices to cover all eventualities. However personally, I'll stick with my £2 can of Gunk and the odd wait for an RAC chap in the rare instances I get a tear (which comes part and parcel with my bank account anyway).

Herzlos

It's also worth noting that I got the puncture at 5:25pm on a Sunday. So no garages would have been open and I'd probably have otherwise needed recovered the 20 miles home.

Those 1/3rd of instances where a spare wheel is no good aren't particularly valid; if the tyre weld was in poor condition or you didn't know how to use it you'd still be stuck, and at least with a tyre even if you don't have the strength/ability to change it yourself, someone else (be it a passer by, an AA/RAC engineer, a police officer, friend or neighbour) probably could.

So I'd say that in 100% of cases where the proper maintenance is observed, it's possible for someone to change a spare wheel. The same can't be said of tyre weld.