No spare tyre

Kim_kim

Car_54 said:

poppy12345 said:

Kim_kim said:

My new car doesn’t come with a spare tyre. It’s got got an aerosol - ????
it’s a Suzuki Vitara. 

Yes, that's correct. I had the same car which also came with the aerosol. Why would you go to the expense of buying a spare wheel and having to change the wheel if something happened.

Because

1. For anything more serious than a simple puncture, the aerosol won't help. Without a spare wheel etc. you'll have to get help, which means a lot of time, inconvenience, and avoidable expense.

2. Even for a simple puncture, using the aerosol means most tyre companies will not repair the tyre. That turns a c.£10 repair into a c.£100 replacement.

That second point is interesting.  At £140 a pop I do always hope a puncture can be repaired rather than a new tyre.

nottsphil

Kim_kim said:

poppy12345 said:

Kim_kim said:

My new car doesn’t come with a spare tyre. It’s got got an aerosol - ????
it’s a Suzuki Vitara. 

Yes, that's correct. I had the same car which also came with the aerosol. Why would you go to the expense of buying a spare wheel and having to change the wheel if something happened.

I can’t comprehend how an aerosol works.
Any puncture I’ve ever had, it was flat as a pancake, how is an aerosol going to sort that? 

It contains a very cold liquid sealant mixed with compressed air. When you shoot it inside the tyre, the sealant becomes more viscous and tacky, because it has suddenly warmed up. I'm not sure how it finds its way to the hole though - maybe it coats the whole of the inside like the bicycle equivalent does?

cymruchris

Kim_kim said:

cymruchris said:

I've got a Vitara with the same can of gunk and an inflator. That's all I really need to get out of an emergency situation in the majority of cases, will take seconds to do, and good enough to get you to Kwik Fit or similar. If it's a real humdinger of a puncture that shreds up - I'll be calling out the breakdown company and let them get me to a garage rather than me risk my life changing a wheel at the side of the road. These days roads are much busier, and there are many more reports of vehicles being hit by drivers who are playing with their phones or falling asleep. Do you really need to do what you're doing? What's your thought process behind it? Technology has moved on a little - so we now have the tools provided to get us out of minor punctures - and for the big ones - get professional help. 

Is the inflator part of that kit or is it one of those ones you plug into the cigarette lighter?  I did think about getting one of those.  

I was thinking less of a flat while driving, more of a flat after it’s been parked and you return to it, or on the drive first thing in the morning.  

The one that comes as standard equipment in the Vitara is the type that plugs into the cigarette lighter.

cymruchris

Kim_kim said:

roddydogs said:

Plus TPWS reveals most punctures much earlier than of old.

What does TPWS mean? 

Tyre Pressure Warning System. After my car had been stuck in the garage for a few weeks over lockdown, when I next had a drive out - I got a warning that my front right hand tyre had low pressure - so used the plug in inflator to top it back up - took me a couple of minutes and I was back on my way. My Vitara has it - and yours likely has it too. When the car is stationary with the engine running, you can push the little stick button thing on the dashboard near the speedometer to get into the menu - it's in there. It'll show you the current tyre pressures on all four corners.

cymruchris

Kim_kim said:

poppy12345 said:

Kim_kim said:

My new car doesn’t come with a spare tyre. It’s got got an aerosol - ????
it’s a Suzuki Vitara. 

Yes, that's correct. I had the same car which also came with the aerosol. Why would you go to the expense of buying a spare wheel and having to change the wheel if something happened.

I can’t comprehend how an aerosol works.
Any puncture I’ve ever had, it was flat as a pancake, how is an aerosol going to sort that? 

https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/safety/tyre-repairs-and-sealants

The link above gives a bit of info as to how you use the kit - how to find the puncture - what it will repair and what it won't. 

Kim_kim

cymruchris said:

Kim_kim said:

roddydogs said:

Plus TPWS reveals most punctures much earlier than of old.

What does TPWS mean? 

Tyre Pressure Warning System. After my car had been stuck in the garage for a few weeks over lockdown, when I next had a drive out - I got a warning that my front right hand tyre had low pressure - so used the plug in inflator to top it back up - took me a couple of minutes and I was back on my way. My Vitara has it - and yours likely has it too. When the car is stationary with the engine running, you can push the little stick button thing on the dashboard near the speedometer to get into the menu - it's in there. It'll show you the current tyre pressures on all four corners.

Yes, mine has that.
I put air in my tyres for the first time ever recently.
I didn’t know how you knew when you’d put enough in, so I left the car running & filled the tyre & then eventually the dash showed enough was in it :-) 

Kim_kim

cymruchris said:

Kim_kim said:

cymruchris said:

I've got a Vitara with the same can of gunk and an inflator. That's all I really need to get out of an emergency situation in the majority of cases, will take seconds to do, and good enough to get you to Kwik Fit or similar. If it's a real humdinger of a puncture that shreds up - I'll be calling out the breakdown company and let them get me to a garage rather than me risk my life changing a wheel at the side of the road. These days roads are much busier, and there are many more reports of vehicles being hit by drivers who are playing with their phones or falling asleep. Do you really need to do what you're doing? What's your thought process behind it? Technology has moved on a little - so we now have the tools provided to get us out of minor punctures - and for the big ones - get professional help. 

Is the inflator part of that kit or is it one of those ones you plug into the cigarette lighter?  I did think about getting one of those.  

I was thinking less of a flat while driving, more of a flat after it’s been parked and you return to it, or on the drive first thing in the morning.  

The one that comes as standard equipment in the Vitara is the type that plugs into the cigarette lighter.

I really need to look at that kit!
I didn’t realise there was a cigarette lighter pump in it too! 

AdrianC

Kim_kim said:

roddydogs said:

Plus TPWS reveals most punctures much earlier than of old.

What does TPWS mean? 

Tyre Pressure Warning System. More usually TPMS, M-for-Monitoring.

It puts a light up on the dash if one or more tyres are below pressure. Legal requirement on all new cars from 2014, and MOT testable on all post-2012 cars with it fitted.

Kim_kim said:

poppy12345 said:

Kim_kim said:

My new car doesn’t come with a spare tyre. It’s got got an aerosol - ????
it’s a Suzuki Vitara. 

Yes, that's correct. I had the same car which also came with the aerosol. Why would you go to the expense of buying a spare wheel and having to change the wheel if something happened.

I can’t comprehend how an aerosol works.
Any puncture I’ve ever had, it was flat as a pancake, how is an aerosol going to sort that? 

The aerosol doesn't just contain "inflation". It mostly contains goop. You spray the contents of the aerosol in, then inflate with a compressor (also provided). Then you drive. The goop distributes itself around the tyre, "finds", and plugs the hole.
Is the tyre knackered? Yes.
Was the tyre almost certainly knackered anyway? Yes, if you've driven on it flat, even to just get to somewhere safe.
Does it work on every flat? No. It works when you've picked up some road debris - a screw, nail, something like that. It doesn't work if you've ripped the sidewall out on a kerb or bent the wheel on a pothole.

Is it as good as a spare? No. But nor is a spacesaver (50mph max, 50 mile max).
How often do you need to change a flat tyre roadside, anyway...? I think the last time I needed to was close on 15 years and probably a quarter of a million miles ago.

roddydogs

TPMS, not  tpws as i first put is not ment to be used in place of routine checking tps.

AdrianC

Kim_kim said:
I put air in my tyres for the first time ever recently.

I didn’t know how you knew when you’d put enough in, so I left the car running & filled the tyre & then eventually the dash showed enough was in it :-) 

Kim, I don't want to sound patronising here, but this is basics. This has been part of the driving test since 2003...

You should be checking your tyre pressures (as well as the tread, and the lights, and the fluid levels) regularly - ideally weekly.  There's going to be a prominent sticker on the car to tell you what they should be. Do you have a friend who can show you want to do?