Spare wheel

[maggie01]

The subject of a spare wheel came up in conversation and I remembered I do not have one. I have a Kia Picanto and it doesn't come with a spare wheel only a repair kit. Are you by law supposed to carry a spare wheel or is this sufficient?

[Julia6]

Hiya Maggie, I'm told by my husband who is in the car maintenance business, that the spare wheel s not checked at MOT, so it seems that having one is not legally obligatorty. Julia.

[furrycheeky]

Its not illegal to not have a spare tyre so you are ok there. My Peugeot 206 cabriolet does not have one and this is an ever increasingly common find in modern cars.
I personally have bought myself a space saver because of 2 reasons :
1/ the repair kit will mend a puncture but they cannot fix a split or large hole.
2/ I know that 50% of these repair kits damage the tyre in the mending of it, leaving you to replace the tyre or drive with it having a potentially dangerous weak spot.

[maggie01]

Thanks Julia. It is something I had meant to check when my car went in for service. Must remember to look into buying a spare wheel for it.

[maggie01]

furrycheeky. What exactly is a space saver?

In my boot there is a storage thing with compartments and my next door neighbour who has the same car, has taken this out and had a spare wheel fitted. I think it cost him about �90.

[sense4all]

I have a space saver in my car it is a spare wheel and tyre that is thinner than an ordinary wheel . it is designed to take up less space in a boot but sturdy enough to get you to a place where the repair can be effected , the down side is that you can usually only travel at a reduced speed of about 50mph. So it depends on what type of driving you do ... toddling around town in business hours spacesaver is ok; but if you drive long distances late at night and do not want to go at 50mph I would get a proper spare. Have you lifted the carpet/mat in the rear luggage compartment to double check there is no spare as I thought it was usual to provide one with the car! Even my daughters new Fabia is supplied with a spare.

[dilligaf]

Take care useing a space saver . As well as a speed limitation it is not suitable for emergency braking situations.

The space saver should only be used for a short while only until the correct size wheel / tyre has been repaired.

[Impret-Sir]

mdoo98 is correct, you are not legally obliged to carry any kind of spare, but if you do then it must be road legal, for obviouse reasons, if you were to use it then it would have to be legal, just like all the other tyres. For this reason Im not sure that Julia6s answer can be correct, surely at MOT time the inspector must check to see that you are not carrying a potentially illegal spare ?

[helsbels666]

Yes maggie I was searching the net for the answer to the same question. I also have a kia picanto and I find it a bit ridiculous really that cars can come without spare wheels.