Flat tire

If your area has a local "U-Pull It" junk yard, I have found you can usually scavenge original vehicles scissor jacks and flat changing equipment sets for really cheap.

The slight advantage being they usually are designed to be very small and take up as little room as possible.

I bought an older used vehicle once, and only discovered after purchase that it was missing it's original OEM provided jack and tire changing tools. The cheapest way to replace it was a U-Pull It, junkyard where I was able to find the exact tool-set and get it for just a few bucks.

 

Have you been to a "U-pull-it, lately?

The jacks and tire tools are taken aou and sold with "fixed" prices in the check out room.

With the lack of spare "donut" tires in new vehicles, they. too, will be taken out and sold individually.

As more cars come without spares, the wrecking yards are going to realize that there will be greater demand for them.

It;s called capitalism. The price will go up, just like the cost of gasoline.

Since I purchased my "v' on Super Bowl Sunday, there is a $500 "premium" over MSRP for them.

I got mine $460 below the MSRP sticker and got nearly $900 of "port installed" "add ons" with mine.

Don't count on the donut spares going down or being "cast offs," like years, ago, when vehicles had space for full sized spares.

 

Well this was a few years back. That's too bad. At least at the one near me, they used to leave them in. You had to be quick, agressive and a little lucky, but you could find them.

I'm saddened to hear it isn't an option anymore.

 

While "corporate welfare" under the Cash for Clunkers Program helped new car dealers and manufacturers, it really hurt the owners of older cars and those who can only afford oder used cars, as well as wrecking yards.

Those vehicles turned in during the program could not be scrapped for parts or be resold.

Paying a little for a spre tire right now means not paying a lot later, when the wrecker or the dealer has you over a barrel.

 

The PIP takes the same spare as the 16x4 Celica and Corolla (2003 and up) 5 bolt pattern. There are a lot of them around that are 6 years or more in age. I wouldn't trust a 10 years old spare, even unused, that has resided in a hot trunk.

Her's another good deal on eBay;

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

$60 delivered for a 2011 spare from a vehicle that had 3867 ODO miles on the car is probably the best deal around.

Again, I am not affiliated with this eBay vendor.

 

It isn't clear to me from the ebay listings of this vendor whether or not they are only selling the wheel sans tire.

 

I've never seen the "donut" spare sold without the tire. It would not be worth his time to disassemble it ans sell it that way.

Then, again, I havent seen everything. I'd call or email them, to be sure.

 

Again, really sorry for your experience theiding.

Now we just have to wait for some unfortunate to discover any additional costs associated when using the factory supplied slime as well (wheel?, TPMS sensor?, ect...?).

 

This might seem like a silly question but for the prius plugins, where do you guys put the spare? There's obviously no room under the trunk carpet due to the battery. Do you just place it expose in the trunk?

 

there is no spare.

 

I'm sure he is asking those that choose to carry a spare.

 

i would just lay it down in the back. where else can you put it, rear seat? roof?

 

I wonder if it's possible to mount it under the rear of the PiP like this crafty guy did w/this Leaf.
My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - Spare Tire Carrier (I have met him, briefly.)

 

Pretty cool, but what I can't figure out is if it can fit there why didn't Nissan just make a deeper well in the trunk?


iPad ?

 

The easiest solution would be to position the tire over the trune panel in the position where you'd want it and place a piece of tape at the center. Go to the wrekhing yard and get a "j" hook and top hold down knob or nut. Bolt a strap through the top trunk cover for the stap. Yo'd have to reinforce the top trunk cover with a backing plate of some sort on the bottom. That way, you can remove it ans still have very little eveidence, except the strap that it was there.

 

that's a great idea, i wondered if it was possible, but don't know how much clearance there is on the pip.

 

Won't work. The bottom of the campartment is already one of the lowest points on the Prius.

 

Definitely not the easiest. The easiest would be to use the tire straps that are included with the Prius Plug-in in conjunction with the hooks in the trunk that are specifically for this purpose.

 

That would not be very practical, as the tire will be in the center of the trunk area.

Mine is the "easiest," if you wanted it neat and dicrete.

Easiest by your defitition would be to wedge it between the front and back seat. No straps or almost no effort is needed.