Prius Prime and spare tire

Our BMW i3-REx had a flat last week that took 5 hours to fix.

Bob Wilson

 

that sucks ... did you bring it to a shop and they could fix it? or? just curious ...

 

The standard answer is to use 'roadside assistance' so the experiment was warranted. I am retired and could easily get relief by other means. The experiment was a test of 'roadside assistance' which failed compared to a spare and jack.

Bob Wilson

 

I was thinking the exact same thing and wondering who would say it first. Give that man a kewpie doll!!

Epic fail!

 

Did you use Toyota's Roadside assistance? I have no idea what type of network they utilize, but I doubt it is better than AAA.

 

AAA has taken hours to get to me any time I have called them (Long Island and Westchester, NY). I don't have loads of faith in waiting for them as my only option. Since they normally contact a local towing company, I'm assuming Toyota would do the same. Fixing a flat is a relative fast process if you have a spare tire

 

There should be tie down points in all hatchbacks/wagons/SUVs. With supplying tire slime, will the manufacturer actually pay for the straps though.

Unless you get full blow outs a lot, the included slime supplemented with a plug and patch kit should cover you for the majority of the time. I'd skip the slime, and just use the plug and patch with a decent air compressor.

Definitely tie down the spare. If there are supplied straps, it is fairly simple. A space saver spare isn't going to add much weight. Even full size will be under 40 pounds. there are hitch mount spare holders if you need the interior cargo space.

Another option is run flat tires. They will likely reduce efficiency because they are heavier than standard tires.

 

Have the runflat tires improved in last ten years? My first and only experience with runflat tires were the Dunlop and Bridgestone runflat that came with 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan. They were awful. Tread life was so short, they seems to be more prone to puncture than regular tiers, and they were very expensive with limited availability. The worst thing was when we did have flat on so called runflat tires, we could not run! The sidewalls are totally collapsed after a few miles and we had to call flatbed tow truck anyway. Naturally, there was a class action lawsuit on this that resulted Toyota to settle with all of Sienna AWD owners to replays any OEM runflat tires that failed within 60k. The only problem was that the replacement was with another set of defective runfulat tires. We went though two sets of runflats, both sets lasting less than 20k. I changed to regular tires after the free replacement runflats, and never had flat since then for now 60k additional miles and counting.

 

we got them in pip, not sure about prime.

 

I hate to break your heart, but from what I hear, a majority of EV, Hybrid vehicles now do not carry a spare tire, donut or otherwise. So our little Primes are just following this alarming trend. We just need to yell loudly, especially when surveys are filled out!!

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Or you could envision a future where road side assistance companies such as AAA will bring out a loaner donut tire to put on to save the cost of flatbed towing. You then take your bad tire to a tire shop, get it fixed and turn in the donut there. AAA picks up the donuts to redistribute. You need less spare tires than cars on the road... but that would be a rational infrastructure thing, that I know we don't do.

Why should every car carry a spare tire, especially when half the drivers can't change a tire on their own.

 

I get a sense that this has always been the case, where in the past women formed a large part of that "incapable half". Today more women are quite capable of changing a tire, and probably less men are able, but the percentage is probably about the same. That still doesn't excuse the abandonment of that very viable and potent group of DIY activists who are entitled to save themselves!!



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Strap a full sized spare to the hood of your car like the intrepid explorer you are!

 

Damn straight!! But I think it should be bolted to the roof, so as not to block the view!!

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Wait, that's where the freshly kilt trophy 2 point out of season deer goes . . . .

 

Then if they do know how, they haven't checked the spare's air pressure at all, and the tire is too low to be any good anyway.

For those that want a spare for their spareless ride, they do have a couple of options.

A Cherokee that I spot regularly on my commute actually does this.

Why don't you have a pick up? Thought you had to have one to get the gun.

 

Gun?? Why that's cheating!! No I just go out there, run the miserable creature down on foot, then simply choke it to death!! Then you do what that unmentionable "rock star" does, just rope it to the hood!! Har, har

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I think the Robert De Niro "The Deer Hunter" scene reference was too subtle.

 

We watched a lady blacksmith yesterday at the PNE, capable of changing horse shoes, lol.

I think it'll take more than negative comments on Owner's Surveys. A drop in sales will get their attention.

 

We live in the desert where there are some cell phone and internet "shadows" and I'm sure that's where we would get a flat. The low clearance and lack of tire are what make me hisitate on buying a Prime. I'll use my V when I need cargo space.

Do you think the spare from my 2004 Prius Two would fit a Prime?