2016 Prius Spare Tire Fix w/Photos

Discussion in 'Gen 4 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Jelly, Nov 19, 2016.

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  1. Jelly

    Jelly Junior Member

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    Hi all,

    First, a BIG thank you to the amazing folks in this site who flagged that my new car, 2016 Prius 4, didn't come with a spare tire. (Wth Toyota?!?!) I've had tire problems three times and in all instances, the cheapo "fix-a-flat option" would've been useless and waiting for AAA taken forever/dangerous.

    The dealership told me: 1. There's no room in the truck to put a donut spare. Wrong! Lift up the truck floorboard and you'll see there's a perfectly molded space for a donut spare tire.

    They then said 2. The donut is special size, so I couldn't take the spare out of the 2008 Prius I was selling and use it. Nope wrong again! (Btw- there are only 2 typical donut spare sizes and they both work for the Prius).

    I went and threw the spare in the trunk and screwed it down with the plastic light grey screw that held it down in my other car. (sorry, I don't know what the part is called but you can google it. I saw them on EBay for $10). As others have pointed out, the tire fits but you won't be able to fit the floorboard molding back in because of the "extra foam" where your spare sits.

    In order to close the deal, i made the dealership trade out the floorboard parts from my Prius 4 with that from a Prius 2 since the 2 was made to have a spare tire. If the dealership won't replace all three parts, I think you can just swap out the round middle part for the tire, but then you'd have to figure out where to put your jack etc since there are any pre-cut slots for them.

    Everything fits perfectly!

    If you already have your Prius, it may be a little cost prohibitive to do it like this though because a new donut spare will run you about $250, plus the $10 plastic screw down piece, and then the Prius 2 floorboard. (I was told is a $350 special order part from the dealership)

    Or go to your local Pick-A-Part/EBay/Amazon/local parts store, get a spare donut and the plastic screw piece Then you only have to shell out for the floorboard since the chances of finding a used one is slim.

    Pics included. Excuse the junk in the trunk :) Good luck to all!

    P.S. Was told Toyota took out the spare because if the added weight. That's such BS! Drove a week with the spare and one without the spare and floorboard. Didn't notice an iota of difference in mileage or performance. The only thing it's doing besides inconveniencing owners, is saving Toyota a LOT of money to skimp on the spare.

    Jerk move Toyota. Safety first!

    Plenty of other car makers are even still putting in full size tires like what I had with my 1999 Corolla and 2001 and 2005 Camrys.
     

    Attached Files:

    #1 Jelly, Nov 19, 2016
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2016
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  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congrats and well done! thanks for the write up and pic.(y)
     
    #2 bisco, Nov 20, 2016
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    What happened to the '08 sans spare?

    An '08 spare might be slightly smaller OD, if its sized to match 2nd gen OEM. probably close enuf.
     
    #3 Mendel Leisk, Nov 20, 2016
  4. Colin Jones

    Colin Jones Member

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    Fortunately the Prius 2016 with 15" wheels in the UK come with space saver spare tyre in the back as standard. :) It's only the higher spec 17" models that have the tyre repair kit!
     
    #4 Colin Jones, Nov 23, 2016
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  5. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    In the US, The Two & Three have the space saver spare. The Two Eco, Three Touring, Four, & Four Touring have the kit.
    I have seen documents that some markets may get a full size spare.
     
    #5 Prodigyplace, Nov 23, 2016
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  6. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Yeah, simplest solution: avoid purchasing levels without spare. If consumers buy spareless levels and cobble together a spare fix, Toyota will not get the message.
     
    #6 Mendel Leisk, Nov 23, 2016
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  7. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    That is why I got A 2017 Two that includes TSS-P. To get much of that with a spare I would have needed to get a 2016 Three.
     
    #7 Prodigyplace, Nov 23, 2016
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  8. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    As far as Toyota design rationale re: weight, it probably gets into EPA rules for weight class etc. Also you get more cargo space without spare, whereas as the Gen4's slim down rear end takes away the ample space that the Gen3 had in its bulbous back end.
     
    #8 wjtracy, Nov 23, 2016
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  9. Prodigyplace

    Prodigyplace 2025 Camry XLE FWD

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    Not as slimmed down as the Gen 1 Prius, though.
    upload_2016-11-23_10-12-0.jpeg
     
    #9 Prodigyplace, Nov 23, 2016
  10. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    True enough!
     
    #10 wjtracy, Nov 23, 2016
  11. Dragon Rider

    Dragon Rider Active Member

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    The kit is B.S. I got the spare tired also I bought a mini pump digital on Amazon for 19.00 dollar.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #11 Dragon Rider, Nov 23, 2016
  12. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    What you feel and what the regulations are, are two different things.


    The EPA may have certain thresholds that Toyota doesn't want to cross otherwise it may have to re-evaluate mpg or Toyota may not hit the mpg target that it wants to achieve.

    That being said, Toyota should offer a spare tire as a dealer-installed accessory.
     
    #12 Tideland Prius, Nov 23, 2016
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  13. Dragon Rider

    Dragon Rider Active Member

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    Toyota told me for a used spare tired 325.00 dollar at the Part Dept . I told the guy are you nutz. It is B.S.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #13 Dragon Rider, Nov 23, 2016
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  14. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    There was a similar situation with the Honda Fit, maybe 15 years back? The manual transmission came with temporary spare, the automatic got a compressor/goop kit. It was reportedly to stay below some mpg threshold. But the hatch layout was otherwise identical, and the spare tire configuration was readily available and could be swapped in for around $200 all in.

    Toyota seems intent on burning our bridges with this one: doing the swap seems more involved, expensive, not readily available, and involves some fit/finish shortcomings.

    If I was interested in 2016's, I'd simply restrict my choices to models with a spare. As we both know, in Canada they pretty much all come with spare, with the exception of that one level with optional tech package.
     
    #14 Mendel Leisk, Nov 23, 2016
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  15. David Beale

    David Beale Senior Member

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    Maybe where you live. Here you have -one- choice. ;)
     
    #15 David Beale, Nov 23, 2016
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  16. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    No not that long ago. It was for the Gen 2... 2009 MY I think?

    Yeah it was to keep the mpg numbers.

    lol. Toyota keeps the spare tire bay tidy (and quiet) with foam blocks and it's called "fit and finish shortcomings"?? While Honda just throws a spare tire under there and it's all good? Interesting.
     
    #16 Tideland Prius, Nov 23, 2016
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  17. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    By fit and finish shortcomings I meant if you sub in a temp spare, doesn't that raise the floor a few inches, and the junction between hatch floor and flipped down back seats looks funky? And as you raise the floor to accommodate spare, the gaps around hatch floor panel increase, ie: the non-spare floor panel is slightly smaller, due to tapered walls.

    Mostly conjecture. Still, the one guy who did as kosher a swap as possible spent over a grand IIRC.
     
    #17 Mendel Leisk, Nov 23, 2016
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  18. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Ahh I see. Yes I forgot about the difference in the walls. I assumed they were the same for cost measures so all that was different, was the raised floor.

    Yeah it's not cheap. I think someone who wanted a Gen 4 "Touring specific rear bumper garnish" didn't realise it was more than just swapping out the plastic piece. The lower side bits of the rear bumper is different between the Touring and non-Touring.
     
    #18 Tideland Prius, Nov 23, 2016
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  19. gvp1995

    gvp1995 Active Member

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    I gave it a long thought, and in the end for me the choice was between a few security features (namely: cross traffic alert and blind spot monitor) and a spare tire. I chose the later and never regretted. Just came back from a long road trip. One day we were driving about 400 miles with no cell connection and virtually no cars around. In such drive a spare tire can be much more useful than a blind spot monitor :)
     
    #19 gvp1995, Nov 23, 2016
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  20. cdoming4

    cdoming4 Junior Member

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    #20 cdoming4, Feb 22, 2018
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