Lack of spare tire: total cost to me $250 instead of $25

And assuming greed is one of the cornerstones of their "mission statement", the only thing that'll get spares installed across the model lines is a dramatic drop in sales of any models without a spare.

 

I agree.

However, in the US at least, most people that drive a Prius are not what you would call "car people" and can't or won't change a spare anyway...so they get away with it.

 

Agree, I want a usable spare!

 

how does toyota stack up against other mpg's when it comes to % of spares in total models?

 

Maybe depends on what country they're selling in, too.

 

no doubt, o/p is in u.s. (or peoples republic of california)

 

A lot of cars no longer have spare tires so this is what I do. For local trips I have a small plug kit, sealant and pump for small fixable leaks. If I go a long distance I put a complete spare tire and wheel in the back. I always get snow tires and wheels as I go skiing winters. So in the winter I bring one of my summer tire and wheels and in the winter one of my summer wheels and tires. That way if I drive far up North I know I will get back. Only negative is the space the full size wheel and jack takes up. I am not a fan of those small spare tires as they make driving highway speeds dangerous. Also I do this even with run flats on my BMW because they are only good for 50 miles 80 km. If I am 7 hours away I want to be able to get back home and then take care of the flat tire.

 

We carry a spare in the Prime. Since 2017, we have had three flat tires (in almost 200k miles). I couldn't imagine not having a spare.

With the spare, I still get 70 mpg while driving home in mostly rush hour traffic.

Our 2007 Prius came with a spare. The Rav4 Prime apparently comes with a spare. I wish ours had a place for a spare.

The only car I don't carry a spare is my Corvette, since it has run flats. That car barely gets driven, so I'm not too worried. Our other cars have spares.

 

If one brings a spare wheel & tire, be sure it is well lashed down. If someone hits you, you do not want that spare becoming an unguided missile inside your car.

 

I would probably have mine towed if I got a flat.

 

If numerous places where some of us travel, that is both more expensive, and consumes considerably greater time, than use of a spare tire. Especially if the flat occurs far from cell phone service, which applies to many areas in this quadrant of the country.

 

We didn't know about the lack of a spare tire in our 21 Prius. I found out about that here. I don't think we would have bought a car without some sort of spare tire if we had known. It was not pointed out at the dealership. However I did order a spare and have it in the garage. For long trips, I just carry it in the back. For local driving I check air pressures more regularly and if a tire does go flat I'm usually around to save the day by bringing the spare and changing it out. I'm not using that sealant stuff unless there is no other choice.

On our 21 is there any way to look at the tire pressures for the individual wheels? I've got that feature on my 2016 Tacoma and I always give it look after several hundred feet of driving to make sure all is ok.

 

For your information, AFAIK most of the new Gen4 models except the lowest base model come with no spare tire. But for regular Prius, there is a space to store temp spare if you wish to purchase one. Your AWD-e is like Prius Prime in that the rear motor (traction battery in case of PP) is located under the deck so that you have no space to store the temp tire.

If you wish to monitor individual tire pressure in real-time, then the cheapest and easiest (although not most aesthetic) method is to purchase external TPMS like this. It will be totally independent of the onboard TPMS providing individual tire pressure. The only thing is that the sensor is huge compared to a regular valve stem cap, and they tend to not last very long especially in area with winter snow/ice and salt.

If you don't need to have real-time data while driving, I have read that you can use Toyota App to check the TPMS on PP, although am not sure if that works on AWD-e models. Or you can also use various OBDII apps to extract ECU's TPMS data, like TechSteram or Tire Assistant App shown below.