On this thread I found that the size of a donut spare for the 2012 Prius PlugIn Advanced was 'T135/80R 16' Will someone confirm this? Will someone advise me where I can acquire this item? Thank you in advance.
rchaput; yes, that's the right size. You can see my posting of June 2, 2012 in this thread, which lists the contact from whom I got my donut spare tire.
I have experience with both size doughnuts, the smaller, Gen II is considerably smaller in height, that is diameter. So stay away from the Gen I and II spares. When you have the right size, you will see it matches your tires in height exactly . There is going to be a tremendous demand for these things so, move early.
What's that you say? My Gen III's donut tire (and wheel) is far smaller then the real tires and wheels on the car.
Whoah. I'll have to admit, the two times I've been unfortunate enough to have to mount this space saver to my Prius, I felt as if I was listing to the one corner, so I had assumed it was a lot smaller in all dimensions. And when the car is jacked up and one is mounting it to the car, it really does look small. Now that I've had some time to take it out of the bay and place it next to the car, it is in fact the same height, or very close to the same circumference. I learned something today. Doesn't save much space after all, does it?
There are several donut spares with the right size from various vehicles. Just because it's the correct tire size could/should one assume that the steel rim will be compatible?
Lug pattern has to match as well. The computer at the auto dismantler where I got mine first suggested that one from a 2007 Pontiac Vibe would work. It did not. Let the buyer beware.
I've had my Plug-in for just over a month now and didn't know how to turn with this "No spare tire" issue. I figured the repair kit they gave us with the car would be fine. After reading this thread a couple of times I decided to get a plug kit as well. Read the thread a couple more times and decided that wasn't enough either. Read about the confusion over the size and compatibly of the donut spare but a couple of the posts really seemed to nail it down. 135/80D16 seemed to be the ticket. I called four places looking for one, my Toyota dealer, my tire guy, and an auto junk yard he recommended. None of them were any help at all and acted as though they didn't want anything to do with it. The fourth place was a used auto parts dealer four miles from where I work. I told them I wanted a donut spare for a 2012 Prius and they asked me if I was talking about a 16 4. I had never heard the size put that way so I gave her the 135/80D16 size. She looked it up and said they had one from a 2010 Prius but it didn't say it was a match (or wasn't) for the 2012. She would have to sell it to me "as is". I asked if it was new or used and she said used but may never had been used. $40 + $2 tax. 42 bucks out the door! When they brought it out, they had just washed it, but it looked unused. I asked the guy who brought it out about it and he said it came off a wrecked 2010 Prius with less than 10,000 miles on it. I think I lucked out finding one so close at a fairly good price. I still don't know if I will carry it in the car all the time or not but it's nice to have so many options now. BTW, the markings on the tire says T135/80D16 Dunlop Space Miser. The yellow steel wheel looks brand new, no chips or scratches at all. Lastly, I asked my Toyota dealer what an OEM new alloy wheel and new tire, mounted and balanced would cost. $525! Calvin
Thanks blakemster. I got all the info that helped me get it from reading this thread. Thank you PriusChat members. Now off to order my Tire Totes from Amazon. Calvin
A couple of times a year we drive from southwest Colorado to So. Cal. I was very nervous about the prospect of driving across the 'big res' (US 160) with only a puncture repair capability. I purchased a spare (T135/80D 16) from eBay for $ 100 plus $ 25 shipping. The tire was new or almost new. I put it on the car as a test of my long forgotten skill of changing a tire as well as to test it. Drove around the block a couple of times and everything seemed to be OK. I won't keep the emergency spare in the car when I drive locally, but I will when I go on an extended trip. Additionally, I purchased a 'Tire Tote' from Amazon to keep the tire from soiling the interior of the car. You got a great deal for $ 42. The eBay merchant was 'fito0761'
Yes, it was a great deal. I also got to see and inspect it before I bought it. I was also very lucky, that was my 4th call of the morning and the other 3 weren't very enthusiastic about helping me find one. A guy I work with told me to call Tony's and boom, there it was. My Toyota dealer told me the only way he could get me one was from a salvage yard. They wanted $200 for the privilege of serving me. I also had looked on eBay but wasn't exactly sure at that time of the correct size. It was my next step if Tony's didn't have one. I don't think I will carry it all the time but when I do I need a better way of securing it. I really didn't want to store it in the cargo area so I had it wrapped in some plastic (Tire Totes not in yet) behind the front passengers seat on the way home. It rolled behind my seat 3 times during cornering. I guess I had forgotten that tires are round and will roll. Calvin I
You can secure it using a rope through the bottom two bolt holes and the attach point for the right rear passenger bench seat. Get your hands as close as possible to the attach point, and give it a firm tug to raise it enough to feed the rope through, then snap it back in to place: The rope will not interfere with the Tire Tote cover.
I simply move the front seat all the way back and if there is still any room I stuff something useful in that space. In my case a complete wrench set, US and Metric.
