Overage Spare refused?

Over on motorcycle forums which I belong to several and on some tire forums you will hear discussion of tires being outside as in on a vehicle for much longer than 4 years the rubber begins to degrade and can literally break down and blow up and blow out so these are numbers that some companies throw out there so that unsuspecting folks get stuck with a two $300 bill for a new spare etc etc and everything that they can upcharge to get you back on the road I'm similar 70 years old no knee braces My wife is an okay shape in the trunk of my Prius is my DeWalt half inch drive 20 volt gun to remove the lug nuts I carry a better jack than the stock one I've used it twice always on other people's cars but I hear you they're just trying to upsell you and get money from you for their free call that they have to do because they signed up for it they're just trying to get you The best thing you can do is make sure that your garage keeps your spare pumped up if it's leaking find out why and replace it it's not that expensive and remember that your spare is always in the shade in the trunk so the rubber shouldn't be breaking down like it's mounted on the outside of the car sitting in the sun in a state like California but it's a good thing you didn't fall for their nonsense You were the smarter

 

Yeah that's a good idea. Still, that seems like a real lame-duck outfit, the first bunch that came out.

 

Sure, I have towing on my insurance policy.

But, that's the reason I slap my spare on by myself, anyway.

Also, I would not like to wait at night for a tow truck in a sketchy neighborhood. Changing it myself, it's 15 minutes, and I'm out of there.

 

What does a new spare cost?

 

$400., or maybe a hundred for a tire

 

i've never heard of it. i have read that tires over 6 years old should be replaced, but that might come from the mfg's who want to sell more tires.
prius spare is protected from light, and rarely gets used. i would not bother replacing it, and it should be warm after a 8 mile drive.
do check the psi regularly though, along with all the tires

 

The tow truck driver was likely using an excuse to get out a call that doesn't pay much... There's zero issue with using a spare tire older than 6 years if you're only driving a short distance.

If I were in your situation with a leg brace and using a walker, I'd go back into Doctor's office and tell them the situation and say you called roadside assistance but don't want to wait for hours. I bet they'd find someone in the office to do it. And if they didn't I'd start getting the jack and tire out of the car and wave down a passer by to help you out. I know if I was driving by and saw an elderly man in a walker with a leg brace on pulling out a tire jack I'd pull over and get that spare tire on in 5 minutes. Never under-estimate the willingness of others to offer assistance. We're all in this together!

 

About $100 USD.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchResults.jsp?zip-code=90210&width=125/&ratio=70&diameter=16&rearWidth=255/&rearRatio=40&rearDiameter=17&performance=ALL

 

Yep out of sight/out of mind can cause problems!

I need to check my spare on my 2014 Tundra...haven't even looked at it since I got the truck in 2015...glad you got the car back on the road!

 

I bought a spare wheel on-line and the tire at my dealer, $88.90 for the tire (last summer).

 

I bought five lug Toyota rims for the Prius and Corolla and others for like $38 on Amazon for the steel wheel and then of course whatever tire of your choice on that makes a spare or another wheel whatever I certainly wouldn't pay 80 or $90 for a mini spare but that's just me

 

I would do the same, but cautiously. Unfortunately, there are many people that would see it not as an opportunity to help, but as an opportunity to take advantage of someone. From what we see in the news over the last few years (or more), when you're an older couple, who do you decide to trust? There's no do-over if things go south. The times I've gone on rescue missions, I'm paranoid as all heck and go straight defensive mode if another car (other than law enforcement) pulls over to 'help'. I can't think of a single time that my first thought was "yayyyy, someone is here to help". It's always been much, much more negative.

 

a sign of the times...

 

Yeah I guess I'm down here in the south so it's just a normal thing to get out and help whether they're parked under a street light or whatever just what you do let me know if that's a risky for me well I guess so be it I generally try to assess the situation as I pull up to it and then go from there if I need to run over somebody before I get out of the car well I guess that's the possibility just depends I mean I'm not looking for trouble

 

that's my fear, running over somebody...

 

There's a certain level of instinct / combined with intuition, as well as being a good judge of body language that is essential in life. The sooner you recognize a potential threat, the more time you have to create distance. I've seen many times people tune out what's going on around them and become totally oblivious to the development of a dangerous situation.

That being said, life's most rewarding moments are when you help a good person who genuinely needs the help. If you don't look for and act on those opportunities and assume the worst rather than the best, the bad guys have won and everybody loses when they win.

 

I'm grateful you've never run over me Bisco... I mean I have gotten in your way plenty of times...

 

I would guess that spare tires should last considerably longer than the other tires on the car since they are inside and not directly exposed to the elements. Plus with a space saver they are not run at full highway speeds, so even if they are quite old they are not all that likely to blow out. They must go bad eventually, but I cannot recall ever seeing a crack on one in a car I owned.

That said, a real problem for us with most of the space saving spares is that the valve is too close to the wheel, so the bicycle pump (good exercise, right?) we use to keep the other tires inflated cannot latch on. No problem with any gas station air pumps, so far. My son recently bought an air compressor and the chuck in the Harbor Freight accessories kit looks like it will work too. I should try that tomorrow, since the spares are all overdue for a pressure check.