Bring back the spare wheel, say 82% of drivers

More than 15 years have passed since I last had to deal with a punctured tyre, something I’m thankful of whenever looking at the spare wheel-shaped space under the floor of my car’s boot. I miss the security that a spare offers, and it appears I’m far from alone. In a survey of 11,959 AA members carried out on behalf of the motoring organisation, 82 per cent of respondents said they’d prefer to have a spare wheel in their boot rather than a tyre inflation kit.

With pothole-related incidents on Britain’s roads at a five-year high, the case for having a spare wheel in the boot has rarely been stronger. Last year, pothole-related damage accounted for almost half a billion pounds in vehicle repairs, with a large portion of that spend going on tyres.

Mobility as an optional extra

Most newer vehicles no longer have a spare, but many motorists are unaware of this. According to the survey, 20 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds wouldn’t think to check if the car they were buying had a spare. The AA points out that although spare wheels typically aren’t delivered as standard equipment these days, car buyers can often select one as an optional extra. Choosing a spare would help to reduce the number of occasions where drivers find themselves stranded at the side of the road after finding the substitute tyre inflation kit has failed to seal the offending puncture.

Almost half of the survey respondents – 49 per cent, to be exact – said they’d be willing to pay to have a spare wheel kit placed in their luggage area and would welcome the peace of mind that comes with the purchase. Similarly, 35 per cent said that they would hesitate to buy a car if it didn’t come with a spare. The same percentage of respondents wouldn’t feel confident using a tyre inflation kit.

The survey showed that drivers in Northern Ireland (59%) are most likely to pay to have a spare added to their car, – with those living in the south-east (45%) least likely to make the same purchase.

AA patrols dealing with more punctures

Last year, more than half of the AA callouts for punctured tyres were to vehicles that didn’t carry a spare wheel, and even though AA patrols were able to carry out a temporary repair to some of these tyres at the roadside, many required an immediate visit to the garage.

For tyres that are beyond repair at the roadside, the driver is left with a couple of options: Call a mobile tyre fitter or allow the attending patrol to fit a temporary ‘Multi-fit Wheel’, then be followed or recovered to a garage, where a replacement tyre can be fitted. If outside garage opening hours, many opt to call out a mobile tyre fitter.

“The condition of Britain’s potholed roads is leading to lots of damaged tyres. In previous times, if a vehicle suffered a punctured tyre, our patrols would simply fit the spare wheel and wave the member on their way. More recently, since manufacturers opted to fit an inflation kit instead of a spare wheel, it can take our patrols a couple of hours to resolve the same issue,” comments Chris Wood, AA Patrol of the Year.

“Most of the members we attend say that they’d much prefer the peace of mind of having a spare wheel in the boot, even if they had to pay extra for it. As a result, we are seeing spare tyre kits become more accessible online.

Prepare with necessary tyre info

“Being proactive can help to save you time – one suggestion is to store a list of mobile tyre fitters in your phone along with the relevant tyre sizes for your vehicle. This way, if you feel safe to do so, you can quickly arrange a replacement tyre without the need to trawl the internet for the information you need when under stress caused by a vehicle breakdown,” Wood continues.

“Our advice is for all drivers to check if their vehicle has a spare wheel before they need it, and if they find that their vehicle doesn’t have one, to have a plan in place if things go wrong. If they do find a spare wheel in the boot, we’d urge them to check that it is serviceable, if they’re not sure how to do this, most garages are happy to help.”

Edmund King, AA president, adds: “Having a spare tyre can save time and money. If you don’t have one, consider buying one. Four out of five drivers would prefer a spare so it should always, where practical, be offered as an option.”