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No Spare Tire in USA...any regrets?

Does anyone have regrets in USA because of no spare tire?

Not yet. :-)

I will when I get a flat and the flat repair kit doesn't work.

No, and I don't expect to regret it. My last car (a LEAF) also did not have any spare at all, and I never had any issue. In fact, during my more than 30 years of driving, I have never had a flat that I couldn't just pump up enough to get to a service station/etc.

The wife shredded a rear on the audi last summer. And then proceeded to drive a mile with a flat tire...

At that point, I was glad to have a proper spare. Kudos to Vredestein, as the rim was unscathed.

I agree with jat.

The last 4 cars I had never had a spare tire come out of the trunk. I carry goo & a compressor (& I have never used them on the road either).

My wife is worried enough about it that she does NOT want me to buy one. I may have to buy a "donut" spare and keep it in the frunk just to ease her mind.

Won't fit, if it's big enough diameter for the car. Do you get flats much? How many in the last decade?

@BrianH - I think you could get a low-profile tire on an 18" rim and it would fit in the frunk, but I don't know what having mismatched size tires will do to the yaw control systems or the air suspension.

I have an escalade hybrid. It does not have a spare tire. Last year we were leaving Palm Springs around 5:00 pm on a Sunday. I hit something on the road and blew a tire.
Every place AAA called was closed....
No need to explain the rest.

I wonder how many original BMW Z3 owners regretted not having a spare tire? Would be a fairly good litmus test, as there will a LOT of Z3's on the road at one time.

Does the goo affect the tire after its repaired?

A side note to my above comments on the Escalade.
The Tesla S is incredible! Wouldn't trade it for any car, spare tire or not.


We still have our 2001 Z3. But it does have a spare.

Honestly I do not know why they do not offer one as a option... The lack of a spare disturbs many buyers not just me...

When I lived in New York the pothole pocked and garbage strewn streets made flats a normal occurance... I still get them on occasion here in relatively benign Florida.

Come on TM lets get real! Offer a spare tyre! It is not that expensive or difficult...

@FLsportscar - many newer cars, particularly BEV/HEVs, don't have spares. Tesla is just following the trend.

@ TikiMan

My 1999 Z3 has the spare and I have needed it more then once in the last 14 years. Only the M roadster has no spare. It did come with the goop and lifetime tow. The Z4 has no spare but came with run flats.

the wheel size is irrelevant. To be useful, it must be wheel + INFLATED tire. And that is a fixed dimension.

A smaller inflated tire would only occasionally touch the ground. Bad idea.

Pirelli makes a run flat that fits the 21" rims. If I were that worried about flat I would go with that. Chance it will compromise performance and smoothness a bit but would give peace of mind. Gives you plenty of range to drive to a tire repair shop from almost anywhere.

TireRack has the tires I am referring to. Here is the URL.

I bought a tire compressor kit at Sears for about $15/$20 bucks.. At about 2000 miles in my S I hit several screws, one tire I was able to get the screw out without a puncture, the second tire had a slow leak. The compressor got me to a Discount Tire where they could patch it (barely). FYI - He said not to every use the slime unless it is an emergency.
I figure 4-8 hours of delay every three years for having space in the trunk and less weight is worth it. even if there is a risk of being stranded out somewhere.
BTW - I wrongly assumed the PilotSport 21s on the S, would be about the same price as my Pilot Sport A/S on my 18inr Infiniti - Wrong!!

The Model S has an appeal beyond just the traditional BEV buyer, you need to serve the wider market not just what the 'avant guarde' buyer thinks is cool. We want a fully functional car, not a glorified golf cart. This car has a big future and will not draw just Leaf buyers, it will draw Cadillac, Buick, Audi, Mercedes and Lexus buyers and will likely trickle down to Chevy and Ford drivers in used sales. It is big enough to be used as a family car, high end taxi, police cruiser even old style performance guys will love it. This car will be everywhere from the mountain roads of Norway to crappy urban streets of inner cities, many potholes and extreme conditions to deal with, not just perfectly kept California suburban roads...

It needs an optional spare (if you do not see its necessity and you want you can skip it, but I want one!). Same with music, devices older people can use, I hate touch screens! They crack, break and misalign so easily! I will not buy a phone without buttons! I want a CD and tape player so I will not be dependent on 3G connectivity to play music... Was joking about the eight track player in the earlier thread, but seriously... Older people need cars too and Model S will appeal to them but a touchscreen is confusing and you need alternatives, even for people that are comfortable with the touchscreen what happens when they crack, misalign or stop working?

1) get a pano, that allows roof racks.
2) install roof rack
3) lash spare tire to roof rack.

All done!

I plan on buying an extra rim and spare (19 inch) I was quoted $275 for the rim. I must be unlucky because I have had plenty of flat tires, a few on the side which are unrepairable.

Why not have a spare, lets say its night time and you blow a tire what are you going to do with your car, have it towed to Tesla service center and leave it overnight? Id rather have either spare on me in trunk or leave it at home and change it myself or have tow guy change it. A lot less headache than leaving it overnight somewhere and getting someone to pick you up.

@BrianH - that isn't the way it works -- do you think that all the cars with compact spares basically drive around on 3 wheels even though they have a total diameter less than the regular wheels?

You mean to say you'd be uncomfortable leaving your S on the curb overnight in Roxbury? (Boston joke)

yep. Geometry rulz. Only the other diagonal pair would reliably touch the ground, unless all 3 regular tires were deflated to the same diameter.

@BrianH - if the suspension were perfectly rigid, sure. But it isn't. Are you seriously saying you have never actually ridden in or seen a car that had a compact spare mounted on it?

I have a space saver spare in my 928 that expands to be the same outside diameter as the other wheels, but deflates to a little over the rim size. Only good for an emergency, but better than nothing on a Saturday afternoon 100 miles from home.

Maybe a continental kit might be a good idea.

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