best spare tire option

[tishpit]

I'm not a car mechanic and actually, I'm lucky to find the air filter and fill the windshield washer reserve without reading the owner's manual, so please keep this simple for us non-DIY'ers.

What is the best and least expensive solution for getting a spare tire/wheel combo to keep in the car for emergencies? Can you get just a plain after-market steel wheel that will work? Don't wanna spend more $$$ than I have to and don't care what it looks like... it's only temporary. All the technical talk of the lug patterns and sizes and such is giving me a rash. Also... what about rotating tires??? Do you just rotate the 2 front tires and then the rear 2 tires... like swapping sides? Or best not to rotate at all? Oops... that rash is coming back LOL~!

[jwight]

http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/for...r-smart-10061/

Read it and weep - if this doesn't make you break out I don't know what will.

[buellwinkle]

You can do what I did and get the Smart wheel and tire plan. They come out and tow you to the nearest Smart dealer, fix or replace tire or wheel. It cost me abot $300 for 4 years or about $6/mo. It's probably not worth it since I have AAA Premier but it was extra piece of mind that my wife wanted. Heck, I can use the crappy sealent that comes with the car and it's Smarts problem in dealing with it.

If you are truly one of the paranoid, here's an option, albeit an ugly option - Spare Tire Holder - US$281.72 : SmartieParts, Smart Parts for Smart Cars

Or this if you are not too tall -

[tishpit]

Actually... I'm 5'5", so storing a spare behind the driver's seat is a great solution. Also finding a used steel rim from a Pure may be a nice way to save a few $. The other stuff is cheap and easy to get (jack, lug wrench) and the tire will prevent my little American Hairless from falling down between the seat back and the storage ledge ("his perch"). Maybe store a portable grill and charcoal behind the passenger seat! That would likewise keep the pup from falling into the crevice and I'd be ready for football season tail-gating! GO STEELERS!!!!

[NCC1701]

Originally Posted by buellwinkle

You can do what I did and get the Smart wheel and tire plan. They come out and tow you to the nearest Smart dealer, fix or replace tire or wheel. It cost me abot $300 for 4 years or about $6/mo.

Not a very practical solution for those, like me, who live hundreds of miles from the dealer. Would they really tow my car 300 miles to the dealer and then return it to me, for a FLAT TIRE? Jimminy!!!
I'm leaning toward the Ultraseal solution. Don't want to be without my car for a week due to a flat. LOL

[buellwinkle]

NCC1701,

Don't know what they'll do in your case. I'm surrounded by a half dozen Smart dealers in a 150 mile radius so it's not something I thought about. Don't think I would have bought a car that required me to bring it 300 miles for a warranty repair either.

Tishpit,
We need to find that Pure owner that wants new wheels so 4 of us can have cheap spares. The problem is what size do you get? Will the fronts work in the rear and visa versa?