Ridiculous cost of Temp Spare

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Awhile back, I bought an OE full-size spare tire/wheel to replace the temporary donut on my Durango. In looking at the spare, I see they sell it on Tirerack -- for $230! It's a Goodyear Convenience Spare in T175/90D18. It looks to have no tread, and can only go 50 mph for a short distance. Oh yeah, I can't sell mine mounted on a wheel for $30. I probably would have a difficult time giving it away.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?...S&tab=Specs

For comparison, the factory optional full-size spare costs $143, but yet they charge you more on the window sticker (between +$150-200). Do OE manufacturers get a huge discount on these temporary spares? On vehicles where a full-size spare fits -- wherever it's stored, I don't understand why they are not standard equipment?
 
Buy a wheel with a part worn tyre from eBay for cheaps. A lot of cars have a space saver of an aerosol can of foam/glue to save cost and weight.
 
Extreme low volume therefore extreme high price !

I removed the compact spare(and jack) from my S2000, I have couple flat repair tubes plus tire inflator instead. I only had 1 flat in the last 11 plus year, the weight saving of about 18-20 lbs made my S2000 handling a little better and probably saved few gallons of fuel in 53k miles ?
 
Usually can find new compact spares as takeoffs on ebay or in the local junkyard.

I'm lucky enough that I can fit a full sized in my spare compartment. Some vehicles will ONLY fit the donut. Then you have to buy the expensive spare
 
The average yard would probably give you a complete compact spare for free, or maybe free and a little change.
I've gone through the entire life of cars on which I've never had to mount the spare.
The spare in the well of our '02 Accord has obviously never seen the road and the same is true of the spare in our '01 Focus.
The spare of the '99 Accord we bought new and drove for thirteen years never left its well.
Never used dedicated spares are dirt cheap from yards, since they have very little market value and just represent yet another tire for a yard to have to dispose of.
 
Originally Posted By: kkreit01
It looks to have no tread, and can only go 50 mph for a short distance.

Does anybody remember when Car & Driver tested those temporary spares? This was probably 20 years ago, but I remember they mounted a temporary spare in different corners of a Ford Taurus and a Chevy Corvette. They tested the heck out of them in 1/4-mile acceleration, skidpad, slalom course, etc. The Taurus even recorded a better 1/4-mile time with the temp spare on the front axle, because the smaller diameter simulated a lower gearing. They never had one fail during any of the tests.
 
You would think you could buy used spares off the internet all day long, but I have had problems trying to find a replacement for my 17 year old windstar.
 
Originally Posted By: Burt
You would think you could buy used spares off the internet all day long, but I have had problems trying to find a replacement for my 17 year old windstar.


Probably because the local junkyard has them for $10-$25 so with the shipping, it doesn't make any sense to sell them online.
 
They use these to save weight and get better gas mileage. You wouldn't believe what they do to get better mileage.

Look at Ford using aluminum body panels on their new trucks!
 
When I was buying my Honda Fit I wanted them to throw it in as part of the deal. It was a new car and it only came with Fix A Flat and a cheap air compressor.

I fought tooth and nail, and was trading in a Cobalt at the same time that had the same spare only a larger hub (no big deal).

So I said, if you don't give me the Honda spare with the jack kit I'm taking it out of the Cobalt and you can worry about finding a spare and jack for that.

The sales guy whined and I told him I don't owe him a spare either, I consider it an Option as well, and it belongs to me.

So, he gave me the spare kit. And I gave him one too.

He claimed cars don't get blowouts anymore, and the fix a flat was enough.

Well, it proves that every salesman ever born is either a liar or stupid, as it saved my but twice. TWICE.

And I rode around on it the first time until I found a sale on tires that I wanted, saving buckets of cash.
 
Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
AAA and no spare.


???

AAA shows up and will give you a jump, a gallon of gas, a tow, or mount your spare...

So, without a spare, how is that helpful?
 
Originally Posted By: Joel_MD
Originally Posted By: kkreit01
It looks to have no tread, and can only go 50 mph for a short distance.

Does anybody remember when Car & Driver tested those temporary spares? This was probably 20 years ago, but I remember they mounted a temporary spare in different corners of a Ford Taurus and a Chevy Corvette. They tested the heck out of them in 1/4-mile acceleration, skidpad, slalom course, etc. The Taurus even recorded a better 1/4-mile time with the temp spare on the front axle, because the smaller diameter simulated a lower gearing. They never had one fail during any of the tests.

Here's my favorite
 
Originally Posted By: Astro14
Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
AAA and no spare.


???

AAA shows up and will give you a jump, a gallon of gas, a tow, or mount your spare...

So, without a spare, how is that helpful?



AAA with their basic membership will tow you like 7 miles I believe. With their deluxe membership it's 100 or so miles.

If you don't have a spare you will be towed.
 
For my 2006 Durango, I wanted a matching spare just in case I ever got in trouble off-road.
Also, the existing 29" spare was too small now that I installed 33" Duratracs.

Solution: I bought a lightly-used, matching, alloy 17" rim for $30 on eBay. Found a matching used 33" Duratrac tire on Craigslist for $50. Mount and balance was $20. Sold the old spare rim/tire for $50.

I figure the alloy wheel is a bit lighter than the steel rim, and the 33" tire is a bit heavier than the 29" spare it replaced, so as far as weight there is minimal downside.

So in total I spent $50 to get a matching spare that I can rotate with the other 4 - and not leave me stranded with a diminished-capacity spare tire.

As for the OP's question: I think auto manufacturers are aware that tires are 100x better than they were 20 years ago. Spare tires get absolutely no use in 98.6% of cars sold. Why provide a full-size spare to haul around and decrease MPG, when it will just die of old age? I assume the temp spares are so expensive as a replacement part from the dealer because they sell so few (like zero) of them.
 
Getting the appropriate sized steel wheel from an outlet like Tire Rack ( ~$50 ) and a off-brand full size spare from some discount tire store will probably be the cheapest option. I did this immediately after buying my car that came with the ubiquitous goo inflator instead of a spare tire of any kind.
 
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