The only way to know if you have a spare is to look, but they were sold with an inflator kit. In 4 years you never even looked what you had under there?

 

As far as I know, Canadian cars come with donut spare, jack and lug wrench. Mine is a 2013 and that's what is in mine.

 

I am too lazy to check my car right but yea.

My 2012 Elantra LIMITED came with a cargo trunk thing so I never bothered to check what was underneath, I assumed nothing.
I was looking at the Elantra Accessories website:

2011-16 Hyundai Elantra Custom Full Size Spare Tire Kit

And I was so shocked to see that an actual spare tire can fit under my trunk.

Anyways, do I have a space for a spare tire under my trunk?!

Been driving my car for 3 years and never bothered to check because the cargo trunk thing is a hassle to loosen.

THANKS.

Did your dealer not mention it when you were purchasing the car whether it came with a spare tire or with the fix a flat kit? First thing my sales guy told when I was looking at the E was that it didnt came with a spare tire but with a fix a flat kit.

Best thing is to just look underneath and see. If i remember correctly most Elantras came with a fix a flat kit rather than a spare kit unless you purchased it as an added option.

 

Did your dealer not mention it when you were purchasing the car whether it came with a spare tire or with the fix a flat kit? First thing my sales guy told when I was looking at the E was that it didnt came with a spare tire but with a fix a flat kit.

Half the sales people don't know, the other half try to sell it both ways: "This 2017 Accent has an inflator and 5-years of roadside assistance to save weight and improve gas mileage, and this 2017 Elantra has an actual donut spare while most other car companies are cheaping out and not including one, I mean ..."

You probably have an inflator if it is a USA car and was bought new, but a full-size spare will fit. The hyundai accessory store link will work, but you can do it less expensively. See the link in my sig - it's for an Accent, but most of the parts will come across - except the wheel and tire size is larger.

 

After 4 years, even if you have a spare, it's flat.....lol

 

My sales rep didn't tell me I didn't have a spare, guess they assumed I already knew.

That Fix-A-Flat **** they have in the trunk doesn't even work. I used it on my dirt bike & ruined my inner tube/ tire.

The inflate machine has been very helpful though!

 

I think all Canadian Elantras came with a spacesaver spare tire; even the Canadian 2017 Elantras do. We lack the TPMS that the US version have though. Don't know what the rules regarding spacesaver tires and the Tire Pressure Monitoring System are, but possibly they might not have wanted the complication of either having to have a spacesaver with a TPMS installed or running the car with 3 TPMS tires and one non-TPMS tire., or it could be a cost-cutting measure for the increased cost of the TPMS.

As for checking for the tire, it's not hard - empty your trunk and lift the floor; there's nothing to loosen. In fact you should check it to get used to how the jack operates and where you need to put the jack when lifting the car. It's much safer familiarizing yourself with the jack at home before you're forced to use it on the side of the road. I pulled out the jack and used it the first year I changed over to my winter tires.

 

I think all Canadian Elantras came with a spacesaver spare tire; even the Canadian 2017 Elantras do. We lack the TPMS that the US version have though. Don't know what the rules regarding spacesaver tires and the Tire Pressure Monitoring System are, but possibly they might not have wanted the complication of either having to have a spacesaver with a TPMS installed or running the car with 3 TPMS tires and one non-TPMS tire., or it could be a cost-cutting measure for the increased cost of the TPMS.

None of the above (the Canadian info is accurate, though). The USA MD Elantra (2011-2016) came with a tire inflator kit.

They did it to save weight, for better fuel economy, and (cynically) so they could sell customers a $300 donut kit for something that previously came with all cars.

The 2017 USA Elantra comes with a donut spare without TPMS b/c too many customers complained and maybe bought something else.

The full-size spare that I installed has TPMS (I bought a used Hyundai rim on E-bay and it came with the TPMS sensor). I've read that having TPMS on the spare can confuse and cause issues with the TPMS system, but so far I haven't had any problems.

Running the car with a non-TPMS spare doesn't cause any issues except that the TPMS light will come on if you ever have to use the spare.

As for checking for the tire, it's not hard - empty your trunk and lift the floor; there's nothing to loosen. In fact you should check it to get used to how the jack operates and where you need to put the jack when lifting the car. It's much safer familiarizing yourself with the jack at home before you're forced to use it on the side of the road.

Well-said!!!

 

Almost by definition less weight = better gas mileage. Now, granted, we are talking about maybe 50-lbs, maybe 0.1 or 0.05 MPG, but if they shave 50-lbs from other installations also. As they say in Washington, a billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you are talking about real money ...

 

I just bought a 2015 limited. The salesperson told me a lot of car manufacturers are leaving out spares because they want the driver to use HELP trucks (in NY) and roadside assistance. This is done in the interest of driver safety he claimed.

 

They can spin it however they want to.

It definitely isn't as safe to change a spare on the side of the road as it was 40-years ago (plus the fact that most people don't know how to do so anymore). OTOH, it's not they safe putting gunk and running an air compressor on the side of the road or sitting in the car at 2:00 A.M. with a shredded tire and the hazards flashing for a few hours waiting for the tow truck to show up.

Personally, I still think it is cost and weight savings - and possibly space savings. (i.e. I personally hated not having a spare tire in my car, but there was a good amount of convenient hidden underfloor storage space that I lost when I added one.)

 

Having a spare tire is basically insurance. You are balancing the cost of the spare (purchase cost, additional weight) against the payoff if you get a flat (time saved, money saved). For me in Arizona, the risk of getting stranded in the middle of the desert in 110 degree heat or where there is no cell phone coverage, is too great a risk to not have a spare tire. That said, I have not had a flat tire on my Elantra in the 5 years and 87k miles I have owned it.

 

Another way to look at this is that due to improved tires and reduced risk of getting a flat, getting a flat tire is not much different from any other failure of the car that leaves you stranded. The difference is that you can prepare for getting a flat. You can reduce the risk of car failure by purchasing a more reliable vehicle.

 

Absolutely. I've argued it both ways. My 2002 Focus came with a donut and in 14-years and 165K miles - the spare NEVER went on the pavement. I had one or two nails in the tires that I pumped up and drove to the tire store to get patched. So to say that you HAVE to have a spare is over-statement. But for me, the peace of mind of knowing if I shred a tire, I can be on the road in 15 minutes instead of waiting 45 minutes for a tow truck to tow me to a dealer that might not be open is priceless.

 

Then again - I've only had three times in all my driving that I was stranded ...

One alternator failure.
One heater hose burst (which I could have gotten by with racer tape, if I had it handy).
Several dead batteries - but that kept the car from starting without a jump - not sure if that counts as stranded.

I have had items fail (trans speed sensor, coil pack module, wheel bearings) that I didn't feel safe/comfortable driving the car without fixing, but that isn't the same thing.

 

I see having a spare and basically what was stated, insurance I hope I never need. But in a past car, one day driving from Augusta to Atlanta, had not one blow out. Put the spare on and went and bought a used tire at a shop to get use home. 10 minutes after getting back on the highway, another blow out.

 

In 1981, I had one vacation trip in a 1971 VW camper when I was stranded and had to be towed 4 times. Sucked a valve twice, engine siezed from broken valve and generator siezed. My wife never wants to buy another VW.

 

Can't blame her and the 1971's were probably more reliable or at least easier to work on than the modern ones.

 

S- happens sometimes. And yes, if you hit sheet metal in the road and blow out more than 1 tire, it doesn't matter if you have a spare or not ...

 

The old air cooled VW's were easy to work on, but were definitely much less reliable than Honda and Hyundai. I did and still do my own repairs. I remember adjusting the valves every 2k miles. Used the old hippie VW Repair manual - Step by Step Repair Manual for the Complete Idiot.

 

Mfgs try to lose weight wherever they can. It may not necessarily show up on our MPG calcs but for the mfgs, they have to submit vehicle weight along with engine, trans, and drive info in order to qualify for a certain "vehicle weight class". this goes into a gov calculation that gives them the ability to put an estimated (or "theoretical") MPG on the sticker at the dealer without having to do real world testing. Remember the MPG issue a few years ago? It wasnt just cause owners were complaining. It was also a calculation error on the mfgs part. All the safety regulations nowadays adds mass to cars so the mfgs have to find other ways to get weight out in order to keep their weight status.

 

My 2013 did not come with a spare I took the spare out of the 2013 Sonata I gave back works just fine and didn't have buy a spare.


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