More Americans enjoyed a vacation on the side of the road last year than ever before, according to the American Automobile Association.
Vehicle breakdowns reached a new high in 2015, with 32 million calls logged to AAA from drivers in distress. Of the most common problems, vehicles less than five years old make up a large part of the tally. So, what’s the deal? Are vehicles going backwards in quality?
Short answer: no, but they are rapidly accumulating technology, and that can lead to issues. Dead batteries, flat tires and key problems topped the list of breakdown calls, and newer vehicles saw the most calls for tire, key, and fuel problems. That hints that certain automotive trends can shoulder some of the blame for the stranded motorists.
“Sleek, low profile tires are highly susceptible to damage, electronic keyless ignitions can zap battery life and despite advanced warning systems, more than half a million drivers ran out of gas last year,” said Cliff Ruud, AAA managing director of Automotive Solutions, in a release.
Locking your keys in your car is a time-honored tradition, and AAA still makes plenty of trips to help those who can’t find a wire coat hanger. Four million, to be exact. The growing use of keyless ignition systems now add variety to those calls for help.
Keyless systems “can drain the battery life when keys are stored too close to the vehicle and can lock a driver out of the vehicle while the engine is still running,” AAA stated.
Full-size spare tires are as scarce as supermarket food in Venezuela, and the number of vehicles equipped with a donut spare is shrinking. Tire inflator kits don’t always repair the damage, leading to more calls for assistance. Due to this problem and others, one in five newer vehicles that AAA responded to had to be towed to a repair facility.
Going by AAA’s data, it looks like the best tool to have on you is a charged phone with a good calling plan.
[Image: Michael Kappel/Flickr]
Low profile tires + crumbling roads.
I saw five blowouts in the stretch of 11 miles heading East on I-86 East of Erie PA right on the NY border last spring. All newer sedans (E350 Merc, MKS, forgot the others) with 18+ inch rims. Similar situation back in Indiana where a single pothole blew the tires out on eight more more vehicles, you could see the cars all pulled over less than 1/4-1/2 mile past the pothole. There was a local news crew taping it and everything. A coworker with an LT trim HHR with low profile tires has about 1 blowout per year. I’ve been getting by with careful driving and 70 series tires on 16 inch rims.
Oh yes. One car now wears 225/50-16 in place of the oe 225-45-17–245-40-17. The other car has 235-50-18, the same size on cop cars, who have to be survivable. I know someone in NYC who has done four front tires and rims on a new-ish 5 series. They are winning on the extended tire warranty they bought. You can blow run flats, you can bend a rim….in NYC oft you cannot see, and even if you can, you cannot avoid. RFT plus BMW wheel ? $1200 day in NYC.
The rise of trucks is partly in response to the poor roads…when your pavement looks like a country lane with 18 wheelers, those big balloon tires and suspension travel are more important than 1 g cornering.
Tell your friend to ditch the run flats and get a spare tire kit. Thats what I did after multiple bent rims on my 335d and I have not had a problem since.
Good Idea, and if it was my car….but they go to the dealer, and the warranty pays for a new RFT and rim. I’ll check with them when the warranty runs out. Personally, I’m waiting for BMW to put an * Not available in NYC and surrounding counties :)
It’s not just the big rims, it’s the big rim plus runflat tire combo. If you buy a newer bmw or mini that’s above base trim you need to buy their wheel and tire insurance or budget for immediate pneumatic tire replacement. I know a 650 owner who has put bmw through 5 figures of replacements so far, and he doesn’t aim for potholes. Those tires are fragile and uncomfortable, and they do real damage to the reputations of the brands who spec them widely (in states that have winter).
You don’t “need” to. It’s insurance and there is a normal cost to having that.
Two of my cars have large wheels and one of those with run flats. Never had an issue and have only replaced tires under normal wear.
“Those tires are fragile and uncomfortable” Not sure I agree with this either. How exactly do you get to fragile?
Battery manufacturers are gonna have to come up with better ones that have more capacity to be able to handle the extra power demands of modern cars. That means more money at the time of replacement.
when the car is *running,* all of the electrical power is coming from the alternator. dead batteries on a new car (which aren’t from user error) is usually a software issue in a module which isn’t going to sleep when it should.
I think he means for the key fob. 12V batteries seem to be just fine with a generator (alternator), it’s the key fob batteries that drain quicker and some manufacturers require a trip to the dealership for a replacement. I don’t know if the answer is to use a low-discharge or rechargeable battery that can charge while placed in the ignition or cradle, but I really hate the current trend in car technology. I think we’re creating more problems than we are solving and the problems are getting increasingly expensive.
Maybe we need to go back to the 1990s Honda as a standard…28mpg, keys that didn’t run out of batteries leaving you stranded, 55-70 profile tires, and a full-size spare in the trunk. Oh and those cars were crazy reliable and relatively cheap to own.
possible, but I doubt it. at least with Ford vehicles, if your fob’s battery dies there’s an “emergency” key inside it so you can get in. then you drop the fob into a pocket in the center console which has an NFC coil so you can start the car.
That’s every car. Every car with a proximity key since forever has had a way for you to access and start the car if the proximity key goes dead. There’s a physical key inside the smart key and at least one keyed door lock. To start the car, there might be a spot that you touch the dead proximity key to, and it’s authorized via direct contact, an auxiliary ignition slot, a slot for the smart key, etc. Plus, every car with a proximity key that I’ve had in my fleet (four) gave you ample warning if the key battery was going dead…so that you wouldn’t even have to be inconvenienced to *that* level.
Unfortunately, Luddites keep shouting “What happens if the key battery goes dead?! It’s an expensive paperweight!” without bothering to do a modicum of research.
“Unfortunately, Luddites keep shouting “What happens if the key battery goes dead?! It’s an expensive paperweight!” without bothering to do a modicum of research.”
are you suggesting, sir, that these people might not know what they are talking about? Because I will not sit here and listen to such accusations.
:)
Furthermore, most cars key fobs use passive RFID for keyless ignition. So even if the key fob battery is dead and no fob actions work, as long as the key is close to the dashboard (say in the driver’s pocket or cupholder) the car will still start.
I had one of those 1990s Hondas. It didn’t have a full-sized spare in the trunk.
It had 195/60R15 donuts on all four corners.
My ’14 Jetta SportWagen had a proper, full-sized spare…not a pretty one, mind you (and I know it was steel), but a full-sized spare that was actually useful.
My ’15 Golf SportWagen has a space-saver—with a delicate subwoofer nestled inside it—which I had to make use of this past April.
My ’11 X5 had pricey runflats. A spare-tire kit and conventional tires were available from the factory or the dealer…except on models with the third row, where there was literally no room for a spare.
My best friend’s ’15 Mustang EcoBoost had an electric pump (with a pressure gauge attached) that could be hooked up to the cigarette lighter port, and a tire-patching kit.
Problems usually ensue when people leave their proximity keys inside or near the car when it’s not running. Just about every user manual I’ve seen states that if a prox key is stored inside or within about 6 feet of the door sensors, it will cause certain body modules to stay awake. Eventually, this will drain the car’s battery over a few nights. I’ve never personally tested this, but you’ll notice that Toyota keys in particular will flash an LED periodically if they are near the car, indicating active communication. It doesn’t take long for a 200mA draw to kill a car battery. Dead fob batteries are no problem, but damaged 12V car batteries will eventually bite you on the next extremely cold or hot day.
I’m guessing that people run out of gas more in newer cars because they aren’t aware of how much farther they can drive when it’s on E? Sort of like that old Seinfeld episode where Kramer needed to know how far Jerry’s new car could go after the low fuel light went on.
GM since at least 2003 has basically made all of the BOF vehicles have a 40 mile range after the light. Great episode too.
How long one can keep going on “E” seems to vary a lot from vehicle to vehicle.
The one vehicle I ever drove where E was E, was a 90s S-10. If you got to E, you were done.
I had one vehicle that escapes me (I want to say it was the ex-wifes, then wife, ’97 Thunderbird) where E was merely a suggestion you needed to find a gas station in the next 50 to 60 miles.
One thing that I live in the Zeta G8 is there is a “low fuel” warning and a “very low fuel” warning. The tank is 19 gallons, low fuel comes on between 4 to 5 gallons, and very low fuel comes on at 2 gallons. Very low fuel, find gas station – NOW.
The worst by far is the GM U-Bodies. There is a TSB that when parked on a certain angle nose down, the fuel sloshes forward in the 25.4 gallon tank. You could have as much as 6 gallons in there and a gauge on flat pavement that showed a 1/4, and now be bone dry empty. The angle moves the gas away from the poorly placed fuel pump, so nothing is there.
The Saturn Relay did this to me 3 different times, twice in my driveway which has the perfect angle. The second time required two trips, 1 mile round trip, on foot, to the closest gas station with a 2 gallon can. Took having 8.5 gallons in the tank to get it restarted. The only saving grace the last U-bodies have is at least their transmissions weren’t total garbage.
The Safari van I had sputtered to a halt the moment the needle hit the last line. That was unexpected since every other vehicle I’ve owned has some reserve. There should be zero excuse to run out of fuel in a 5 year old or newer vehicle since they all seem to have warning chimes kicking in around 50-60 miles left on your fuel reserve.
My truck seems to be dead accurate on the fuel countdown from 80km. My wife’s van has a warning light that comes on and that also is around that 80km to empty mark.
There’s also zero excuse to let anyone’s fuel level go much below 1/4 tank, too.
Problem solved.
It’s the low fuel warning that cried wolf. If I fill my WRX as soon as the light comes on I can get just under 12 gallons in it. I’ve pushed it a few times and one I got 15 gallons in it. That’s nearly a quarter of a tank left and I’ve never run out.
Well, when my car says 5 miles of range, it means it. It seems to mainly be American cars (especially big ones) that have lots of reserve capacity.
What I do (and I ask everyone who shares my cars to do) is to reset the trip odometer when the low fuel light illuminates. All of the cars I’ve owned recently can do at least 100km (60 miles) after the light comes on.
Maybe. My CTS has the stupidest light…at 60 miles or so it goes “Low Fuel”…but STOPS the fuel range counter. Thanks Guys !….
My TDI counted down to zero, pretty accurately….as does the BMW. You get to zero on each car…then at some point you get — when you get — you better find a station now…it was about a half gallon there. I do the trip odo trick mentioned above or below….
Still, way smarter than ‘low fuel’ for 60 miles, plus or minus.
Cars made after 2008 have as many issues from TPMS systems alone as cars made in the decade before had from everything combined. Throw in just how shamelessly helpless so many people are today when confronted by a warning light or a flat tire, and it is easy to believe that AAA is seeing more volume now than they did when every highway shoulder had a smoking Chevrolet Vega sitting on it.
What kind of issues do people have with their TPMS?
You end up losing at least 1 every couple years, they just go bad. Granted that’s just the mechanical failure side, we can talk about the feasibility problems associated with TPMS all day for 3/4+ trucks which is an outright disaster.
With what kind of car? Mine is 8 years old and they have all worked fine since new.
Every car I’ve had in the last 10 years except one has had flaky TPMs. That includes 9 cars from Mazda, Subaru, Chevrolet, Ford. The only car that hasn’t had issues (so far) is my current BMW.
Flaky meaning I get a TPM failure at seemingly random times. Sometimes cold weather seems to trigger it. Other times hot weather. Sometimes I can’t identify a problem. Dealers are unsympathetic. They indicate that this is a universal problem.
srh,
Just to clarify, by failure you mean you have a tire pressure gauge that showed all four tires were pressured to manufacturer specs but it was still throwing an error?
jmo, Yep that’s correct. The TPM light comes on for a while, then eventually goes off. When I check pressures, they are within spec. Only once that I can recall (among many, many dozen of false warnings) did I actually have a flat, or even low, tire.
Surprisingly, the TPMS on the wife’s Ford have been trouble free for 8 years. One of the few areas on that car that hasnt given me grief.
+1 on TPMS in pickups being a PIA. I run my fronts pretty consistently but air my rears down to 50 psi when empty which triggers the light.
My Nissan Altima has a TPMS fail every 25K or so. To date, that’s five failures. The failure is indicated by a blinking tire light. If I wasn’t so AR about not allowing permanently illuminated idiot lights on the dash, I’d probably not fix the TPMS system because it comes on when tire pressures drop from the cold and it does not say which tire is low or by how much.
The system on my C7 is superb; it tells you which tire, and what the actual pressure is. It even knows tire temperature – all very useful when a set of 4 tires costs $1,500
Likely true. The new systems don’t use modules at all, they just pay attention to a tire’s rate of rotation, and you “reset” it each time you fill a tire or rotate/balance them, etc.
As an added bonus you don’t need modules for your winter tires.
I’ve always been surprised this wasn’t the default mode of operation to begin with. Hasn’t ABS basically been tracking tire rotation for decades?
My ’06 Scion tC used the calculated method for determining a low tire. It worked but was a pain to reset. I was under the impression that that kind of system was no longer allowed.
Correct. Indirect pressure monitoring systems no longer are acceptable.
When did that happen? My friend just bought a 2016 Mazda3 with indirect tire monitoring. Maybe it’s different in Canada.
Anyway, I’m happy about that. I don’t want to deal with sensors for the winter wheels.
Whoever lobbied for the TPMS mandate in the US had a piece of the transmitter or transmitter battery business, so the reliable and cheap wheel speed calculation method of tire monitoring was eliminated in favor of the expensive and failure prone TPMS module approach.
My wife’s gti doesn’t have sensors, it’s abs based. I didn’t give it much thought initially but it’s added up to over 100$ in savings on my first wheel purchase alone and is 4 fewer lowest cost vendor parts on the car. I can get behind that.
My car has indirect TPMS, which uses the wheel-speed and ABS sensors to determine when one wheel is spinning faster than the others (meaning that it has a smaller diameter and is somewhat deflated). Of course, by then, you’re usually in a lot of trouble, where direct TPMS with proper sensors alerts you much earlier.
Direct TPMS gives people so many false positives that they ignore the real ones. When they aren’t giving false positives, they’re creating flat tires via galvanic corrosion between their aluminum bodies and brass valve stems.
Kyree, those systems have the same published threshold for indication as the individual sensors do. Mine have called out gradual pressure changes accurately so far.
I’ve had zero problems on my 6 year old truck and on my wife’s 7 year old minivan. (Knock on wood).
It was a pain in the ass looking for winter rims. In Canada TPMS is not mandatory but a lot of tire shops argued that it was.
people like ToddAtlasShrugged hate TPMS because it’s an evil government conspiracy to herd your kids into FEMA death panel camps…
or something.
…And he’s right – it IS an evil government conspiracy to make people too stupid to check their tires. And oil. And transmission fluid. and windshield wiper fluid. And spare tire. And to ignore obvious warnings. It’s all part of the dumbing down of the American Public so the commies can take over. And it’s working.
well, the experiences I have had here are with my 09 Mazda6. IT turns out, after quite a few trips to Mazda, the TPS that is attached/screwed to the inside of the rim gets rusted or corroded from the ox/water inside the tire. Over time it become ineffective at preventing air from leaking from where it is attached to the rim.
Not sure if it was just a Mazda issue or for everybody. The part seems to be universal.
“What kind of issues do people have with their TPMS?”
I haven’t really had any issues. My wife’s BMW is 7 years old now and no issues and our Honda Pilot is 9 years old. They all seem to be functioning as designed.
Yeah, I can sort of believe that AAA gets more calls, because nobody can change a tire or walk to a store for radiator fluid anymore.
But more cars on the side of the road? No way. My wife an I commented recently while in Cape Cod summer traffic that back in the 70’s and 80’s the highway was littered with overheating cars on summer days with traffic jams. Now we rarely see cars on the side of the road.
not only were cars sidelined from overheating, their crappy bias-ply tires could have blown out.
when’s the last time you’ve heard of a (properly inflated) modern radial tire blowing out?
Fewer spares, more calls for assistance when there’s a flat.
I’m not sure why everyone has flats so often; I haven’t had a flat in 18 years. Then again, the roads in the places I’ve driven mostly haven’t been horrible, except for the six months or so when I was driving to Baltimore weekly to see a girlfriend.
the last three flats I had were both due to road debris. Prior to that I had gone over at least 11 years without needing even a tire repair. then in the space of one year I:
1) clipped a chunk of concrete kicked loose from a road demolition, tearing a hole in the sidewall of my Mustang’s rear tire
2) in winter, hit a chunk of concrete kicked up from the roadway in my SRT-4 on an unlit stretch of interstate, bending the lip of the rim and going flat. thankfully I got to the shoulder before the tire went totally flat, so it survived. the wheel did not.
3) The day I started my current job, I was driving my Mustang among the company’s buildings for all of the orientation crap. I heard a clinking noise as I was driving, and got out to see a nice u-shaped nail in the rear tire. of course, it was right at the edge of the sidewall, thus un-repairable.
I’ve lost count of the number of flats my wife and I have had over the last 10 years. The cause is always the same: construction trash, like nails and screws, on the road.
My most-recent (and only) flat was caused when someone cut me off while making a protected right-hand turn, and I instinctively swerved toward the curb and ripped the sidewall of my right rear tire. I was very close to work (a couple of blocks away), but by the time I pulled into a parking space, the tire was utterly deflated.
@dal20402 – I used to get 1-2 flats per year on my F150 until I put 10 ply tires on it. I’ve had zero now. My wife’s minivan has had at least 4 since we bought it.
Do you know how many plies your 10-ply tires actually have? It might be as many as two, provided they’re fabric instead of being a single steel ply. These days ply rating just corresponds to the inflation pressure at which tires carry their rated load.
Between the four daily driver vehicles in our household we get at least two flat tires per year. Almost all of them are from picking up nails or other road debris. I think the tire stores encourage contractors to have millions of loose nails bouncing out of their pick up trucks while they drive around :).
I would like to see the # of calls by people to have their tire changed due to a flat.
Their may be a correlation in the number of calls for assistance to the millennials not getting married as quick as previous generations. They do own cars despite what one reads here. A flat tire is in most cases the hubbies job to change to the spare. Before I get banned for a sexist comment, I mean no offense other than you should have your man card revoked if you are a dude and A. Don’t know how to change a tire or B. Would not go and change the tire for your spouse/girlfriend even if you knew how.
I know that when I am out of town, if my wife go a flat and was in the Suburban she would not be able to change the flat; full size spare weighs 80 lbs and I doubt she can dead lift it off the cradle that drops down under the rear. Otherwise she can change a tire.
A good reason why all women should pump some iron!
Not sure I agree with that. Yes, you should know how to change a spare tire. But these days, it’s so freaking dangerous to even be parked all the way over in the shoulder due to idiot drivers that veer onto the shoulder, sometimes the safest thing to do is to get as far over to the right as possible and keep driving until the next off-ramp.
For the first time since the census was started in the 1700’s, the majority of adults are not married.
If divorce laws weren’t so skewed in favor of women, the situation might be a little different.
Women need to now how to change a tire instead of dialing a cell phone. Equality isn’t just wearing pants and getting a job; true feminists would do their best to be equal in all respects.
@87 Morgan – what I have seen way too frequently is lazy tire shop monkeys using the impact gun for all she’s worth instead of using a torque wrench. It has happened to me where I was swapping out winter tires and could not get the wheel off. I returned to the shop with my receipt and complained. They sheered a few studs off trying to get the wheels off. I’ve know multiple other people who have had the same problem.
I’m 23 and almost every young woman I know can change her own tire… Even if you think you can’t, most manuals spell it out in easy terms. Not sure where you all are getting this data from, but it sounds pretty sexist to me.
maybe I too sexist for my clothes, but not only are most women unable to change their tires, most young people.
Not even sure how many young men know how! I am guessing a small percentage.
I tried to get my kids to watch a video on the inner workings of a gas engine. They were shocked at how it worked. I have since been lecturing them on the procedure for monitoring and checking at least their motor oil.
They are tech brilliant, but street and common sense underwhelming.
Hell, I get a kick out of watching my own kids try to follow instructions when putting together Ikea stuff! Directions aside, the type of screwdrivers are unfamiliar to them.
I test them once in awhile by asking them to open a cookbook and at least trying to make pancakes from scratch. No way. Since them I have been on a mission to find the most basic, apartment single lifestyle cookbooks for them.
A real depressing moment for a parent.
And not to bring up a sore subject, but recently I was asked sarcastically to name some ways the regulations for MPG had badly effected my life.
OK. So help me out. Has this switch to low profile tires have anything at all to do with the mad dash for higher MPG?
Has it ALL been solely for looks or performance? Does my MKS with all its 4500lbs really need to be a cornering monster at 80 mph???
Or is the low profile yet another side effect of regulation
Myself? I would gladly give some mpg for that softer, cushier ride I recall from my old Trailblazer.
As jthorner pointed out, the Prius still uses 65 series tires, so no, low aspect ratio doesn’t improve fuel economy.
The low profile tires are a symptom of the pedestrian protection regulations. High hoodlines mean high, bland sides. Giant wheel rims are supposed to make cars look less like the bloated tanks that they are as a result.
Traikertrash, the higher profile tires with smaller wheels will increase your fuel economy. Wheels are substantially heavier than tires.
FormerFF
Maybe…sort of. I mean, isn’t the tire on the Prius a sorta narrow(er) tire?
Is it not true that wider/larger tires need to be lower for the very same MPG effect?
Look, I didn’t make this up.
MBella
I read “The taller the tire the more stretch there is in the side wall. This stretch is what takes horsepower to over come. The harder the tire the better the rolling resistance.”
and
“Most of us now acknowledge there’s some benefit to running low-rolling-resistance tires. They are supposed to improve fuel economy, right? That’s the idea, and for the most part that’s exactly what they do”
from: http://www.truckinginfo.com/article/story/2014/07/the-benefits-of-low-rolling-resistance-tires-explained.aspx
I also think that low resistant tires and tread types are equally, if not more, important. But I don’t think Mftrs would be putting on tires that did not help MPG. The pressure to get MPSs is to great.
Isn’t this based upon the ratio?
Larger tires on say, an MKS, has to be a minimum of 18. I have the 20s, but don’t think it really needs them. I think this extra large size was look and image.
I used to think it was all image and performance.
But I do recall it also being due to the MPG goal required.
However, it cannot get smaller than the 18s.
And as an 18…you need a specific size rim…and the low profile.
Low-profile tires are used to improve handling, not for MPG.
Don’t assume a whole generation is full of losers just because your children can’t competently perform basic tasks.
OK.
Look, don’t get to into your skill level.
Perhaps changing a tire to YOU is considered a basic skill. And yes as a parent I worry about their ability to cook and crap.But lets not get to carried away with the old days.
However, to them being able to take apart and rebuild computers blindfolded is more of a skill useful in their world today.
Running/building programs and the math skill needed to make your car run today is what they consider a skill set.
You can feel good about your skill…but don’t assume this is a basic skill needed for today.
I need to apologize for my tone; you’re pretty much always polite, so I am certainly in the wrong for responding to something that poked me the wrong way with cruelty, rather than trying to understand your perspective. I was in a bad mood and you deserve better.
That said, between manual labor, basic home economics, and high technology, none are mutually exclusive skillsets. These are things that any average, healthy person who wants to be productive in the first world ought to know, considering our ease of access to technology and shared knowledge.
Those capable of extraordinary things can get a pass to specialize and be ignorant of everything else, but it would benefit the rest of us to understand the basics of as many trades as possible.
Obviously, the creeping realization of the importance of these things partially comes with time, but it shouldn’t take long to realize that life kinda sucks if you can’t build, fix, cook or buy anything.
“Full-size spare tires are as scarce as supermarket food in Venezuela, and the number of vehicles equipped with a donut spare is shrinking.”
Quite true.
I purchased the *optional* donut for my 13 Optima Hybrid, against the recommendation of the sales manager, who asked me “when’s the last time you had a flat?” Turns out I received two flats in the following month, but in different cars. I refuse to be forced to use fix-a-flat, which won’t work anyway if the sidewall is damaged.
I’d rather reach my destination on a donut than sit helplessly waiting for a wrecker.
And as ToddAtlasF1 said above, many, MANY drivers on the road today haven’t a clue as to how to change a tire, anyway.
I’m not against AAA, but I’ve never had a membership, either. Also, I’m surprised so many newer cars are being attended by AAA, when roadside assistance is often a feature thrown into new car purchases.
full size spares going away I can understand; wheels and tires are getting so damn big and wide it’d take a ton of trunk space just to carry the darn thing. But I will always at least have a temporary spare. I’d rather change a tire than sit and wait for roadside assistance.
anyone remember the “collapsible” spare tires from the ’70s? Those were freaky.
When my dad owned my Prelude he actually bought an alloy tire/wheel combo to keep in the trunk as the spare. The bottom of the trunk sits up about 3 inches higher as a result. But, if I need to use it, I can drive without restriction on it since it’s the same as the others.
Collapsible spare still used in TDI Touareg to make room for the DEF tank.
but wouldn’t you feel better with at least a donut spare tire in the truck?
I agree there is way too little room for an extra full, but I still want something back there other than the can.
Buy a Wrangler, there is a full size spare with TPMS mounted to the rear door.
Fun fact: That full size spare should technically be rotated into the the four actually touching ground whenever one gets their tires rotated. When I bought a Wrangler a few years ago it was completely new to me. And did I ever get it done? Nope. So when I ended up selling the car there were four mud tires that were significantly more worn than the spare.
This all just brings up another question: how many people even get their tires rotated to begin with?
Incorgnito – I rotate my tires on the vehicle but not the spare.
I’ve had the PITA experience of having to change a flat but also having to pop a wheel off of the front. I had a Ranger with larger off road tires but my spare was the tiny stocker. I’d fry my limited slip if I put it on the rear so I had to put the spare on the front and mount that tire on the rear.
“…more than half a million drivers ran out of gas last year”
And EV critics have the nerve to cluck about range anxiety? I’ll bet the number of EVs stranded for no juice is virtually zero, even accounting for how few there actually are on the roads.
while I take your point, at least when you run out of gas you (or someone else) can walk up with a gas can and get you going again in a matter of minutes. I don’t think I’ve seen any electricity cans yet.
That’s a clever idea though isn’t it? Just as they have portable batteries for your smartphone or tablet, couldn’t they sell one that would add a few miles worth of juice to an EV?
Sure, but at ~8 lbs/mile, that’s a pretty heavy battery. How many miles would you like to carry?
If you’re really low, it’s possible to find 120v outlets in parking lots. If it’s a 20 amp outlet and you have an EVSE that can take advantage of it, the charge rate isn’t bad. In rural areas, campgrounds with NEMA 14-50 outlets can be a good backup. Some of them even advertise an EV charge rate on plugshare.com. There are a lot more electrical outlets than gas stations, so finding an outlet in an emergency is possible.
When an EV runs below a specified capacity percentage, it goes into “limp mode” which flashes a bunch of warning lights and reduces speed, giving the driver time to vacate the roadway and find an outlet or charging station pronto. The EV doesnt just die like an ICE. It would be highly unlikely to find an EV on the side of the road due to lack of power in any metropolitan area.
“electricity cans” – aren’t they called batteries? LOL
There was no anxiety involved at all for a lot of these folks, they believed E meant Enough.
I seriously doubt that more cars are breaking down. AAA simply claims a record number of people called AAA for roadside assistance. People used to change their own flat tires, use jumper cables to overcome dead batteries, etc.
I’m always suspect of AAA articles and survey’s.
People are afraid to jump or be jumped because there are so many warnings about potential damage to the complex electrical systems.
It’s hard for me to imagine what a boost could possibly damage, provided that the donor car isn’t running during the start.
When I was used car shopping things like batterys and tires were some of the most neglected parts on cars, some people wouldnt even sell you a battery with the car to begin with!
No surprise then their cars break down, combined with some of the dumber trends with modern cars.
I think I’ve had only a single flat since before the millennium. (I’ve probably driven between 250-300k in that time.) I’ve only run out of gas once in my life, somewhere in the mid-’00s. And that was because I’d gone to someone’s house in the evening knowing I’d need gas to get back (it was maybe 20 miles) but I waited until the return trip to buy gas, and all the stations were closed. I ran out of gas right next to the pumps in a closed shell station, and they had their advertising on. I had to wait 45 minutes listening to that damn advertising. Have had tpms almost 4.5 years, never a problem.
To know whether the rate of calls to AAA is really rising, it would be helpful to have a denominator on the calls to AAA–that is, the number of calls and the number of members. In the last 26 years the US has grown by around 60 million (mostly immigration), which represents slightly more than 25% growth since 1990.
This stat says nothing as to the reliability of new cars. I’m guessing that most people today never changed a tire or jumped a battery.
Speaking of changing tires, my late father had studded snows for his car when I was a kid…we lived in Jersey. From the time I was 13/14 years old, it was my job to put the snows on the car in November and take them off in April. I remember one day I was getting my tube-zombie on when my father came home in a foul mood. He walked over to the TV, slammed the off button (remember when TVs had buttons?) and said, “Get off your ass and put the snows on the car.” Which I did, using the nice, safe bumper (remember when cars had metal bumpers?) jack that came with the car.
Those experiences taught you a lot.
Bumper jacks – no, those weren’t the good old days. The only ones I barely trusted were the type that had a wraparound shelf the went under the bumper. The hook-and-slot type always made me wonder if the steel would tear. And then for any of them, it was fun to watch the bumper mounts crumble due to excess rust, leaving the car with a twisted bumper AND a flat tire, if you couldn’t raise it.
bumper jacks were not safe.
I think someone’s sarcasm detector is malfunctioning.
I started driving in 67. I carried a scissor jack.
Bumper jacks were a safety nightmare, especially if the car is parked on a slope.
Buying vehicles without fullsize spares is the consumers fault, your supporting automakers doing this so you have to deal with the repercussions.
Not exactly.
We can also thank CAFE requirements and cost cutting. The mfrs are desperate to reduce weight; it’s a lot easier to dump a 40-lb spare tire than to find that weight savings somewhere else.
Plus, it’s easier to save the $50 OEM cost by removing the spare than it is to find that cost savings somewhere else.
And honestly, ‘fullsize spare tire’ isn’t exactly a must-have feature for consumers since they have cell phones now.
Yes but consumers continue to buy cars with small spares or no spares at all, they are supporting this practice. Fullsize spares are much safer than donuts when your in a place you don’t know, on the highway, adverse weather conditions, towing etc. Safety should come ahead of incremental weight reduction.
Yeah, we keep buying ugly damn insectoid cars, too, cuz it’s all they make and we’re too stoopid and weak to demand better.
How can you even stand communicating with us?
Well I mean we could all start buying old restored cars with updated fuel injection. Quickly put an end to the jelly cars.
As much as some say that the consumer gets what they want, a lot of things have disappeared that I’d bet many would rather have. Examples for me would be articulating trunk hinges, and folding side view mirrors – items that once were common even on pedestrian cars like a W body. Now, forget it.
What cars don’t have folding side view mirrors? Two of my most recent cars had side view mirrors that folded themselves when you walked away.
Love articulating trunk hinges, but I think folding side mirrors are a pedestrian safety requirement on new cars. Maybe I’m wrong.
The other issue is how big the wheels are today. A full size spare would take up a good chunk of the cargo space on many cars.
Agreed. My rear tires are 305/40-19 and I have no truck large enough to accommodate that. I also have no spare :)
Think I’ve had a flat tire just once in my life and never ran out of gas, though close several times in my many years of driving (**knocksonwood**).
A donut came with my 2014 auto but so did security locks so that’s a PIA to remove before installing the donut tire IF I need to. Then again, why did I pay for AAA?
But, at least I still know how to change a tire.
The gas tank ‘reserve’ would depend on the auto maker and model of its vehicles.
My older 2005 vehicle had ~3 gallons reserved once you hit “E”.
My newer 2014 vehicle had ~1 gallon reserved so it’s more accurate so will need to fill up sooner.
Lastly, have relatively slimmer lower profile tires which came with my car.
The tires are holding up better than I thought but still squeaks and the ride is harsh and noisy though it does grip relatively well. Going over small bumps or cracks are terrible.
Most likely switching out for better, regular tires when the original ones are ready for replacement.
That picture of the story is very telling. One of my rides is a beautiful black exterior and saddle leather interior 2004 530i. The car is in perfect shape. First year of bangle butt which to my eyes looks great. But as I tell my dealer it is needy. It has run flat tires. I say run away from a car with run flat tires. I have replaced those 3 times. Each time close to 2,000 for a set of four. They ride rough, and can get flats and are not easy to repair. How much of the issues today are run flat tire related? And its idrive is tricky to use. On the positive, the BMW with sport suspension package handles better than my 2014 Mustang GT. But the GT is just a solid package all around (with non-run flat tires).
I think there were issues with the early generations of run-flat tires and they were know for being rough. I have experienced and have heard from others that the latest gen tires are much better and (again from others) often times non-distinguishable from standard tires.
I’ve had run-flats and my wife’s 2010 BMW (with sport package…aka larger wheels and tires) has run flats and we’ve never had any issues or complaints with them. I’ve already replaced them with new run flats and I spent no where close to $2k for the full set. Closer to $800 (with mounting) if I remember correctly.
The article states:
“Keyless systems “can drain the battery life when keys are stored too close to the vehicle…”
How close is too close?
@Blackcloud_9 – must be vehicle specific so one would have to look in the owner’s manual.
If it is close enough to unlock the car, it is close enough to keep things awake and cause issues.
Well that stinks. When I ski I generally throw the keys in the trunk and leave the car unlocked. Guess I should stay away from keyless systems when I replace my current vehicle.
Unless you ski for days at a time, it should not be an issue. A day of extra current draw should be no big thing, but don’t leave the key in the car when you are gone on vacation for two weeks…
Before last week the last time I had a flat tire was back in 2004. And then last week I found a nail in the Jag (not sidewall thank goodness). Had to get that patched. Then blew out a tire on the Volt. Original tires on Volt for 61K miles so just limped it to a Costco and swapped all 4.
The tire warning lights come on my 2008 Isuzu I-370 even when the tires are inflated to the proper PSI. I learned that if I put in an extra 3 to 5 PSI above the recommended pressure the light stays off. Another thing is that the low profile tires seem to blowout much easier and the ride quality is not as good. I have less issues with my 99 S-10 that I have had for 17 years than the newer vehicles I own.
In the old days, I changed my own flats. Now, I don’t feel like getting my hands dirty and I let AAA handle it, since I’ve already paid for the service.
In the old days, I would help others when they needed a jump start. Now, I don’t because modern electrical systems make that too risky. If they don’t have AAA, then I may use my membership to help them.
In any case, many of the services provided by AAA aren’t related to reliability. If someone locks his keys in the car or drives over a nail or drains the battery by leaving the lights on, that is certainly not the OEM’s fault.
I have one of those cars with a spare has the compressor goop in a can instead.
I have not had a flat 20 years.
Considering the fact along with having a AAA membership, it seems to be a reasonable chance to take.
What I don’t understand is why they don’t just include the kind of tire repair kit that has the tool that inserts the fuzzy little self curing rubber strips. It seems those are equally effective, far less sloppy, and would not mess up the TPMS sensor.
I think the article says more about cultural changes than technical ones. It doesn’t correlate with miles driven, nor with AAA membership. Decline in DIY ability is also a factor. AAA calls are up, but self-replaced wheels may be down. Used to be the ability to jump a battery or replace a flat was pretty common. More automatic cars means fewer push-starts. More out-of-shape people unused to walking etc.
I wonder if this just happens to coincide with the proliferation of cell phones?
Has the percentage of people with cell phones actually increased in the past two years? Perhaps it is a matter of demographics, but I feel that we reached cell phone saturation several years ago.
I hate low profile tires for ordinary daily driver purposes. This fad is just dumb. Bob Lutz famously always pushed for bigger rims, skinny tires cause it looked cool, but he was the ultimate reality denier.
For track day, sure. For regular use: Dumb! Worse ride, higher cost, flat prone, harder to keep balanced and bad for fuel economy (the Prius still uses 195/65-15 for a reason!).
In 1995 a 195/65-15 or 205/65-15 tire was standard for a Mercedes E320. That was a great handling and riding car for normal daily driver use. Now an E350 comes with 245/45-17 or 245/40-18 tires. DUMB!
Meanwhile, many new cars have gotten rid of the spare tire all together. Guess what, take out a tire and rim on a pothole and that silly can of aerosol goo is worthless.
+9000
Low profile tires are much better for every day use. Its sad that they’re available on so few vehicles nowadays.
Car & Driver did an article detailing the effect bigger wheels has on a vehicle. Tldr: Smaller wheels provide better acceleration, ride quality, and fuel economy versus larger wheels providing better roadholding.
caranddriver.com/features/effects-of-upsized-wheels-and-tires-tested
This is a matter of opinion and personal preference. Granted most consumers want larger wheels, which lends itself to lower profile tires (that and modern suspension systems are more advanced).
However, there are benefits, even small to lower profile tires. I personally don’t mind it at all, but I also own a sports car with 305/40-19’s in the rear (and no spare). My car has levels of grip and traction I am still in awe of every single day I drive it. I am not interested in fuel economy gains.
Often times there are tire options if someone doesn’t want that. On my wife’s BMW, I think there were 4-5 tire/wheel options when new and there are certainly after-market options.
I think the 18s on my Golf SportWagen are two sizes too big, even though the tires aren’t expensive. I feel like the car would be much more compliant on 16s, especially since it has a torsion-beam rear suspension.
Anyone know if the roadside cleaning trucks have magnets to pick up screws and nails? It’s always been screws that caused my flats or slow leaks.
Thank goodness for AAA. These modern cars are always breaking down. Years ago anyone could fix a car by the side of the road with a rock and a sharp stick, now you better have some sort of road side assistance plan that bail you out.
I’m going to assume that’s sarcasm.
+1.
There should be for that price.
Do they add Nitrogen to keep condensation out of the sensors?
This all amounts to more reasons that trucks are awesome! Mine has plenty of sidewall (P265/65R18 tires), a full-size spare, and a key. Its also painfully easy to get under to jack up to change to a spare if needed.
I dislike smartkeys not because I’m a luddite; but because I don’t think the car’s ignition is a binary function and I don’t like the lack of an “instant-off” switch. When the Toyota acceleration fiasco was fresh I remember thinking that none of this would have resulted in accidents if drivers could either shift into neutral or instantly kill the engine. Cadillac used to have a cool hybrid; it was a smartkey that powered a permanently fixed key on the column. It had the advantages of both. I guess I just don’t like push-buttons.
Any vehicle that’s designed to tow a significant amount of weight will have a full-size spare.
Fair point. My car *never* locks me out of neutral, even though the gear selector is electronic and has no mechanical linkage. It’s mainly the ones with monostatic shifters (see BMW’s joystick) that have the propensity to do that.
Mind you, if you’re in a runaway car and you shut off the engine with the conventional key, you lose power steering and power brakes…which is dangerous. To me, unless there’s a fire, being able to shift into neutral and decouple the engine from the wheels is infinitely more useful than being able to shut off the engine.
And as far as that “smart knob” that functioned like a key, I assume you’re talking about the one on the previous CTS. But Nissan also had it on its early smart-key cars. We had a 2005 Murano with it. So did Acura, on the final RL.
That’s what these people get for not buying Hellcats.