A tyre repair kit is one of the most important pieces of emergency equipment you can carry in your car – offering a quick and safe-to-use alternative to a space-saving or full-sized spare tyre.
See also:
Toyota Touch & Go, Touch & Go+ and Toyota Touch Pro FAQs
How to use the Toyota Touch and Touch & Go multimedia systems
Toyota Touch 2: Introduction
It’s reckoned that on average, UK motorists suffer a puncture once every five years. Tyre repair kits reduce road-side risk by a factor of five and more than halve the time a car is immobilised (source: Tyre manufacturer Continental).
Using a Tyre Repair Kit can be quicker, easier and safer than jacking up your car to change wheels, which means you’ll spend less time in a potentially dangerous situation at the roadside.
The kits also reduce a car’s overall weight, and therefore improve fuel economy.
In this short video, we show you the simple steps you should follow to use a tyre repair kit correctly, and describe the situations in which you should use it.
Finally, it’s important to remember that all new Toyotas come with 12 months free AA roadside cover. If you can’t use the Tyre Repair Kit, or don’t feel confident then contact the AA to arrange roadside recovery.
See also:
Toyota Touch & Go, Touch & Go+ and Toyota Touch Pro FAQs
How to use the Toyota Touch and Touch & Go multimedia systems
Toyota Touch 2: Introduction
What a load of rubbish. Just to save motor manufacturers a few bob we can be left stranded and liable for expensive recovery costs. Bring back spare wheels!!
You still appear not to be listening, these repair kits are a total nightmare and not suitable for the conditions on British roads. My wife was terrified of having a puncture, the possibility of being stranded, or struggling to use this kit horrified her. If Toyota honestly believe this is the future, they are totally wrong. The future for Toyota will be that customers will just walk away. Other companies with similar kits should also take notice. If the kit was the optional extra and not the spare, I guarantee no one would want the kit. This is total lunacy. You never get a puncture in the perfectly clinical conditions as shown in your demo, off the record many of your technicians tend to agree with our comments.
i had a punture last friday night it was dark wet and i used this so called repair kit whichh did not seal so i had to call out break down service as luck would have it i could phone for help.
I for one will not purchase a car without a spare wheel in the future.
Last comment on this matter from me.
Finally heard from customer relations which just said sorry I had trouble with a puncture and again looking into the matter for the future. So advice to anyone thinking of buying these cars think again.
Maybe Jeremy Clarkson should do a bit of research on this problem, would make an interesting programme. Could also include live demonstration of the use of such kits in different locations and conditions. Could be fascinating viewing to see the reality of such kits in use by the general public. Always looks easy when they are demonstrated by the experts in a garage, all lovely and dry. Not on a windy hillside, with pouring rain and muddy roads as an example. Miles from the nearest garage so how long will the repair last? Even worse getting it wrong and not being able to pump it up with help. Therefore, reduced to being transported to the nearest garage who will sell you a brand new tyre….great! Ah! That is if I can get a mobile signal of course to call the wonderful mobile patrols. Get the picture……..
I on the other hand would love to replacace my car and will be more careful with my choice in the future already doing research in case I win the lottery.
H. Davies
Bought a brand new auris hybrid two weeks before Christmas. Following a puncture tonight I was appalled to find my self stranded as a lone female traveller with no spare. The pump and gloop solution was no use in this situation. I stupidly limped home on it rather than be stranded or wait hours for recovery (alone in the dark). Having paid a premium for this car, the cost of replacing the tyres and the sealant after every incident is outrageous, that this so called “emergency repair” may not even solve the problem is nigh on fraudulent.
From being my dream car under a month ago, I now truly regret this purchase and will never feel safe travelling alone without a spare tyre.
Mrs Hughes
Thanks you for your post and we were very sorry to learn of your experience with a puncture. We do take on board your comments about the tyre repair kit. If you talk to your supplying dealer then they can discuss the option regarding a space saver spare wheel for your car. We should make you aware though that this does have a negative impact on the load capacity as it fits in the lower boot area.
Toyota BEWARE! You continue at your peril not supplying a spare wheel with your vehicles. I see that more and more of you customers state that they will not be buying Toyota again if a spare wheel is not supplied. I voted with my cash and bought a VW, spare wheel supplied as standard, they started this silly idea of not supplying the wheels, they soon found out to their cost when people started not to buy!
Tyre repair kits are RUBBISH, RUBBISH, RUBBISH ! Please listen to your customers before it’s too late, once lost you will never get them back!
Understood Mr Dowell. Thank you for your post. We do understand there is a great strength of feeling in relation to the supply of these kits.
Unfortunately Toyota the silence from you has been almost deafening in regard to the spare wheel. You have caused yourselves untold damage on this issue and should abandon this ludicrous idea as soon as possible. I had to purchase a space saving wheel for my new Auris and to be perfectly honest I have not noticed a massive negative impact on performance, despite Toyota’s warnings. Toyota could go a good way to redeem the situation by offering the space saver free of charge, and in the grand scheme of things the negative impact on Toyota could be far greater than the cost of a few space saver wheels.
I too have had no contact from Toyota on this matter, despite expressing my views several times on this page, and I find that pretty poor customer relations.
Hello Alan
Thank you for your post.
Sorry if you feel that we have not responded and we are aware of the strong feeling which tyre repair kits can cause for owners. This is why we provide the option of a space saver wheel on certain models to allow owners to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to purchase one for their car. As this is an owner decision we therefore charge for the space save wheel and can only apologise for your disappointment with this decision. However we hope this has helped clarify our position for you.
Time and time again these repair kits have only proved satisfactory where there is a neat pin prick of a hole, which would only result in a slow deflation any how, any immediate and catastrophic deflation is well beyond a repair kit.
Further there are a number of reports that, where the inflation kit has been successful, some tyre companies declare the tyre a write off because the contamination by the sealant gunk, so that now costs you a new tyre into the bargain.
As for the weight issue, what complete and utter nonsense, Toyota will be telling us next that their cars are only suitable for light weight people.
I am seriously in the market for a new car and the leader currently is a Toyota, but make no mistake if there is no option of a spare I will go elsewhere, if at least a space saver is available I would expect to negotiate for the dealer to provide it free of charge or lose the sale.
All this talk of giving customers choice in this respect is the sort of drivel you get from back pedalling politicians, not from one of the worlds leading car manafacturers.
The ability to get back on the road quickly, safely and with a degree of confidence should be paramount and not the subject of cost cutting and contrived safety statistics.
I am surprised frankly that the EU have’t banned them, one lives in hope.
Toyota, have the guts to stand up to a discredited practice and put spares in all your cars I think it will prove to be a mareketing triumph
Hello Tony
Thanks for your post which highlights the concerns we have received over the provision of tyre repair kits (TRK’s).
We have not got it right every time and do acknowledge that some owners do not wish to have these kits in their car. The specification for the 2014 RAV4 was changed to space saver wheels as a result of feedback we received. The other option is to give the owner a choice so we offer space saver wheels as accessory items on some of our models to meet this demand. We do still supply TRK’s on some of our smaller models though. If a particular model is of interest do let us know and we can update you with the latest specification.
Thank you again for your comments.
Stumbled across this tread while googling tyre repairers.
Came back to wife’s new car in car park yesterday evening to find one of the tyres totally flat.
Administered the gunge and inflated the tyre to get family home.
Fortunately it worked for us and is still OK this morning but came home on back roads as didn’t fancy 50mph on the motorway.
However now ringing round and finding that despite this being a nail right in the middle of the tread and the tyre not been driven on flat, no one will entertain a £25 repair due to the gunge being in the tyre and we are needing a replacement at nearly £200!!!!!!
Last month my wife punctured a different tyre beyond what the gunge could handle so had to be recovered to a tyre dealer – that cost her several hours as well as another tyre!
Nearly £400 on tyres since Christmas is a real shock to the family budget especially as we could repair this on except for the gunge!
Seriously thinking about buying a spare wheel & tyre to shove in the boot.
Very annoyed to discover puncture would not be repaired by Kwikfit after using the repair kit on my 4 month old Yaris. It did not properly seal a simple puncture by a small screw nail. New tyre cost 80 pounds plus 50 for new bottle of fluid! Absolute rip off! A spare wheel and tyre would have been cheaper. Come on Toyota and listen to your customers. Please supply spare wheels. If not I will be shopping elsewhere.
Thank you for your post George and your comments regarding the tyre repair kit. We do understand these kits cause dissatisfaction with owners. We do regularly review our product specification and have brought this matter to the attention of the product team. While we do not currently have plans to change the Yaris specification, your views on this issue are appreciated.