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
You say you are listening but quite frankly I am not convinced you are. The very least you could do, and almost immediately, is to offer a space saver wheel as an alternative, free of charge. Such a gesture would at least redeem Toyota to some degree, and restore a little faith with your customers, some of whom have remained loyal over many years. Unfortunately judging the experiences of customers on your blog I feel you are in real danger of creating a backlash on almost epidemic proportions. My space saver was an expensive alternative but I felt I had to pay it if only for peace of mind.
Hello Alan
Thank you for your post.
We do understand the concern which some owners have about tyre repair kits. Providing a space saver wheel is an alternative option for those owners who wish to have this peace of mind by purchasing one for their car. We are sorry that we cannot provide these free of charge though.
I had a puncture in Toyota IQ, glue just ran down the road. Took 5 hours to get back on the road, lost a days business. Do Toyota make a space saver wheel for the IQ????.
Hello Andy
Thanks for your post.
We were very sorry to hear about your puncture. We have checked this with our accessory team but unfortunately we do not have any current plans to introduce a space save wheel for the iQ.
having purchased a toyota yaris two years ago through motability have enquired about another yaris for 2015 i am very disappointed to learn they do not come with a spare wheel so therefore i will be looking for another make of car elsewhere
I have just purchased a nearly new Toyota Aygo. It has a spare wheel. I would not have bought it otherwise. Potential Toyota buyers need to make this a condition of purchase or walk away from the sale. Toyota will soon get the message. AA and RAC could do more to make this known to the motoring public. Zero tolerance! NO SPARE, NO SALE.
The Aygo was for my daughter. I’m looking to replace my ’54 Yaris with a new Yaris but won’t buy unless a spare wheel is part of the deal. Toyota are making too much negative publicity for themselves with this issue, which can’t be doing their reputation any good. I’m told a spacesaver wheel costs about £120. This is peanuts on a £14,000 car. WAKE UP TOYOTA. DON’T WAIT TILL YOUR SALES SLUMP BEFORE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
IT’S CALLED CUSTOMER CARE!
My wife and I had a puncture in our Toyota Prius last Friday whilst on our way to a crucial hospital appointment. The recovery company said they would not use the foam inflation system but would send out a recovery vehicle to transport us to the nearest tyre company. What if this was after 6pm and no tyre repair or replacement company was open? What if the tyre had a split in it that rendered the foam useless? After my experience, I will never ever buy a Toyota again that hasn’t got a spare wheel, yet I was a devoted Toyota fan for over 30 years!
Why are spare tyres not available in this country? Does anyone know where I can get one? From all the comments I have read here and elsewhere I see I am not alone. When I contacted Customer Services at Toyota Headquarters I was treated with distain and disinterest by Claire, their representative, who certainly needs to go on a course for customer management and care.
Bob
Thank you for your post and we were very sorry to read of your experience with a puncture and apologise for the inconvenience caused. We do understand your comments regarding the tyre repair kit and will pass this back to the product team for Prius. In view of your comments though we have been in touch with our customer relations team about this and they will be in touch with you again. The current generation Toyota Prius has a space saver wheel as standard, unless you order the model with the solar panel roof as this derivative comes with a tyre repair kit because of space.
The sad thing is that in Australia the 86 was released with a full size spare then it was replaced within 6 months with a “tyre repair kit”. Toyota Aus claimed they hadn’t noticed the spare wheel size when the pre-release planning team went to Japan to look at the 86. While they say the space taken by the spare was the reason for the change for the 86’s built for Australia, I don’t see how this wouldn’t be an issue for all geographies.
After seeing the video and reading the Toyota Aus PR statement about the reason for the change, I smelled a rat. It talks about getting you going and the limitations, but doesn’t say about afterwards. Oddly enough, when googling about the follow up, I keep reading how tyre repair businesses won’t touch a tyre that has the goob in it, the cost of new cans of the goob, and hence the cost of a new tyre.
If the size of the boot was a problem with a spare tyre, perhaps it’s a design problem with the car. I think it would be better to give customers a choice of the spare while or the tyre repair kit.
After reading the comments here and on other sites, I’d never buy a car that has a tyre repair kit instead of a spare. It makes the car totally unsuitable for driving outside the city limits.
There is no substitute for a spare wheel, I don’t know anyone who would use the ” kit” other than in a life saving situation.
Just to add more weight to the very strong feelings Toyota users have about the inadequate and costly repair kit.
I had a puncture outside my home, used the repair kit which simply proceeded to spew gunk onto my drive. My local Toyota agent couldn’t help me out so a relative proceeded to drive me to the nearest tyre repair centre which, as we all now know, wouldn’t repair the tyre due to me using the kit. £150 for a new tyre, over £200 lost in earnings and a piss poor letter from Toyota head office saying they were very sorry.
I’m very sorry too. Sorry that I bought a Toyota without a spare wheel. Sorry that I wasn’t advised by the salesman that the repair kit sometimes doesn’t work and that your tyre will not be repaired if you do use the kit.
I did buy a full size spare wheel and tyre off ebay for £150. So an expensive mistake that I won’t be repeating as I’ll be voting with my cash and shopping elsewhere.
I’ve purchased Toyotas for over 35 years but this experience has certainly highlighted some serious flaws in Toyotas customer handling procedure and information at time of sale.
Hi Al,
Thanks for your post.
We are sorry to hear this and for the inconvenience you may have experienced as a result. If you would like to follow this up further, we recommend contacting Customer Relations through this link: http://po.st/O3vN72. CR will be happy to investigate your case.
Hope this helps.
How long would it take for the AA to attend if you had a blowout in the Outer Hebrides, say Barra?
Also would the tyre repair kit help if the tyre were shredded by, say, hitting an unseen brick in the middle of the road (happened to me a few years ago, saved by spare wheel!). I agree with all the other owners who have posted. I will not consider buying a car without some kind of spare wheel. Up until recently all cars had spares as part of standard equipment, no extra cost.The point about weight and emissions is a red herring, tyre repair kits are a cost-cutting measure using emission and space reduction as an excuse.I bought a spare wheel via the internet and put up with the space reduction. I did not feel comfortable driving my RAV4 before but am happier now!
I have posted before about the the disparity of this puncture repair outfit, Do they think how old people could cope with this foolish idea (I’m 75 and a woman) I have just bought a Honda Jazz
and as part of the deal insisted that a spare wheel was included – they agreed at no charge!
If everyone sticks to their guns sooner or later these car manufacturers will have to listen, after all we are the ones buying their cars and we should get the requirements we need especially at the prices they are charging for new cars.
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