Travellers from Toronto shocked to discover rental vehicle did not have spare tire after getting a flat

A Toronto couple who rented a vehicle says they were shocked to find out their car didn’t come with a spare.

A Toronto couple who rented a vehicle in Newfoundland to tour the province says they were shocked to find out their car didn’t come with a spare tire.

“You kind of have this assumption that there would be a spare tire,” Lisa Glass told CTV News.

Glass and her partner, Matt Barber, recently spent ten days in Newfoundland. They said they rented a Hyundai Elantra in St. John’s to drive to the town of Trinity, but along the way they noticed one of the tires was losing air pressure.

“It kept going down and overnight that night, it completely lost pressure,” said Glass.

“We woke up the next morning and the tire was flat.”

She said they called the company they rented the car from, but couldn’t get a response, so they decided to change the tire themselves.

“My partner said, ‘it’s not a problem, let’s just change the tire,’ but when he went out to the car and opened it up, there was no spare,” Glass told CTV News.

She said she felt that if a rental doesn’t have a spare, the driver should be made aware of it.

“The last thing anyone wants is to be stuck on the side of the road in a remote area with no cell phone service and no spare.”

CTV News reached out to Budget Car Rental on Glass’ behalf but did not get a reply, however, on their website it states, “the manufacturer may not have equipped your car with a spare tire.”

“In the event they did not, they did provide an inflator and seal kit which you can use to temporarily address a tire leak so you can return to the nearest rental location.”

“You should check the vehicle before you leave with the car.”

Glass told CTV News while the rental car did have a repair kit, it wasn’t enough to repair the tire.

Do all vehicles come with spare tires?

While most vehicles used to come with a full-size spare tire, manufacturers moved to a smaller tire, sometimes called a ‘donut,’ about 30 years ago.

Some luxury cars may have “run” flat tires instead, which allow you to drive about 80 kilometres to get help.

“In an effort from the manufacturers to lower production costs and reduce weight for fuel economy, they’re just leaving the spare tire out. So, don’t ever assume you just have a spare tire,” said Ryan Pszczolkowski with Consumer Reports.

Another reason companies have moved to get rid of spare tires is that when most people get a flat, they don’t want to change it themselves or don’t know how to.

Most drivers also have a phone and can call for roadside assistance.

In Glass’ case, she said with the help of some “good Samaritans,” the car was towed to a shop and the tire was patched so they could get back on the road.