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Model 3 has no spare tire

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I agree with you...just because it's a modern car does not excuse not having a spare... This is the same argument for weight or whatever. I don't cut myself everyday.. doesn't mean I'm not going have some band aids around the house....or a fire extinguisher. I rarely have someone sitting in my rear seats...maybe tesla should get rid of them.
I havnt taken the time to read all 23 pages. 😁 so if this is a repeat I apologize. But I will say many car's are not including spares. My 2013 Optima didnt have a spare. I dont think Kia's include them. It had a little worthless pump in trunk that didn't work and fix flat. I will say that I believe the percentages are probably high where a spare is never used so they probably bank on that or people call AAA or service if they get a flat so I can see why car companies dont have them, so my point is its not just Tesla that does this, but at the same it happens enough that I do think they should have a spare.
 
I havnt taken the time to read all 23 pages. 😁 so if this is a repeat I apologize. But I will say many car's are not including spares. My 2013 Optima didnt have a spare. I dont think Kia's include them. It had a little worthless pump in trunk that didn't work and fix flat. I will say that I believe the percentages are probably high where a spare is never used so they probably bank on that or people call AAA or service if they get a flat so I can see why car companies dont have them, so my point is its not just Tesla that does this, but at the same it happens enough that I do think they should have a spare.

Very true. We have a 2020 Mercedes GLC 300 that also does not come with a spare, and it's a 50K vehicle. The GLC forum has a created a cross-reference for spare tires and tools that fit. Fortunately, the spare I bought fits under the trunk floor in our GLC, unlike the Tesla.

And the GLC gets over-the-air updates, so I cringe whenever I read someone saying that only Tesla has that feature.
 
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I looked at many of the options since there is no spare, and no repair kit in the car.
the Modern Spare is over $300 and out of stock.
The Tesla Tire Repair Kit is $60, not a perfect solution, you have to hope that if you have a hole in the tire, it is going to be small and the sealant is going to work. Tesla says if it does hold, you can drive 186 miles. I also bought this kit for an additional reason so that I can top off my tires when I want. I used to use a hand bicycle pump, but I found out today that the newly designed aero hubs or a combination of a short valve stem, does not let me attach and lock the unit onto the valve stem. So this am I had to yank off the aero hub to attach the pump. Not going to want to do this each time.

i wouldnt use the sealant. just get a emergency tire patch kit. if you want to rely on the repair kit you may as well take nothing.
Tire patch kits look difficult to use but are in fact fairly easy to use as long as you can find the hole/screw/nail.
 
i wouldnt use the sealant. just get a emergency tire patch kit. if you want to rely on the repair kit you may as well take nothing.
Tire patch kits look difficult to use but are in fact fairly easy to use as long as you can find the hole/screw/nail.
The main purpose of the tire repair kit was to top off the tires at home. I previously stated I was using a bike pump but it wont fit on the valve because of the aero hub caps or short valve length. I do carry the patch kit with the screw and plug and would try that first, but if I am on the side of the highway, want to get out of there fast, so the sealant would be the first choice. I realize that might ruin the tire for any repair.
 
How many flats are you guys expecting to get in a 10 year period if you feel like you must carry a spare with you at all times? I’ve never gotten a flat ever in my 16 years of driving (barely know anyone who have) so I think it is a risk I could be taking.
 
The main purpose of the tire repair kit was to top off the tires at home. I previously stated I was using a bike pump but it wont fit on the valve because of the aero hub caps or short valve length. I do carry the patch kit with the screw and plug and would try that first, but if I am on the side of the highway, want to get out of there fast, so the sealant would be the first choice. I realize that might ruin the tire for any repair.

i have used my cheap bicycle foot pump to inflate my tesla tire and it works a charm?
 
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I’m going the “full size” route and buying an extra factory wheel and tire to leave in my garage. I don't road trip, so it'll be useful if I get a nail and have a leak, or worse case I can have a family member drive it to me if I'm completely flat. Maybe not the most cost effective option at probably 2-3x the cost of a true “spare”, but should also cover me if I need any wheel repairs, etc.

Tim
 
How many flats are you guys expecting to get in a 10 year period if you feel like you must carry a spare with you at all times? I’ve never gotten a flat ever in my 16 years of driving (barely know anyone who have) so I think it is a risk I could be taking.
Here in the Silicon Valley, we've fixed a flat every year for the past 6 years. My wife and I are driving a Tesla each, so we are averaging one flat every two years per car. I carry a tire plug kit and mini compressor in both cars and so far have been able to fix the flat myself all but twice (once it was a slow leak around a screw at an extreme angle so I just drove it to a tire shop for a patch and the other was too big a hole from a clamp-on tire balancing weight). Most were slow leaks I fixed in our driveway but a couple were by the side of the road and would have otherwise required a tow or roadside service (our Model S is 4 years past warranty). Most punctures were from nails or screws.
 
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Me too, but it might take time for roadside assistance to arrive. I am not changing a flat, but if you have a small hole you might get lucky with the Tesla tire repair kit and be able to plug the hole, at least so you can get off the road fast and go to a tire center. That is why I bought. You can have your beautiful compressor at home, but it will do you no good for flat tire on the road. But I hope you never need it.

If I still lived on the mainland and made the drive from Spokane up to British Columbia for hiking every year I would definitely want a spare tire, and preferably a full-size one. Even if I can't change it myself, it would be better if roadside assistance could just switch the tire rather than tow my car to the shop. I just don't drive far enough from home here for me to worry too much. And I'm never away from home over night unless it's on another island where I don't have my car and flats are not an issue. The low probability combined with my location changes the equation for me. All I really need is to be able to pump them up at home when needed.
 
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Here in the Silicon Valley, we've fixed a flat every year for the past 6 years. My wife and I are driving a Tesla each, so we are averaging one flat every two years per car. I carry a tire plug kit and mini compressor in both cars and so far have been able to fix the flat myself all but twice (once it was a slow leak around a screw at an extreme angle so I just drove it to a tire shop for a patch and the other was too big a hole from a clamp-on tire balancing weight). Most were slow leaks I fixed in our driveway but a couple were by the side of the road and would have otherwise required a tow or roadside service (our Model S is 4 years past warranty). Most punctures were from nails or screws.
My Tesla didn't even have 1,000 miles on it before I had to get my tire patched. It was a slow leak so no need for the spare. Fortunately, my long time local independent garage had no issues with both lifting the Model 3 or patching the noise reducing tire.

Although it did take him two tries (at the same service) as he said he doesn't work on the foam lined tires very often and it was a little bit fiddly to cut away all the foam and get an airtight seal.
 
How many flats are you guys expecting to get in a 10 year period if you feel like you must carry a spare with you at all times? I’ve never gotten a flat ever in my 16 years of driving (barely know anyone who have) so I think it is a risk I could be taking.

Same reason people wear seatbelts even though they haven't been in an accident for 16 years. Sh*t happens.
 
Here in the Silicon Valley, we've fixed a flat every year for the past 6 years. My wife and I are driving a Tesla each, so we are averaging one flat every two years per car. I carry a tire plug kit and mini compressor in both cars and so far have been able to fix the flat myself all but twice (once it was a slow leak around a screw at an extreme angle so I just drove it to a tire shop for a patch and the other was too big a hole from a clamp-on tire balancing weight). Most were slow leaks I fixed in our driveway but a couple were by the side of the road and would have otherwise required a tow or roadside service (our Model S is 4 years past warranty). Most punctures were from nails or screws.

Damn that’s a lot, why is there that much stuff on the roads? Seems to be way different between the US and Sweden at leas…. Wonder if our snow plows in the winter and then brushing away the sand in the spring is what helps keep the roads clear of such stuff.

Same reason people wear seatbelts even though they haven't been in an accident for 16 years. Sh*t happens.

With that logic you couldn’t leave the house without a helmet on since you might hit your head, gotta weigh the cost against the consequences. The consequence of being in an accident and not wearing a seatbelt is high and the cost to wear one is minimal. The consequence of not carrying a spare if you get a flat isn’t that high (a few hours of your time) and the cost is a large portion of your storage space being commited to a spare all the time..

My point is that the risk would have to be quite high for me to want to have to deal with the hassle of a spare, and since it seems to happen about as often as car accidents here I don’t understand why one would do that. But as the poster above points out the risk to get one seems to be much higher in the US compared to here so then I could understand it.
 
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Here in the Silicon Valley, we've fixed a flat every year for the past 6 years. My wife and I are driving a Tesla each, so we are averaging one flat every two years per car. I carry a tire plug kit and mini compressor in both cars and so far have been able to fix the flat myself all but twice (once it was a slow leak around a screw at an extreme angle so I just drove it to a tire shop for a patch and the other was too big a hole from a clamp-on tire balancing weight). Most were slow leaks I fixed in our driveway but a couple were by the side of the road and would have otherwise required a tow or roadside service (our Model S is 4 years past warranty). Most punctures were from nails or screws.
I just got 2 flats within a month (not a Tesla). One, from a nail that went in the sidewall (where do all these nails come from??) ... and one where I hit a massive pothole at just the right angle - which seems to happen at least every other year.
 
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How many flats are you guys expecting to get in a 10 year period if you feel like you must carry a spare with you at all times? I’ve never gotten a flat ever in my 16 years of driving (barely know anyone who have) so I think it is a risk I could be taking.

I got 2 flats on my Tesla last year during my 1st year of owning the car, each just a month apart too. I have probably the worst luck for flat tires. When I had my civic however, I had exactly 1 flat tire during my whole 4-5 years of ownership, but that's due to an mistake from my dad leaving a nail in the garage...
 
Damn that’s a lot, why is there that much stuff on the roads? Seems to be way different between the US and Sweden at leas…. Wonder if our snow plows in the winter and then brushing away the sand in the spring is what helps keep the roads clear of such stuff.
They do the same where I live, but not all locales will brush the sand away in late Spring. I think the issue are all the contractors running around with stuff that can fly out of the bed of their pickup trucks, or off their trailers. Half the vehicles seem to be contractors in pickups, etc.
 
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