[coco]

In all the years I've been buying cars, I have never had to wonder whether there was a spare tire! I bought my Malibu in October - a 2013 model. This is one of several Chevy's I've bought over the years.

All my other cars had spare tires - since this is first without one, you'd think the salesperson would have let me know this very important fact! How does anyone produce a car without a spare tire? When you're at the point of needing to change a tire, an "inflation unit" is surely not going to help.

I wish I'd found this out before it was too late because I would have NEVER bought this car!!!

I agree 100% with you. I had to buy a separate spare tire and a jack. It has saved me twice on the road,

 

[NterTheRealm]

I have have had 2 tire issues since I have had my 2016 Malibu 2.0T, in both cases the pump and fix a flat would have done me no good. In the first instance it was a sidewall and I was lucky to find a tire shop that had a used 19” tire. The 2nd instance was 1/2 hole in the tread, I won’t go in to details, but.......I rent a lot of cars.

 

[repairman54]

Unfortunately we ''old school'' types who change their own tires are in the minority today. It is fashionable now to use your ''thumbs'' to deal with a flat aka summon road service and wait a few hours for AAA. So saving the planet with less weight in the car with a spare tire uses less fuel than a wrecker having to show up to do the job ?

 

[6.2Blazer]

My dad bought a used '14 in 2015 from a used car lot and it didn't have a spare. The car lot got a donut spare and jack to put in the car.

But in general I agree with the above. GM, and many other car companies, do not include a spare tire because the number of people who actually know how to change a tire are now in the minority. And even if a person could change the tire, many would choose to simply call a service anyway. I also think that flat tires are not as common nowadays with the tire technology. Maybe I'm just lucky but between myself and my wife we have a combined 50+ years of driving experience with a total of 3 flat tires. Two were the typical "picked up a nail" and the third was from driver error as a curb drain was side swiped that cut the sidewall. My last truck was bought new and had 150k on it when I traded it in and never had a flat tire or even a plug. My car has almost 100k on it and have had two small leaks plugged.

 

[imidazol97]

Being "American" would be allowing the car companies to include a spare where the buying public wants a spare tire. Instead we have the EPA regulations from a bloated adminstration of bureaucrats that look for ways to control what they want to call pollution caused by "man." So we end up with 50 mpg CAFE averages or whatever the number was which was recently reduced and the car companies have to try to find ways to dump weight without losing safety.

At the same time we have the bureaucrats adding safety requirements in crash testing to be met and those add on weight or expensive stronger metals.

When I was shopping the brochure online for my 2014 LT2 after I figured out the LT1 got the aerosol can and the LT2 got a real spare as part of the extra cost. I tehn read the stickers on cars on the lot to verify that the trim level I wanted had the real spare.

 

[specgrade]

$600 for a spare kit from dealer and $37 for a replacement can of sealant from dealer. I'll take the can...

 

[coco]

When found out that I did not have a spare tire at my 2016 Malibu Premier, I searched thru ebay and found out a spare tire that would fit the car. I paid around $140 for it and bought a jack for $35 at local auto part store. I also replaced all my run-flat tires with normal ones.

 

[DrivenDaily]

$600 for a spare kit from dealer and $37 for a replacement can of sealant from dealer. I'll take the can...

If you never even once have a flat, then either way it's money poorly spent. For me, goo is not the answer, but to each his own. YMMV...

When found out that I did not have a spare tire at my 2016 Malibu Premier, I searched thru ebay and found out a spare tire that would fit the car. I paid around $140 for it and bought a jack for $35 at local auto part store. I also replaced all my run-flat tires with normal ones.

I seriously doubt you had "run-flat" tires on a Malibu unless they were bought and installed after it left the dealership. But kudos on sourcing a spare and jack!

6½ years ago I lost my car to a flood and needed the new tires and the wheels off of it for its replacement. I found 4 temp spares locally for $25 each. They all came with a rim and tire, which allowed the car to roll on its journey to the insurance company. They had already approved of the swap, btw.

 

[campb292]

$600 for a spare kit from dealer and $37 for a replacement can of sealant from dealer. I'll take the can...

Paying $600 for a spare kit takes a special kind of foolishness or lack of knowledge. The $37 cheap goop can that rarely works is silly. The best solution is a mature car that includes a proper spare (like every car I have ever owned) or obtaining the spare and jack via ebay or local parts sources as most have. In gen9 the L/LS/LT all include a spare tire; it's just the Hybrid and Premier cars that sub the goop and pump because the spare is too heavy for the 2.0T...

 

[NterTheRealm]

When found out that I did not have a spare tire at my 2016 Malibu Premier, I searched thru ebay and found out a spare tire that would fit the car. I paid around $140 for it and bought a jack for $35 at local auto part store. I also replaced all my run-flat tires with normal ones.

If you never even once have a flat, then either way it's money poorly spent. For me, goo is not the answer, but to each his own. YMMV...



I seriously doubt you had "run-flat" tires on a Malibu unless they were bought and installed after it left the dealership. But kudos on sourcing a spare and jack!

6½ years ago I lost my car to a flood and needed the new tires and the wheels off of it for its replacement. I found 4 temp spares locally for $25 each. They all came with a rim and tire, which allowed the car to roll on its journey to the insurance company. They had already approved of the swap, btw.

I’m not sure if they qualify as “run flat” or not, but I was able run about a mile on a flat tire to get off a busy highway in Dallas. The tire didn’t disintegrate and stayed on the rim and no rim damage.

 

[Meow]

A few years ago when I had a leak (nail-like building construction staple), I simply pumped the tire up and drove it a distance while keeping an eye on the TPMS pressure value. When the pressure dropped some more, I simply pulled over and pumped the tire back up again. By limping along after a few stops, I reached a tire shop and got the staple pulled out and the tire was patched. No need to knee-jerk reflex and go right to the spare tire when the alternate method worked well enough.

Otherwise, my "spare tire" is actually a AAA Membership Card + Cell Phone.... Peace of mind does add to quality of life.

 

[Smtcoil]

When I bought my car a back in the end of October, I had seen people saying some malibus didn't have spares so I checked and it did. Later down the line a few months I got curious and looked at the spare tire again, to notice that my car did not come with a jack. I bought a car with a spare tire, but no jack lol ?

 

[Ms. Linne]

In all the years I've been buying cars, I have never had to wonder whether there was a spare tire! I bought my Malibu in October - a 2013 model. This is one of several Chevy's I've bought over the years.

All my other cars had spare tires - since this is first without one, you'd think the salesperson would have let me know this very important fact! How does anyone produce a car without a spare tire? When you're at the point of needing to change a tire, an "inflation unit" is surely not going to help.

I wish I'd found this out before it was too late because I would have NEVER bought this car!!!

I have had my 2013 Malibu for almost seven years. I knew about the box and have been determined to put a replacement tire in the trunk. I bought one that was a 2012 Malibu as it looked the same. The diameter and placement of the lug-nuts was about a 1mm smaller or bigger. I lined the rims up perfectly too. Why would Chevy do that? The tire was taken back but it amazed me that a car company would change tire sizes on something that should be more universal for their Chevy Malibu. The two flats were side wall punctures from cutting a corner a little too close; my car insurance company towed my car to a place to fix it. I was upset I couldn't just put a spare on because I was all dressed up for a roller derby match just a block away and I had to miss it, in addition to being embarrassed about my flat tire.

 

[DrivenDaily]

On a side note, there a lady manager who's a local roller derby participant. She's on the small side and her team used her size to their advantage. I'm not sure of what position it was. Some years back we worked in the same building. When her business would bring her to the same cube, I got to overhear some of her stories. I can't recount them, but what I do recall is that the overall feeling was one of rumble-tumble good times.

I agree about the wheel fitment. Gone are the days of a Chevy wheel fits a Chevy, Ford fits Ford, etc. It would be nice if the policy was that what-fits-what is based on the number of lug bolts rather than the system they have now. Maybe they just don't like Camaro wheels on certain cars, eh?