Spare tire RAGE!!!

38557 Views 38 Replies 20 Participants Last post by glide, Jul 25, 2017

KC10Chief

Discussion Starter · Feb 23, 2011

My 84 year old grandmother just bought herself a brand new 2011 Chevy Malibu. Last week, she was hit by some guy who came blasting through a red light and totaled out her mint condition Buick. So, she bought the new Malibu. It's a nice car and she's happy with it, but come to find out, it doesn't come with a spare tire or the jack to change it with! The dealer tells me that this is now an option on the Malibu. WTF? Since when is a spare tire an option on a car? I checked the GM website and sure enough, it's a $100 option. They never mentioned this to her when she bought the car and she didn't check to see if it had a spare tire. Honestly, I wouldn't have either. I've never heard of a car that didn't come with a spare tire. I bought a brand new Pontiac G6 in 2008. It came with a spare tire. So did the other 15 or so GM vehicles that I've owned over the years. All of them came from the factory with a spare tire. You didn't have to ask for it. It was just there. Not any more. So, she was going to pay the $100 for the stupid donut tire and the jack, but no. The dealer says that it is $500 to get the spare tire after you've bought the vehicle. You have got to be kidding me. It could not possibly cost this dealer $400 to have a donut tire shipped to Oklahoma and installed in her car. It's not like it's a complicated install. You put it in the freaking trunk! I had four tires and rims shipped to my house in Alaska last year. Alaska. It didn't even cost me $100 for the shipping. But they want $400 to ship a donut to Oklahoma and install it. And people wonder why GM sales suck. My mom and uncle who live in Oklahoma and near my grandma, are talking about going to a junk yard to find a spare tire for a brand new car. A junk yard. That's ridiculous. Any ideas on what we could do to get a better deal or how to deal with this situation? Are we out of luck? I just feel like my grandmother is being taken for a ride. Thanks for any advice!

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BlinkQS

· #21 · Mar 10, 2011 (Edited)

budman65 said:
Has anyone else tried there spare on the front to see if it clears the calipers?

I got a flat on my LTZ on New Years Day 2011, it was on the front passenger side. So I replaced the flat with my spare and started to drive, but the car was very sensitive about it. The turning felt funny and with the fragile feeling steering on the car already, the steering felt much worse with the spare on. The spare did clear the calipers, but it dawned on me that it probably isn't a good idea to put a spare tire on one of the driving wheels (for a front wheel drive car - that would be the front). I put it on the front without thinking because I was a little pissed that this happened. So I pulled over, took off a back tire, put it on the front, and put the spare in the back. It drove home much better after that. Needless to say, having that spare tire saved the day. Didn't have to get the car towed, and since it was New Year's Day, most tire shops were closed. Situations like this happen on the worst of days. So... long live the spare!

I think it is important to have a spare tire on a car. Of course GM will go the cheap route and put it as an option on their newer Malibu's, its typical of them. Plus, if the customer doesn't notice during purchasing that a spare tire is not included (I would think many would just assume that a car will have a spare tire, especially a normal family sedan like the Malibu), the salesman will keep mum about it until after the papers are signed.

Usually the salesman is not your friend, they may seem friendly, but it is all about the money to them. If you notice that there is no spare, the salesman will do his best to sell you on the idea that the fix-a-flat goop is better than having a spare.

-Your car is lighter.

-Its easy to use.

-You have more trunk space, kinda.

-Changing a tire can be messy.

-Onstar will swoop in and save you.

Also, it is just wrong for the dealership to overcharge anyone when if you go back and ask for them to install the spare tire and necessary tools. If dealerships are doing this practice, then to hell with them, that is unacceptable customer service. I don't think they should bend over backwards for you, but they should at least charge you the reasonable 100 bucks (plus taxes I guess), and install it for you. Not the 400-500 bucks as some posters' mentioned.

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Everglades

· #22 · Mar 10, 2011

When I was looking at Camaros, the spare was listed as an option, not standard.

jeepgrady

· #23 · Mar 11, 2011

As previously stated, spares are optional on all GM products, even the Cadillacs.

budman65

· #24 · Mar 11, 2011

Thanks for the info BlinkQS. Yes, I can see how the car would handle much better with the spare on the rear of the car!

BlinkQS

· #25 · Mar 12, 2011

GM needs to stop going the cheap route by not including a spare as standard equipment on a family sedan like the Malibu. The competitors, the Camry and Accord have the spare listed as standard equipment. If GM is doing this to all their cars, like the previous poster had mentioned, then they are greedy bastards. Trying to save every last penny. Below is an image (sorry if its hard to see, I wanted to make it fit the page) that proves my point that Honda and Toyota at least care about their customers in some way, since they put a spare in their cars as standard equipment (the spare tire section is the last row in the picture). GM is just plain stingy, and I will not buy from them again.

If you have to negotiate a spare tire during the sale at the dealership, then GM has gone to a new low. Pathetic.

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08chevymalibultz

· #26 · Mar 12, 2011 (Edited)

I agree! Not the GM that I have bought from in the past! We all know about their financial problems in the past but come ON! You would think after they took our money to help bail them out, they would at least give us better made products and honor their Warranty Policies better but NO, Now they even go the route to cheat us out a Spare Tire. Just Ridiculous & Cheap! Cheap is saying it lightly!

I guess that is one that I had lucked out on, since my car did come with a spare tire!

jlpm59

· #27 · Mar 12, 2011

Agreed!! For a car company, whether it's GM or any of the others, to not provide a spare tire is totally a cheap move. I say make the Fix-a-Flat spray crap an option and credit the amount for the spare tire to the price of the car. But wait, give money back to the customer

?! The world might come to an end if that happened

I'll admit, I didn't even think about checking for a spare tire when I bought my 'bu. I assumed it would have one (even if it was a donut). I found out that a spare tire was an option after I got home and realized it was listed as an option (not as standard equipment) on the widow sticker. If I would have found out that I had a can of Fix-a-Flat as my spare, all hell would have broken loose.

derrickgott007

· #28 · Mar 13, 2011

Come on, it's $100. If that's a no buy deal then the dealership will eat that $100 to make a sale. The one I looked at didn't have a spare, so I told them I wanted black and they dealer traded and ate the difference in order to sell a car. So I got black and a spare for the original price of the one I looked at. Price eaten by dealership to sell a car: $185 (Black paint) $100 (Spare tire).

Don't blame chevy, blame the dealership for not doing what they can to sell a car or blame the buyer for not looking into what they are buying.

I went over my car tip to tail before I signed papers on it.

08chevymalibultz

· #29 · Mar 13, 2011

GM should just include them like many car Manufactures are doing period! As for the Dealership, they should be informing the buyer that GM had went the cheap route and it is an Option to buy instead of them slamming a higher price tag after the sale! GM should be advising their Dealerships to practice better Customer Service skills not matter if they are selling a car or working on one in the shop! GM has the choice of serving the customer with high standards or below than acceptable! The end result is going to affect GM and their dealerships in the long run!

Len McRiddle

· #30 · Mar 13, 2011

Yes Indeed
Inside the dealer showroom is that magazine type rack full of literature on all of the vehicles for sale. Before ever buying a car a person should take one of those home and read it thoroughly. You will know alot after reading that. But thats just one step in knowing about a car before buying it. I notice alot that when I go to look at a car or truck at a dealership, I know more about the vehicle than the salesman does.

Kind of reminds me of this thread.

http://www.chevymalibuforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6025

jeepgrady

· #31 · Mar 13, 2011

It's not too rare that the customer knows more than the salesman in any dealership GM or otherwise.

DrivenDaily

· #32 · Mar 14, 2011

Just a little kudo for my dealership: They order ALL of their cars with spare tires. The only ones they sell without are ones that are dealer-traded that come without one.

Sounds like they heard the call before anyone opened their mouth! If one can do it so can many more.

alves_bja

· #33 · Aug 27, 2011

First, I want to say that I should have known that the 2011 Malibu that I bought did NOT have a spare. Ultimately, that's my responsibility as the buyer.

On the other hand, we had bought a 2009 Malibu, a 2004 Saturn, a 1997 Saturn, a 1996 Lumina. All had spares. It never crossed my mind that I would not have a spare. I had never heard of a "no spare" new car. No one ever mentioned it when discussing new cars. Consumer Reports never makes an issue of it.

So I followed the link to the GMPartsDirect.com web site, found the part (I thought), verified it via email with my VIN, and made an order.

What did I get? I got a rim. No tire. They don't take phone calls so I emailed them. Well -- the part I ordered was the rim. However, the part I ordered said "Compact Spare" -- it didn't say "rim". So I emailed them and asked what to do and they said that they do not have the tire.

So basically, I was ripped off. So if anyone else is going to follow the thread and buy the compact spare from GMPartsDirect, you should better think again. Unless you want a rim, with no tire.

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MalibuKen

· #34 · Aug 27, 2011

alves_bja said:
So I followed the link to the GMPartsDirect.com web site, found the part (I thought), verified it via email with my VIN, and made an order.

Contrary to what the name might lead you to believe, I think that web site and business is NOT really owned or controlled by GM.......is that right ??

I always suggest asking your local dealer about parts first.
If nothing else, that gives you a price benchmark to keep you from getting gouged with things like excessive shipping costs.

I think that any tire dealer probably can get you a spare "donut" tire.
What about a jack ??

alves_bja

· #35 · Aug 27, 2011

I knew that the site was not owned by GM. I had already called my dealership which gave me the runaround, it was $300, it would take forever to be delivered, etc. And besides, I should have read the sticker. The sticker said Tire Inflation Kit, it didn't say "No Spare" or in lieu of spare. People seemed to say on this forum that they were able to get the compact spare from the web site.

How I found out in the first place was an article in the Chicago Tribune about 6 weeks after I bought the car. Then I went out to my car and sure enough, no spare. I had never heard of such a thing and it was embarrassing to find out via a newspaper article. Besides, we already had a 2009 Malibu.

So I have the rim and the jack from the web site, just no actual tire!

Vegabond

· #36 · Aug 27, 2011

alves_bja said:
I knew that the site was not owned by GM. I had already called my dealership which gave me the runaround, it was $300, it would take forever to be delivered, etc. And besides, I should have read the sticker. The sticker said Tire Inflation Kit, it didn't say "No Spare" or in lieu of spare. People seemed to say on this forum that they were able to get the compact spare from the web site.

How I found out in the first place was an article in the Chicago Tribune about 6 weeks after I bought the car. Then I went out to my car and sure enough, no spare. I had never heard of such a thing and it was embarrassing to find out via a newspaper article. Besides, we already had a 2009 Malibu.

So I have the rim and the jack from the web site, just no actual tire!

I don't know about your sticker, mine states, "Tire Sealant & Inflator Kit in place of spare tire" and "Spare Tire & Wheel not desired". Sorry, this is in the 3rd column above and just below the section marked, "Options & Pricing". I also looked in the trunk to see what was there and the general layout - same with the hood (although I later learned, too late, about the headlight issues).

MalibuKen

· #37 · Aug 27, 2011

alves_bja said:
So I have the rim and the jack from the web site, just no actual tire!

If you have an auto salvage yard nearby, getting a tire should be fairly easy and cheap. They might even trade you one that is ON a rim for your bare rim and a few dollars.

And I just gotta ask.......since the recent Malibu's have had several wheel sizes as options, are you sure you have the right size rim......and know what size tire you need ??

The "donuts" might all be the same; just a wild thought I had.

glide

· #38 · Jul 25, 2017

I went to Canadian tire and bought a steel 16 inch rim. to find out what size tire I needed to match the 19 in low profile tires on my car I went to a program on the computer called tire size. it gave me the perfect match. it cost me 250 dollars but I can drive forever with the spare on my car.

glide

· #39 · Jul 25, 2017

that should have been tire size.com

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