OldFruity

Hi. Rent fairly frequently from T5 through BA. During my pre flight (drive) checks I pay particular attention to the presence of a spare wheel or tyre repair kit, especially after having broken down with a flat and having to wait 3 hrs plus for assistance/ recovery. Last night no sign of either. I returned to the desk to be told quite forcefully that if they go missing they are not replaced and its completely pot luck as to whether the car booked will have any capability of continuing after a tyre failure! And No this is not a new policy!Can this be right?. Surely any car hire company must at least allow one the option of continuing ones journey without having to rely completely on a pick up service (duty of care??) regardless o f who has to pay for said service. I was gobsmacked , as have even declined cars with missing spares/kits and have never been knocked back or given such an explanation before. Appreciate anyone else's experiences

OF

fife

It sucks that your journey was interrupted, but it doesn't seem unreasonable to me. So few cars have full spare spare tyres these days, and I would only drive on a replacement.

The low-speed emergency tyres are quite dangerous, and I'm amazed they're legal. My partner has been in an accident because of one, and I'm aware of someone locally who died as a result of one failing. Personally, I would rather wait for the AA than use an emergency tyre.

Example:

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-new...ce-savers-safe

- and I think many renters may well be inclined to leave it there, such are the time constraints of the business trip, or the vacation.

- something similar happened locally.

My partner was lucky that the space saver that exploded on him sent him into a ditch, and not into the oncoming lorry.

Richmond_Surrey

Have you rented car in USA before? No spare wheels in most cars, because people were stealing them.

No spare wheel in one of my private cars because manufacturer decided not to put it there due to lack of space.

V10

I don't think it's that straightforward now. It's increasingly common for new cars not to be delivered with a full size spare, or a spacesaver spare wheel. Cars may be equipped with run-flat tyres. Not all tyre failures can be repaired with a can of puncture repair gunk. Added to that the hire company will then have to replace a repaired tyre, or refit a normal wheel when a spacesaver has been used before it can hire it out to the next customer.

It's probably an easier proposition for them, given the probability of a tyre issue, to do a proper replacement as soon as it happens rather than shouldering the increased risk of customers continuing with sticking plaster remedies.

Hannibal Lecter

SIXT UK cars have no spares, btw why have you posted this in the BA forum?

NWIFlyer

As this is essentially Avis policy, and not connected with renting through BA, we'll move it over to the Avis forum.

/mod

OldFruity

Hannibal Lector... posted because its a bookable BA product and thought it may be of interest to anyone flying and or driving through BA and T5. Did search car hire forums, but unfortunately the relevant Avis thread didn't appear and the other companies had Post closed. In hindsight the general discussions thread on that forum may have been more appropriate. MODS please move if necessary.

JLewisinSyr

Many cars are eliminating spares for weight reasons. Some have elected to add inflate kits but others have moved to run flat tires.

flyingbee

Earlier this year my rental car from Avis at LHR T5 blew a tire and there was no spare. We called up the Avis helpline and they arranged for somebody to come and fit a new tire at the roadside. I think we waited about 2 hours to be rescued, but the time taken to do the tire change was surprisingly quick once he arrived.

The tire repair person was very talkative. One of the reasons it took a long time for someone to get to us is that the Avis contract is for a certain brand of tire and that brand wasn't in stock so there was a lot going on behind the scenes to locate a tire and approval for a tire that was not the agreed brand...

It is very common not to get spare tires in cars now, the tire man told us that the type of tire on the alloy wheel was very fragile and breaks easily. It was a long wait but in all honesty I was happy with how Avis dealt with it (and to not have to change a wheel ourselves in the exceptionally heavy rain, the poor guy was soaked).

sdsearch

There is a T5 at many different airports! Are you talking about LHR or somewhere else? Please specify such important information in the future, thanks.

OldFruity

Hi apologies and noted. I originally posted this incorrectly in the BA forum and made the mistake of assuming a connection would be made BA - T5 = EGLL.

OF