Mileage on Spare Tire???

[ronkabele]

OK, I have a question I bet you haven't heard.My 2006 Vibe was stolen a few weeks ago, but on Tuesday the police called and said that they had located it. The car was dirty, but other than a flat tire, it was in good shape.The spare tire was on the car when it was returned, and I estimate the thieves drove it for about 600 miles. Does anyone have any idea how many miles the spare tires on the 2006 Vibes are rated to last?Sure am happy to be driving my Vibe again. I had a Ford Focus rental. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't especially thrilling, either.Ron

[Raven]

That's more mileage than an average spare gets in 10 lifetimes. Was it on the front or rear of the car? Check the tread depth on the spare to see how much it's worn.

[harryyiii]

Space saver spares are usually rated for 500 miles.

[ronkabele]

Thanks for the responses.The spare tire was on the front drivers side.The tread on the tire looks OK.The thieves had the decency to properly inflate the spare. Considerate of them. I wonder if they read the manual.

[kunkstyle]

Maybe the cops felt bad for you and filled it.While I'm sure it's okay in a dire emergency, I'd replace it for preventative maintenance's sake. The last thing you'd want is to blow a tire, then blow your spare.

[ColonelPanic]

heh, I think the spare on my Accent has to have at least 300 miles on it... There for a while I kept destroying tires and the tire shop didn't carry the exact ones I had, so I had to get them ordered... and wait, and wait and wait for them to come in... Still has a good amount of tread left on it thankfully.You'll probably be fine with it for short distances, I wouldn't want to drive on it for weeks with that many miles on it... It may be just enough to get you to the tire shop, then again that's all ya need. Replacing it is a good idea - I doubt the tire is really that expensive. I wonder what they did to kill the tire on the car to begin with? Glad you got it back! Hopefully nothing else has been damaged by those jerks!

[bodhi_tree777]

when i first got my vibe we destroyed the front passenger rim by hitting a soccer ball-sized rock on a dark highway rest stop off-ramp. It actually cracked the rim all the way through to the center. We were somewhere in Maryland, we changed to the mini-spare, and drove all the way to my hometown in central PA on it. About 150-200 miles i believe. It held up well, we took it slow. It threw my alignment out of whack though.

[VivaVibe]

Because the spare was on when you found it doesn't mean they drove the whole 600 miles on it. Does it? They could have ditched the car when they had to put on the spare because all the fun was gone. And, you didn't say what happened to the regular wheel and tire. Were they with the car?

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by ronkabele »The car was dirty, but other than a flat tire, it was in good shape.The spare tire was on the car when it was returned, and I estimate the thieves drove it for about 600 miles. Sounds like there was still a flat tire when the cops found the car. Maybe the thieves abandoned the car when it got a flat and the cops put the spare on to move it. Congratulations on getting the car back in good shape. I'd be really pissed if someone stole mine.

[altimar]

Are you filing an insurance claim for the mileage, cleaning cost, rental, tank of gas, etc? If so, I would just claim the spare tire too.

[NibCrom]

Quote, originally posted by ronkabele »Thanks for the responses.The spare tire was on the front drivers side.The tread on the tire looks OK.The thieves had the decency to properly inflate the spare. Considerate of them. I wonder if they read the manual.Maybe you got really lucky and they changed the oil too.