2004 Pontiac Vibe Donut Spare replacement

[freeplay]

2004 Pontiac Vibe owner here. Love the car. Good gas mileage, never a problem. Currently, I have 65,000 miles on it.I don't have a spare! I had a flat last weekend about half a mile from my house so I open the trunk lid to get out the donut and whadayaknow, empty. I managed to drive home on the bad tire as it was only half flat.The tire jack was in there though. Stupid dealer and stupid me for letting them get away with not checking the spare. I can't do anything about that. I bought the car out of state two years ago when I was living in Florida (now in Connecticut). Two years with no spare and I drove from Connecticut to Florida and back twice!So to get to the story. I ordered and received a new donut rim from a local Pontiac dealer (in Manchester) for $68 but he doesn't have the tire or know where to get one.I call Firestone and they quoted me $221 and it is on backorder. No eta on when the tire will be available, so.....Any ideas where I can get a tire to mount on the donut rim? Tried a few local junkyards.. (I am in East Windsor, CT). No luck.Mark

[Mavrik]

Online, e-bay... its a pretty standard spare size. try toyota?

[kevera]

If you were at the junkyard,should have looked at 96+ sunfires/cavaliers,dodge neons.Any one of those would fit.Way cheaper than what you're looking at now.

[Blueridge9]

Mark,The good news is that your car has been lighter for 2 years but that was a bad dealer not to tell you that.Anyway I'm glad you were able to get home safely. What an unpleasant surprise. Speaking of spare tires they say we should remember to check the pressure in them a couple times a year since they may lose some over the years just sitting in the trunk.

[DarkSpork]

The same happened to me

[jake75]

Will a full size spare fit in the well? That might be a better and more economical solution. My 2007 T&C came with a full size spare - it was a $25 option. I think that dealerordered all of his T&C's with the fullsize spare. $25 notonly well spent but a bargain IMO.You see a lot of really stupid people running around on a donut spare - apparently oblivious to the fact that they are intended for only getting to a place where you can fix/replace the full size tire, and only at a max speed of 50 mph.

[DarkSpork]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »Will a full size spare fit in the well? That might be a better and more economical solution. My 2007 T&C came with a full size spare - it was a $25 option. I think that dealerordered all of his T&C's with the fullsize spare. $25 notonly well spent but a bargain IMO.You see a lot of really stupid people running around on a donut spare - apparently oblivious to the fact that they are intended for only getting to a place where you can fix/replace the full size tire, and only at a max speed of 50 mph.The spot for a spare tire looks awfully small for a full size spare.

[1oldbanjo]

Freeplay/Mark:I just went and looked in the trunk of my Vibe. The small spare tire (we call it a limper) is a T135/70R16 100M, and the one in my car is made by Firestone but the other companies make them as well. Kind of funny that the car came with Goodyear tires and a Firestone Spare.The junkards can't give those tires away around here and they are basically worthless.....until you need one. Over the years I have come across those things a lot and they go very cheaply. Since you have already purchased the rim - you just need to find a tire in that size on any kind of rim. You will just have to find someone to dismount the tire and put it on your rim......maybe the dealer that sold you the car without the spare would do it for free!Search the junkards, eBay, Craigslist......or put a "wanted" listing on this website in the Classified section and on Craigslist. There is no reason to pay top dollar for this tire - you will be able to find one cheap if you look around.Dave

[Scootman!]

Freeplay~I may be able to help you seeing as though I work for Bridgestone-Firestone and even better, I work in the distrabution center so I can easily find out how much it will cost (with my 35% off discount) and if it is in stock, just give me your size!

[Ol' Timer]

Quote, originally posted by freeplay »I don't have a spare! I had a flat last weekend about half a mile from my house so I open the trunk lid to get out the donut and whadayaknow, empty. I managed to drive home on the bad tire as it was only half flat.Most people never even check the tire pressue in the spare (should be 60 PSI). When they do need it after 3 years (or more) they find the spare is flat (or nearly flat).

[1oldbanjo]

Fereeplay: Here is the answer to your question.....a spare tire for sale:http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=35153Get in touch with him....spare tire for $ 10.

[engineertwin2]

Quote, originally posted by Ol’ Timer »Most people never even check the tire pressue in the spare (should be 60 PSI). When they do need it after 3 years (or more) they find the spare is flat (or nearly flat).I solved that problem like some other peeps on GenVibe - I bought a 4 ft flex hose that attaches to the stem of the spare. The hose is snaked up and through one of the side storage compartments in the trunk. When I check my tires, I check the spare. I had wanted to put a dial gauge on it so that when I was in the trunk I could check it at a glance...oh well...close enough.

[ehoff121]

Quote, originally posted by Scootman! »I work for Bridgestone-Firestone and even better, I work in the distrabution center so I can easily find out how much it will cost (with my 35% off discount) and if it is in stock, just give me your size!Any chance you can get prices for other products for us please?