[JasonFH]

We recently bought a platinum AWD and it came with a spare tire. I'm wondering what that space looks like in one without a spare tire. I was curious if someone could put a photo up of that area. (Attached is mine with the spare tire.)

Also as I understand it the ottomans only come on platinum models without the spare tire, but one dealership noted they didn't come in AWD versions? Does anyone have a platinum AWD with the ottomans?

 

[Dimitrij]

In the rear of the area there is a hole (I can't remember what was in it - perhaps the tire inflator?), and in the front there are 2 cupholders. IMO this is a perfectly idiotic waste of space.

I bought a full size wheel, so I have 5 identical wheels and tires now.

 

[Vanfam12345]

curious if someone could put a photo up of that area

ottomans only come on platinum models without the spare tire, but one dealership noted they didn't come in AWD versions? Does anyone have a platinum AWD with the ottomans?

There is AWD, Ottomans, and spare tire. You can only have 2 of those, not all 3.

If you have AWD and ottomans, you won't have the spare. If you have ottomans and the spare, you won't have AWD. If you have AWD and the spare, you won't have ottomans. Primary guess to why involves weight and pushing the vehicle into another classification.

 

[JM1]

View attachment 54091

That's quite the projectile you have there.

 

[JasonFH]

View attachment 54092



There is AWD, Ottomans, and spare tire. You can only have 2 of those, not all 3.

If you have AWD and ottomans, you won't have the spare. If you have ottomans and the spare, you won't have AWD. If you have AWD and the spare, you won't have ottomans. Primary guess to why involves weight and pushing the vehicle into another classification.

Thanks! Had I not had the opprotunity to pick one up the day before Christmas on a phone call that it's available now, I may have waited for an AWD with ottomans and no spare. I wonder if I can swap pannels where the spare is with the non-spare panels.

 

[EricD]

Thanks! Had I not had the opprotunity to pick one up the day before Christmas on a phone call that it's available now, I may have waited for an AWD with ottomans and no spare. I wonder if I can swap pannels where the spare is with the non-spare panels.

You can't, at least not without A LOT more work. The structural members in that area are different between the spare/non-spare versions. The bar that the spare mounts to is a structural component.

 

[JasonFH]

You can't, at least not without A LOT more work. The structural members in that area are different between the spare/non-spare versions. The bar that the spare mounts to is a structural component.

That's a bummer. I guess I have the spare tire if I need it.

 

[EricD]

I have plans to remove the spare and use that space for other mods (compressor for rear-spring airbags when I find ones that work, a 2nd 12V battery and solar controller maybe, etc). I figure if we are doing a trip where I really want the spare I can throw it in the back at the bottom of everything else being packed.

 

[wscan]

Thanks! Had I not had the opprotunity to pick one up the day before Christmas on a phone call that it's available now, I may have waited for an AWD with ottomans and no spare. I wonder if I can swap pannels where the spare is with the non-spare panels.

The parts to convert from no spare to spare are approximately $1400 from Toyota, not including labor. This includes the spare and all panels and brackets that are needed. I would guess the parts to go to no spare would be similar in cost. The entire left rear interior panel has to be replaced.

 

[Bmac13]

In the rear of the area there is a hole (I can't remember what was in it - perhaps the tire inflator?), and in the front there are 2 cupholders. IMO this is a perfectly idiotic waste of space.

That space is for those of us that have an 8 passenger version and decide to remove the second row middle seat and stow it in a compartment specifically designed for that purpose.

 

[Jeff Miller]

I did not want a spare, the extra storage space is great

 

[Nyhunter77]

Hi all, so we put a deposit on a Sienna this past Friday but it's not sailing along as well as I'd hoped. We were not told that the model we were getting had no spare tire. Thinking about it and losing sleep over not having one, I told the dealer we'd like a spare tire. We get a lot of punctures in NYCity and i am not sure if a fix a flat'd tire can be repaired. A lot of articles online say no. What does your experience tell you here? How do you guys with no spares deal with punctures on the road?

It seems really scary to me not to have a spare tire. But because we want one, our dealer where we made the deposit is saying we can't get a model with a spare tire and they don't seem to want to order us up one even if we are ok to wait 2 or 3 months. It's an XLE so it looks like we definitely can get one. I talked to another dealer and said if i could get our offer to them, they could beat it and get us what we want. Ugh, that is very difficult as well.

The one we originally signed up for is coming in on March 6th, really soon but with no spare.

So, I'm wondering, for all of you without a spare tire, what do you think? What's been your experience? What do you do when you get a puncture (I know i'm repeating myself, sorry)? And can you live without a spare? I feel like if I allow my family to get a van with no spare, I'm gonna feel real dumb sometime soon.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Vanfam12345]

Just buy a wheel and tire of proper size at local tire shop and keep it in the trunk if it bothers you. Just be sure to also get a jack and lug wrench since yours won’t have that from factory

 

[Nyhunter77]

Just buy a wheel and tire of proper size at local tire shop and keep it in the trunk if it bothers you. Just be sure to also get a jack and lug wrench since yours won’t have that from factory

Yeah, i thought about that but then that takes a lot of real estate that my kids should be using. Or groceries, or bikes, etc. It seems smarter to me to get the spare in the wall where it's out of the way. The sales ppl are making it so difficult though and no one is answering. I'm not sure if this deal is going to get done ...

I guess they are selling such high volume here, they just don't care.
(I did have a full size spare when I owned a Camaro though, I liked having it but then it was just me at that time with a bunch of school books )

 

[Sienna9816]

Hi all, so we put a deposit on a Sienna this past Friday but it's not sailing along as well as I'd hoped. We were not told that the model we were getting had no spare tire. Thinking about it and losing sleep over not having one, I told the dealer we'd like a spare tire. We get a lot of punctures in NYCity and i am not sure if a fix a flat'd tire can be repaired. A lot of articles online say no. What does your experience tell you here? How do you guys with no spares deal with punctures on the road?

It seems really scary to me not to have a spare tire. But because we want one, our dealer where we made the deposit is saying we can't get a model with a spare tire and they don't seem to want to order us up one even if we are ok to wait 2 or 3 months. It's an XLE so it looks like we definitely can get one. I talked to another dealer and said if i could get our offer to them, they could beat it and get us what we want. Ugh, that is very difficult as well.

The one we originally signed up for is coming in on March 6th, really soon but with no spare.

So, I'm wondering, for all of you without a spare tire, what do you think? What's been your experience? What do you do when you get a puncture (I know i'm repeating myself, sorry)? And can you live without a spare? I feel like if I allow my family to get a van with no spare, I'm gonna feel real dumb sometime soon.

Thanks for the advice!

In DC area, I see about half the units on toyota.com have spare tires. (It is a different story that those units may be sold already, but that is not the point.) I say reach out to other dealers. 2-3 months should be enough time time to get you what you need. I think Toyota makes plenty of XLEs in proportions to other trims so it shouldn't be too difficult.

For me personally, I got what I wanted from a dealer about 2 HRs away (sans spare wheel but you don't want to get me started on full size spare that I carry ).

 

[Nyhunter77]

In DC area, I see about half the units on toyota.com have spare tires. (It is a different story that those units may be sold already, but that is not the point.) I say reach out to other dealers. 2-3 months should be enough time time to get you what you need. I think Toyota makes plenty of XLEs in proportions to other trims so it shouldn't be too difficult.

For me personally, I got what I wanted from a dealer about 2 HRs away (sans spare wheel but you don't want to get me started on full size spare that I carry ).

I love full spares when they fit somewhere. If you have the space, more power to ya Thanks! Looks like i'll have to hunt further out, I'm talking to another dealer right now and it's all um... ah... let me check..

 

[Vanfam12345]

I guess they are selling such high volume here, they just don't care.

They’re also not the ones deciding what gets built at the factory and it seems the factory is manufacturing very few vans with a spare anymore. They’re just not available to sell, so of course the salespeople aren’t much help

 

[Dimitrij]

I didn't have a spare tire either, so I bought a whole OEM 5th wheel (with the pressure sensor) and I have them all rotated every 5K miles. That was not cheap, over $700 I think.

You can also buy an OEM spare wheel, larger than a "donut", but smaller than the regular wheel. It would be around $500.

Still cheaper, you could get a 3rd party spare wheel, probably around $350-500.

The problem with this approach is of course that there you wouldn't have a factory mount to put the wheel on, although if you really, really wanted to you could get one installed (I think it was discussed on this forum elsewhere, I want to say $1.5-2K for the parts?)

I reasoned that I wanted a proper full-size wheel anyway, because Sparkollz is AWD, and I don't to ride even for a few hours on a wheel that is 1" smaller in diameter than the rest of them. With a full size wheel I would just put it on and drive normally, until I can comfortably schedule a visit to the dealership or a tire place.

 

[Nyhunter77]

I didn't have a spare tire either, so I bought a whole OEM 5th wheel (with the pressure sensor) and I have them all rotated every 5K miles. That was not cheap, over $700 I think.

You can also buy an OEM spare wheel, larger than a "donut", but smaller than the regular wheel. It would be around $500.

Still cheaper, you could get a 3rd party spare wheel, probably around $350-500.

The problem with this approach is of course that there you wouldn't have a factory mount to put the wheel on, although if you really, really wanted to you could get one installed (I think it was discussed on this forum elsewhere, I want to say $1.5-2K for the parts?)

I reasoned that I wanted a proper full-size wheel anyway, because Sparkollz is AWD, and I don't to ride even for a few hours on a wheel that is 1" smaller in diameter than the rest of them. With a full size wheel I would just put it on and drive normally, until I can comfortably schedule a visit to the dealership or a tire place.

Yep, talking to the original dealer today, he wants to see if the manufacturer will send the parts to mount a wheel somewhere else. I haven’t seen any videos or documentation that says that’s possible though.
With two kids and one on the way and only seven seating (coming from a eight seater Honda Pilot) i’m really worried about interior people room

my fingers are crossed because that would mean that I get my vehicle March 6 or around that time which is really soon, but I don’t think it’s possible.

 

[Nyhunter77]

By the way, for those who don’t have a spare and have a fix a flat and use that every time, do you know if Tires can be repaired after using that? If so, have you guys found that it’s worth the space savings to not get a spare? Have you ever gotten stuck and not had any way to move on except a tow truck? Thanks