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Spare tire

12K views 46 replies 20 participants last post by  chaslee301 
#1 ·
I just test drove a 2021 XLE, and I was surprised it did not come with a spare tire given its only a $75 option. I suspect the overwhelming majority of customers much prefer to have a spare even if it means losing a modest amount of cargo space and one of the 135 cupholders. I was even more surprised that the Build a Toyota app does not allow you to add both the spare tire and the entertainment package. Hopefully this is just a glitch in the app and there is not a structural reason that both options cannot be added.
 
#2 ·
Maybe it’s me having zero flat tires in 25 years and 300k miles of driving, knock on wood but I rather have the space and the inflation kit. I wish you can get the spare a la carte so I can bring the spare on long road trips and keep the non spare interior.

I looked into a compact spare when I upsized my oem tire for my current vehicle (to match the diameter for Awd) and the tires were very expensive due to unique skinny sizing.
 
#5 ·
Maybe it’s me having zero flat tires in 25 years and 300k miles of driving, knock on wood but I rather have the space and the inflation kit. I wish you can get the spare a la carte so I can bring the spare on long road trips and keep the non spare interior.
The storage space lost with the gen 4 Sienna spare tire appears to be trivial. There's a similar looking storage space in my gen 3 Sienna and all it's good for it for is for holding my hitch drawbar when I'm not using it and my little folding snow shovel that I carry only in winter. I should be leaving the drawbar home anyway when I'm not using it. .

It should be possible to get the gen 4 Sienna spare wheel/tire as a replacement part if your Sienna doesn't come with it and you want one.

Getting a spare tire is another reason to order your gen 4 Sienna instead of buying one off a dealer's lot.

I've set a sort of "personal flat tire record" with our Sienna in the 6 1/2 years we've had it - two flat/ruined tires in a two week period last summer and a few other flats when the tires weren't ruined.
 
#3 ·
I haven't had many flat tires (while driving) in my 30 years of driving but it has happened. I would not feel comfortable going on long family trips with no spare. That will be one of the main purposes of this vehicle so a spare tire is a must have for me.
 
#14 ·
My story on Flat Tires with my vehicles...Have three vehicles, currently. Getting a new one in 2021.

I have had flats a block from the house. And two flats within two months, driving on local streets.
Going across count had two flats before i got to my friends house. Had to replace several of the tires and were able to patch the others. All from debris on the highway. Nails, screws and other construction junk that you can not see.

So I believe in having a spare tire. If my vehicle does not have one, I get one from a salvage yard. Just make sure it is secure in its location.
Driving around town, usually have a flat yearly. Had Two already this year and had to replace both tires. There is no state laws in requiring construction trucks to secure boxes of screw and nails, etc.
 
#11 ·
We also would prefer having a spare. Just looked at a Limited. The dealer went looking for one on a lot with a spare. In Oklahoma Toyotas are distributed from Gulf States Toyota. The dealer said Gulf States is not ordering any with spares. They looked into buying the spare and associated trim pieces and doing a retrofit, and concluded it would be cost prohibitive. So, a 2 to 3 month factory-ordered vehicle is the only way to get a spare in Oklahoma.
 
#12 ·
How about checking with Toyota dealerships in Kansas and Missouri? We live in Kansas but sometimes purchase vehicles in other states.

Maybe your local or another Toyota dealership could modify an existing order for an unsold Sienna. When I bought my Sienna Limited in 2014 from a Missouri dealership, the wait time was reduced by modifying an existing order for a modestly equipped shoreline blue LE to a blizzard pearl Limited with all packages and a number of factory/port installed accessories. I actually had to suggest that they do this but it was easy to convince the sales manager that they would rather have a higher profit Limited arrive sold than put a lower profit unsold LE on their lot. I got my Sienna in exactly 28 days after the existing order was changed and might have received it sooner if there wasn't a stop sale on the trailer hitch that I had to approve before assembly could commence.
 
#17 ·
In my experience, Fix-a-flat is not a very reliable way to fix a flat tire. It didn't work for me the two times I tried it. Luckily I had a spare tire to save me. Even the instructions say that it should only be used for a 1/4" hole or smaller. So if you have anything other than a very small nail in the tire then you are hosed.

The better question is why Toyota didn't just make a spare tire standard for all their cars. I suspect most customers prefer a spare even if its not a deal breaker for them. Just another bizarre choice that Toyota made for the 2021 MY. I wanted to buy a loaded 2021 Platinum but now I have to find one of the few with a freaking spare.
 
#21 ·
We're a few years away, but would likely need to order a vehicle to get what we want. Still, I find it puzzling + oddly humorous that Toyota is so disinclined to be responsive to end-customer orders. After all, Toyota was the innovative spark behind JIT:

Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing, also known as just-in-time production or the Toyota Production System (TPS), is a methodology aimed primarily at reducing times within the production system as well as response times from suppliers and to customers. TPS can efficiently and quickly produce vehicles of sound quality, one at a time, that fully satisfy customer requirements. We will use these initiatives and develop our human resources to make ever-better cars that will be cherished by customers.
 
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#24 ·
For those looking for a Sienna with the spare (as I have been), here are some thoughts for your search, albeit perhaps way overkill and more than you want to know.

First, while that $1600 may seem like alot (because it is), if there is a van you want on a lot, you might be able to get that kind of discount over going to get the rare one with it. It'll just depend on the circumstances.

Absent custom ordering, it seems like availability with spare is very region specific. I don't know why Toyota complicates it so much but that's how it is. If you go to the toyota.com site and change the zip code to different regions, you get slightly different options. I wanted a Platinum with the spare tire and Inverter, Entertainment, etc. In the region that includes Texas, you can only build a Platinum with either the spare or those items, not both. And there seem to be no Platinumns with spare. In the Southeast (AL, GA, SC, ..) but especially GA and SC, you can find a couple of those vans with spares. That may be because if you go to build one for the southeast zip codes, the spare is part of the big package.

So, if you are looking for some combination (spare or something else) that is hard to come by and are willing to travel, you might check into a different region.

This came from another website and might be accurate:
47884


Good luck in your searches and Happy Thanksgiving.
 
#25 ·
Thanks for posting that map! My sense is that Toyota's JIT/TPS responsiveness stops at the Region. But if you can find a dealer willing to be bothered and deal with it, you can get the specs you want if you can wait for it.
 
#28 ·
I did not find a single Platinum(Ruby flare pearl) AWD with spare, anywhere in the country. We’re thinking about just ordering one instead of waiting for it to show up on a dealers lot. The only question is whether we get $3K MSRP like dealers are offering for cars on their lot today.
 
#29 ·
I custom ordered both Toyotas way back as additional safety features weren't in stock - side airbags for the Camry, stability control for the Sienna. I'm currently looking at the Corolla LE with the BSM package, and what do you know, hard to find in stock. Custom orders took 10+ weeks previously.
 
#33 ·
Bumping this really helpful thread - any updates on this topic? And sorry if this is a dumb question but what does this option include and if it's just the tire itself, why can't this but purchased at a dealer as an accessory? Is there a real difference (like the storage infrastructure) that requires this to be a factory option?
 
#34 ·
No dedicated storage provided if the spare tire is not added. Others have spoken to the dealers about a retrofit and have been quoted $1.5k+ to make the change. Seems like the dealers are getting more cars with spare tires in so I would not settle. I had to work with the dealer to find the exact configuration that I wanted with a spare that would be delivered. I had to wait a few weeks but it was totally worth it.
 
#40 ·
I am 50/50 on the Toyota (or any other) supplied donut. Primarily because they have very limited useful life. IIRC, they can do 50-60MPH for about 50-60miles. Just to be clear, I will gladly pay $75 to get the donut if that was the only difference. Also, looks like the vast majority of new units now come with spare tire. They must have had some sort of launch time supply chain hiccup to produce as many units as they did without spares earlier.

I knowingly, and still hesitantly, jumped the gun to get a unit that we really wanted but didn't have a spare. AWD Platinum in Silver are/were a hard find about a month ago. My reasoning for jumping the gun was that I would like to really have a full spare because we make 2-3 overnight/late night trips a year. If spare only gets me to next exit or gas station, we are still stuck overnight. With a full size spare, with this van being as big as it is, we will find a corner to carry a full size spare and tools on extended trips. Worst case scenario, I might just tie it up on the roof ;). I have a 2.5 ton scissor jack, 2Ton jack stand and tire wrench delivered already. I am just dragging my feet to get the actual spare rim and tire. I suppose calling a few junk yards near by should help.

For local area, we have AAA Gold which is good for 100 miles towing.

Btw, Toyota road side service seem to spell out that for flat tire, they are on hook to replace it with the spare. I suppose someone would call them and see what they say if the car didn't come with spare?
 
#44 ·
'21 AWD owner - you can get a spare tire and the middle row entertainment center. That's what we bought 2 weeks ago, after waiting 3 weeks.
I knew we wanted a spare tire and asked dealer to find me one in the production queue that matched our color and trim level. We were then able to add the options.

When you get to the options for spare tire and rear entertainment center, their web page options list 3 options: 1) spare tire; 2) Rear entertainment system; 3) Spare tire+ Rear entertainment
 
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