[spaycace]

What you didn't mention is how many miles are on the tires, how often they're rotated, and what types of roads you drive on regularly. All that heat of desert driving is a bit tougher on tires too ... which is why you see more blown out semi tire treads on the road in hot summer climates, and not so much in the winter. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like you will be able to buy any cars in the near future since nearly all manufacturers are going spareless. Granted, a lot of them DO offer a spare tire option at a cost, but they don't make that option blatantly obvious either. (you also have the option of getting a junkyard wheel/tire from a car with same size wheel/tire as yours and same bolt pattern & offset) My G8 didn't come with a spare, but there's an option to purchase one. My former Cadillac Escalade ESV didn't have a spare either, and that too was an optional configuration on the vehicle since it had true dual exhaust instead of single. I haven't owned any "foreign" cars (although technically my G8 is Australian) since I had a 2005 VW Passat TDI. I certainly wouldn't blame the manufacturer for a tire problem though, and your misfortune clearly sucks. Perhaps you simply had 2 tires that were in a bad batch made by the tire manufacturer, which seems most logical. But I certainly don't base my vehicle purchases on whether or not I have a spare tire available, although it is thought of. I agree that the DEF tank should have been re-located to keep a spare tire option in the vehicle though. I also feel like with the advent of cell phones and how "connected" everyone is these days, car makers don't feel the need to provide a spare because help is just a phone call away (or blue onstar button push for GM) ... unless you're stranded in BFE of course, with no cell signal (which is ironically where you'd need it most). Either way, flats suck and even more so when you don't have a spare but rather, the virtually useless "goop" and pump instead.

When you really think about it, what good is that stuff if you get a flat while driving? It's great to have for a slow leak you discover when you walk to your car in a parking lot and magically have a flat. Completely useless for a flat incurred while driving.

You should keep us informed as to what your next vehicle purchase is however, because I'd be interested to see what you end up getting.