[IndyDiesel]

I am from Indy and was in Grand Rapids today and driving home on I-196 South, debris on outside lane, so I just go over in the side to avoid the debris, 18 wheeler on inside lane so didn't think that was an option. Well I got a puncture in left rear tire and boy did it go to no air very fast, was lucky to drive a modest distance maybe a mile on no air in tire, tire monitor worked perfect to alert me of the problem, car drove well other than the noise.

Called roadside assistance, didn't think the sealkit thing provided with my 14 ECO would work. GM Towed the car to Chevy dealer in South Haven, MI and Vince an a tech stayed a little past closing to repair tire.

Does the New Body style Cruze have a Spare Tire? I will not buy another car without one. This time turned out well, but was still no fun

 

[obermd]

The ECO MT doesn't have a spare. All other trims do. Follow the link in my sig to find the parts needed for a spare tire. I'm glad I did since I had a similar experience. I was back on the road in about 15 minutes.

 

[IndyDiesel]

I am quite familiar with the ECO MT not having a spare tire. I was back on the road in about 90 minutes, the tire failure was only about 4 miles from the Chevy dealer. I would have had further issues if dealer wasn't open or a tire dealer. I was around 175 miles from home, so I don't think the mini spare tire would have been safe to drive that far home anyway. Around close to my home that would be a great solution. It cost me $15 to get tire repaired, tow was free. Roadside Assistance which I have never used did a great job, in addition the Chevy Dealer in South Haven was OUTSTANDING.

 

[NickD]

I know I am getting old and stupid because I do not comprehend why the type of transmission you opt to get with a vehicle has to do whether you can get a spare tire or not.

One of the board members posted that he had to purchase around over 700 bucks worth of parts to add a spare tire to his Eco MT. Kind of translate this, in the Chevy added several hundred dollars in different parts so the MT Eco could not have a spare tire. More design work, more tooling, more inventory way overpaid accountants have to keep track of.

Same line of thinking goes into why the Cruze is not equipped with fog lights, they are really needed in this car with extremely poor side lightning. And why they went through all that extra expense why you can't get cruise in an LS.

Just doesn't make any sense.

I reason why we jumped up to a 2LT, to get a MT and a spare tire. But I am also nuts and should be placed in a home for the retarded. Darn thing is only good for 50 miles, and most of the roads we drive on don't even have a shoulder so couldn't safely change it anyway. If I could get to an intersection that has a gas station, only thing I could do there is buy a six pack of beer.

You were lucky your flat occurred when it did, Chevy and tire dealers have banker hours, daughter without an air compressor had to take off work to go to a tire dealer to have them put air in her tires. And she lives in Milwaukee!

Just another reason why we are paying for towing insurance that fortunately is cheaper than OnStar. Also have an app on my smart phone that finds the nearest towing service. We were sure made to be dependent on other people.

 

[obermd]

The ECO MT didn't get a spare tire for the same reason it didn't get rear cup holders and the fuel pump shroud to click the tank off three gallons early - weight. The way the EPA calculates city MPG is very dependent on the curb weight of the car. Chevy eliminated about 150 lbs from the ECO MT through no spare or rear cup holders plus some other modifications. They added about 50 of those pounds back when they put the belly panels on the car between the front and rear axle.

I've put the full GM spare stacks into two Cruze ECO MTs - mine and my son's - and both of us have had to use our spares. Even at $700 if you keep your cars like I do this works out to less than 50 to 70 cents per month of ownership. That's extremely cheap insurance to not get stranded because of road debris.

 

[neile300c]

As much as I liked the ECO wheels, I went with the LT 6M for several reasons
1. cost $1000 more
2. no spare tire
3. replacement tires cost more

Just made much more sense financially to go with the LT.

 

[170-3tree]

My car didn't have a spare. '13 lt. I literally stole one from another car and gave some ltz my fixaflat.

 

[jblackburn]

The spare is a $100 option that *most* dealers order with non-Eco models, but not all.

 

[170-3tree]

I just took one out of the used Cruze sitting next to mine and when they threw a fit I threatened to tear up the contract and take my jeep back home.

 

[NickD]

Ha, for some strange reason that name Eco, which I believe is short for ecologist turned me off. Maybe because most of the ecologists I met were nuts. Al Gore is one, calls himself an ecologist, Group here fought hard against cutting down some trees, that would also serve as a fire break in the thick woods to put in a badly needed power line.

But with any of these idiots, can't tell them to ride a bicycle or pull the mains out of their fuse box.

And most of them drive large SUV's or pickup trucks. Perhaps hypocrites would be a better name. Ha, think my next vehicle will be a Hypo.

 

[SMKS]

I installed a spare tire for much cheaper than the link in this thread. I simply bought one from a junkyard and trimmed my exiting mat to fit. Toss out the Styrofoam insert and I was good to go.

 

[spacedout]

A full size tire will fit in the cruze rear tire well and only stick up 2 inches. If you have the flat trunk floor it would be very easy to raise the floor slightly on foam blocks to hide the tire under the floor(also trimming off the lip at the front of trunk where our trunk drops down 2 inches).

I have the ECO trunk so opted to just cut the front section out of the eco trunk(where the tire goo and pump normally sits) so I could use the tire well. I like the tire sticking up as it keeps things in my trunk from sliding around. My full size 16in spare is 42lbs, the compact one is 28lbs.

 

[RIXSTER]

I bought a used 17" steel wheel off craigslist with the same size tire as whats on the car now, cost me $40.