Sixt in Vegas - no spare tyre

[vetrade]

Booked cars in several cities through arguscarhire in the UK on a recent RTW. In Las Vegas the supplier of a SUV was Sixt for a trip to the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley etc. I was surprised to be told their cars don't have spare tyres but for $5 per day extra we could have roadside assistance to repair a puncture (or anything else) if we got one. There was no option to actually have a spare supplied with the car so we could change it ourselves if needed. I imagined that we would have been in for quite a delay if we had a "flat" half way to MV and needed to wait for roadside assist to attend!!

Got me thinking about how many other suppliers have similar traps.

 

[RooFlyer]

I've never come across that one. Sounds like what the airlines are doing - segment their 'service' and make you pay separately for each bit, or forego it.

 

[wooley]

Oh dear. I've never heard of not having a spare.

I have though had a flat tyre at 2:30 in the morning, only to put the spare on to find out it was also flat.

24 hour road side assist wasn't interested in attending until after 6am.

They weren't all too happy when I destroyed the tyre by driving on the flat for 100km to the nearest servo but thems the breaks.

 

[ReLoad]

I was thinking this thread was going to be about someone turning 60 in Vegas and having an awesome washboard stomach.....

 

[horseman]

Never had that, but I found out very late on a dark Auckland night, that a Toyota echo's jack is not stored with the spare, but under the passenger seat, and requires the precise secret operation of the seat to retrieve it. Also that the freecall roadside assistance number (only number) in NZ cannot be called from Australian mobiles.

 

[N860CR]

I thought it was common place in the U.S. for hire cars not to have spares?

Interestingly, I've just bought an ex Hertz Camry for an aging family member and the spare in that is not the original (ie: it's the wrong size... So has been replaced at some point). I even assumed that maybe here they even taken them out?

Caveat - I've never checked myself.

 

[vetrade]

I thought it was common place in the U.S. for hire cars not to have spares?

Naively I have previously assumed all hire cars would come with a spare and, accordingly, I've never bothered to check (either at the time of booking or at the desk)..............just something else to add to the long list of travel "must do's"

 

[JohnK]

Do hire cars in Australia have a spare tyre?

I seem to recall having an issue in Perth once where I had to call for road service.

 

[JohnM]

I've only once had a rental car in Europe without a spare - because that's the way the car was made. And, dang, if I didn't puncture a tyre!

I must double-check in the US from now on. Maybe they remove them because the customers have been doing so .