Does my car have a spare tire?

Most people answer this question for the first time while standing next to a flat tire. It takes two minutes to answer today instead.

Go and look

Boot floor. Lift the load-floor panel. A spare sits in a well under it, held by a wing bolt or a foam tray.

Under the back of the car. Trucks and many large SUVs carry a full-size spare on a winch under the rear bumper, lowered with a crank that lives in the cabin.

Neither. If the well holds a small compressor and a bottle of sealant, that is a tire repair kit and there is no spare. This is now common: manufacturers save weight and space with it.

The three things you might find

What is there	What it gets you
Full-size spare	A normal tire. Drive normally, fix the other one when convenient.
Compact or temporary spare ("doughnut")	Limited speed and distance, printed on its own sidewall. Get the real tire dealt with quickly.
Sealant and compressor kit	Sometimes reinflates a small tread puncture enough to move the car. Useless against a sidewall cut, a large hole, or a tire already flat and off the bead. Sealant can also make a proper repair harder.

Three that catch people out

• Tesla Model Y: no spare of any kind. A flat is always a repair or a replacement where the car stands. Model Y tires.
• Toyota RAV4: a compact spare with no TPMS transmitter, so the warning light stays on the whole time it is fitted — normal, not a fault. Some 2025 builds carry a puncture kit and no spare at all. RAV4 tires.
• Jeep Wrangler: a full-size spare on the tailgate that matches the road tires, which is why a Wrangler owner can take a flat far less seriously than a Model Y owner. Wrangler tires.

Your own car's answer, with the source, is on its page: all vehicles we have documented.

If there is no spare

That is the case mobile service exists for, because there is nothing to swap on and the alternatives are a tow or sealant. A technician comes to the car, takes the tire off the wheel, inspects it and repairs it if the damage allows: $145 for the first tire. See mobile tire repair and a flat tire with no spare.

Questions people ask

• Does the Tesla Model Y come with a spare tire? No, not in any configuration. It ships without one.
• Is a sealant kit as good as a spare? For a small tread puncture on a tire still holding some air, it may move the car. For anything else, no.
• Does sealant ruin the tire? Not automatically, but it coats the inside and has to be cleaned out before a proper repair, which some shops will decline to do.
• How far can I drive on a doughnut? The limits are printed on that specific spare and vary by car. See how far you can drive on a donut spare.
• Can you fit a full-size spare I bought separately? Yes, as a normal fitting job.