Space Saver Tyre For All New Rav!

[Hoovie]

silly question of the day.... (that will be me then) will the space saver fit the older model i.e. mine X-TR with 17" wheels?

Gus

Naw, Gusterz.....totally different floor pan in US dimensions on the 4.4 allows the wheel to fit. You have a cross member in yer boot which precludes all but a toaty wee wheel. Taught by him above you.......

Very true (Kev, check your messages for a PM ;) )

[Devon Aygo]

Devon Aygo

Do you know out of interest how long it takes for a car built in Japan to reach the UK and how often are the cars shipped ? monthly

If the boat is loaded with a high percentage of cars for UK/Europe then 4-6 weeks isn't uncommon but it can be 8-12 weeks if the boat has lots of stops on the way

[Devon Aygo]

Congatulations Kev. I have a long way to go to catch up.

Correct way round.

Toyota were saying in February that RAVs delivered from July would have a space saver due to pressure from potential customers. This was the reason I waited till May to make enquires. Thankfully mine came with spare in June after saying no spare no deal.

It now appears according to Aygo Devon that those RAVs being delivered from July onwards will not have a space saver. Complete opposite from what they were saying in February.

Is there a global shortage of space savers? or did Toyota GB get cold feet as once they make spare wheels available for one model other model potential customers may want the same with the added costs involved compared to a can of goo.

It would have made sense to offer the space saver or even the full size spare with raised cargo floor an optional extra (like the skoda yeti) to satisfy those that want more than the emergency tyre repair kit.

Back in February when Toyota said on the blog they where adding a spare wheel they where correct and march, april & may production cars included a spare, these have now arrived in the UK and are in stock and have already been delivered to customers, there are still cars available with a spare wheel but new arrivals from Japan are now arriving without a spare again.

The fact is someone in charge at Toyota GB made an error in specifying UK Rav4 for production without a spare wheel of any type under estimating the buyers demands, Toyota GB moved to fix this by adding a space saver to the standard specification to production earlier this year. Unfortunately the availability of space saver tyres has stopped this for the time being.

That is the galling thing. In the US, a spare wheel was on the spec from day 1. If they tried to sell it without a spare wheel there they wouldn't have sold any RAVs yet so to try and do so would have been suicide. I have said many times that the factory will make them painted with sky blue and yellow dotted paint if that is what TGB ask for so why can we possibly be in a situation where customers in the UK are wanting spares and have been since 2007 when vehicles in the US are rolling off the line with them on? Now to be told there is no stock is just derisory. There would be stock if somebody in the UK with a molecule of common sense had seen what was staring them in the face because the suppliers would have planned it. Somebody high up in TGB should get their P45 for what is a monumental error at the most basic level. They have obviously not checked what customers have been saying for years, what the US is selling and what any CRV customer would see if they lifted the boot carpet. Thick or what?

They got it wrong on the 4.4 no doubt about it, on the 4.3 early models had the option of a tail gate mounted spare but a change in emissions tax levels in the UK meant that models with either rear mount spares or roof rails would be in a higher tax bracket then those without so our models dropped those in favour of cheaper road tax.

[robo1]

Devon Aygo

Thanks for the information

[GreyRacer]

I've been in touch this morning with the sales manager where I am buying my new Invincible. He told me that the cars supplied with the wheel kit were those made and signed off in Feb, March, April and May. No others since. My car build date is 22nd. May and in theory should have the space saver but they will not know for sure until delivered into the garage. Keepingy fingers crossed. I must admit though that I have owned nine new cars since 1991 and have only had two punctures in the 22 years since and that's living in the Borders.