Since I purchased my car, fortunately,I had not had the necessity to use the spare wheel.

This weekend I had to change a wheel and found that the spare, although an alloy wheel, was a totally different size to the other four wheels. The dealership, when approached, stated that it was common practice for this to occur as the original wheels are larger than the spare wheel well in the boot. There is no warning that this is the case and is a dangerous situation to be confronted with.

The manufacturer concerned is Mercedes and an A210 model

 Has anyone else experienced a similar situation

I have seen this - the spare wheel in this case is nicnamed 'a bicycle wheel' and is perfectly legal and safe, but is designed just emergency use, and should be swapped back at your earliest convenience.

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Dave

P.S. I feel obliged to point out, I am speaking from experience and my own personal views above - I am not an advisor, nor an expert.

Yes, they are known as a, "spacesaver wheel" designed to take less room in the boot, they are usually a skinny wheel and have a restriction of 50 mph, for a max distance of 50 miles they are only designed to get you to a place of safety or a garage.

Thanks for your comments

 This wheel is NOT a space saver but an alloy wheel like the originals except it as I stated a different size completely

The spoke configuration is also different in that the original is 7 spoke alloy but the spare is 5 spoke alloy

 

Rollerball,

I've just benn and checked my mums merc. Its the same as yours, only five spokes on the spare. She said she has used it before, but it feels funny to drive and should be changed back asap. She calls it her noddy wheel!

 Sarah

Have you tried to look into buying an aircompressor , which replaces the spare whell in newer cars

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MUFC forever!

davesmufc:Have you tried to look into buying an aircompressor , which replaces the spare whell in newer cars

Not much use though if the tyre is split !

Have you read the owners manual? I suspect not.

Is ignorance an excuse for not knowing that the car is fitted with a space save wheel and that you shouldn't drive at full speed on it? Not at all.

If you change your tyres before they get to the legal limit you'll reduce the likelihood of a puncture and you'll be safer. It's fine to drive on the space saver but just keep the speed down and get the tyre repaired (depending on the type of puncture it might not be possible to do this) or replaced. Manufacturers like Mercedes don't just cheap out on a small tyre because they think no one will notice. It's perfectly legal and acceptable for them to do this.