Would this concern you?

[Ed62]

Last year, we bought a new Buick Lucerne. A few days ago, I noticed I had a low tire. Sure enough, there was a screw in the tire. Thinking I'd better take it in to get it plugged, I got the donought out of the trunk (the days of an actual tire for a spare are gone ). In fairly large letters was "Made in China". I'm glad I wasn't on an expressway, far from home.

Ed

[sparkeyjames]

Not everything made in China is of poor quality **cough HF cough** or contains lead. They must do somethings right sometimes. You can bet if it is in your car it has met the engineering specs of the manufacturer or it would not be there. Considering law suits about such things and all you can bet they made sure it met the specs.

[Ed62]

I know the tires are supposed to be made specifically for that particular car. But the words "Made in China" just automatically bring up a red flag for me. I wouldn't want my wife to have to file a lawsuit because I was in a hospital bed, unable to function.

Ed

[JoeyGee]

Your REAL concern should be LOYL. The one time we got a screw in our tire (which was in the sidewall, and we needed a new tire) it was ALL MY fault, because, I must have dropped a screw while I was working on something.

Never mind that this was a very odd type of screw that I had never seen before. I think it was some sort of concrete screw/anchor. She had been complaining about driving through a construction project at my son's preschool, but OF COURSE, it was MY fault...

[Ed62]

You should have gone over the construction project with a rolling magnet before she drove there. Of course it's your fault.

Ed

[mater]

I see people riding on them all the time. If I had to use one of those donuts it would be for a short distance only.

[TB Roye]

In California those who can't afford to lower their car the correct way(?) use four of them and turn the base up. Ever see an SUV on 4 or them I have, on the freeway, or a newer Mustag GT with 4 of them and loud exhaust?. I have, won't go any farther.

Tom

[Uncle Cracker]

Get used to it... I think I just read that the brand of auto with the most American-made parts in it is... Toyota! The US manufacturers have shipped the bulk of the work (and the jobs... and the money) overseas. And if you're gonna go offshore, you're gonna go where it's cheapest, and that is, ta da... China.

[rosesunkist]

When I bought my Chevy Venture a couple years ago, the first thing I did was get a full size spare. I was lucky because the spare mounted underneath. It was a tight fit, but was a lifesaver when I found a pair of pliers in my tire. Well, ok, it was just one jaw from a pair of needlenose. Kinda ironic that I had to use a long screw to get the pliers out....
But to fit a full-size spare in a trunk would be more of a challenge. For many older vehicles, there was room for a full spare, but in these newer cars, I have seen people having trouble getting the donut in there. But it is always worth a shot to see if you can fit a full in there.

[LCHIEN]

I'd just pump up the low tire and drive it to the nearest service station, they always plug mine while its on the car. Saves everybody work. Carry one of those 12V inflators or use the shop compressor.

The compact spares are generic, not made for any particular car and they usually have a useful life of about 50 miles... and a max speed rating of 50 MPH. And should be kept up to something like 50 PSI in the trunk (how often do you check that?).
Not something you'd want to use much anyway.

Sparkey James makes a good point about it being qualified by the auto mfr... big liability item, I'm sure.