I swore I wouldn't buy a car without a spare, or at least a cavity under the cargo area sized for a spare. But here I am with a Clarity. There were just too many good things about this car. My thinking, regarding having a spare, was this:
1) If I had a flat I change it in 15-20 minutes and I'm on my way. Rain or shine it's no fun to change a tire though.
2) We live in a rural city. Driving around in the city is no problem. If we had a flat calling home or a tow truck or some other service wouldn't be quick as changing a spare but it wouldn't be too long.
3) If we were on a rural road where there is cell service then response time might be in hours, and it's quite possible the car would be towed to a tire store rather than to our destination. This could cause major problems.
4) If we were on a rural road without cell service our best bet would be to flag someone down and ask them to call for us when they got into cell service area. This is quite possible around here.
Looking back on the past 10 years I've had several flats. But none of them required changing the tire. So I guess I'm going to have to be okay without carrying a spare.
One poster on a different forum said he doesn't carry spare engine computers, or many other items that could cause the car to fail. But tires are different. The problem is road hazards.