VW Lupo GTi
by Angus McDougall 11.02.03
I bought a V.W. Lupo GTI in April of last year, at the time I bought the car I was fully aware that it did not come with a spare wheel but a repair kit instead. I had only had the car eleven weeks when I had my first puncture, I attempted to use the repair kit but this proved to be totally ineffective; the tyre was a write-off and would have to be replaced but this was Saturday afternoon and it was a holiday weekend in Glasgow therefore I could not get a tyre before Tuesday as none of the local tyre depots nor my VW dealer stocked this size of tyre (205/45 15) which is only manufactured by Dunlop. To prevent a recurrence of this situation I inquired at my supplying dealer with regard to purchasing a get-me-home spare wheel only to be told that VW could not recommend anything for this purpose, I took this up with VW customer care only to be told the same thing by them and they felt that the repair kit was quite adequate, I would also like to add that if the puncture was able to be repaired with the kit the tyre could no longer be repaired at a tyre depot therefore the tyre is a write-off anyway. To try and resolve the situation I thought the only remedy would be to purchase a replacement wheel for my car but when I contacted VW I was quoted a price of £313 for a wheel complete with tyre. This forced me to go for an aftermarket wheel with the same tyre for £158 pounds and I still have to buy a jack and wheel-brace. At the end of the day I am not complaining about having to buy a spare wheel as it was my choice to purchase a car without one in the first place. What I would like to point out is VW's total inability to help me resolve this problem, the fact is I have now had three punctures in the space of five months whereas I had not had one for about five years previous to buying this little car with no spare wheel, but that as they say is Sod's Law, however I will try to not let this episode take the shine off what is a brilliant little car to drive because for all its faults it still give me an immense amount of pleasure
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