My Tesla Model Y Left Me Stranded For Four Days With a $370 Tow Bill When I Got a Flat Tire Because No Shops Could Replace It, and Tesla Was Zero Help - It's Crazy There No Spare Tire In This Car

The Tesla Model Y is the only top-selling vehicle in the American market that does not come with a spare tire standard, or on some trims. This glaring lack of a safety and convenience feature comes as a surprise to some owners the first time they damage a tire. This very scenario unfolded, leaving one Tesla Model Y owner stranded for many days, with no help from Tesla to resolve the issue. Here is what C.H. posted to the (Public) Tesla Model Y Facebook Club.

We have a summer home in West Virginia. We drove from Florida to our West Virginia home and got a flat tire late Saturday afternoon. Since Teslas have no spare, it has been quite a hassle. I learned Tesla has zero presence in West Virginia. We ended up paying $370 out of pocket to have the car towed to our house because there were no tire shops that could replace the tire in the area (Charleston) at that time. I then had to wait until Tuesday to call around looking for someone who had the tire. None did but one ordered it for me. They have it now, and a rep from Tesla is looking for a tow truck. He says there are no services in network that are close enough. He is now looking for out-of-network towing services, but he informed me he is having trouble finding one. What a hassle. Why can't Tesla include a spare and make their tires easier to change?

As you can see, a common roadside issue like a damaged tire can hobble a pricey Tesla. This would not happen in a vehicle like a Toyota RAV4, since every trim comes with a spare tire. Instead of being able to drive on, or to the nearest tire shop that could offer a replacement, this Tesla owner was sidelined for days trying to deal with an issue that on most mainstream cars, would simply have been a short tire-change service by AAA, followed by a visit to a tire shop at the owner’s time of choosing.

Fellow Tesla Owners Have No Mercy In Their Comments 
One would think that Tesla owners would take pity on this fellow owner, but few did so in the many comments that were offered under C.H.’s post. Here are a few examples that typify what fellow Tesla owners said. We’ll start with PV, who was particularly nasty, even yelling (all caps) at a fellow Tesla owner in trouble:

These people who go to road trip and don’t carry jacks and don’t know how to plug the tire for 10$ and 40 mins job always pay 500+ and then go to social media to complain about company they bought car from, it’s actually only Tesla thing, only Tesla owner are brave enough in their stupidity to blame car manufacturer for flat tire. I never seen Volvo and BMW or ford owner complain in their group about getting flat tire and say VOLVO DOESNT HAVE PRESENCE IN WEST VIRGINIA EVEN THOUGH neither of new cars have SPARE TIRE AND ITS NOT THEIR RESPONSIBILITY TO CARRY PLUG FOR YOUR TIRE AND JACK SO WHEN YOU GO NEXT TIME TO ROAD TRIP MAKE A FAVOUR FOR YOURSELF AND BUY TIRE PLUG with pump OUT OF POCKET FOR 20$ and if you smart enough you can patch tire WITHOUT JACK!

We’re not sure why PV is so angry or what makes PV think that the tire problem was a repairable puncture that was fixable with a plug tool. Sidewall damage and punctures in the outer tread block (which flexes with every rotation) are not fixable. Not to mention that not every driver is fit enough to repair tires on the roadside. Remember, if you drive on a tire that is deflated, you destroy the sidewall, negating the possibility of any repair.

Here are some additional comments offered by fellow Tesla Model Y users, explaining how they have adapted to owning the only top-selling automobile in America that does not offer a spare tire:
S.W. - “As a WV native, I can’t say I’m surprised by that experience. I have a Tesla Y and think I’d rent a car before I’d risk something going wrong with it in WV.”
W.E. - “I’d suggest buying a spare in the future or even a full-size one to keep in your trunk when you go on road trips. I have a patch kit and a spare. Haven’t had a flat yet, fingers crossed.”
T.N. - “I carry a spare tire in my car.”

Tesla owners are not the only electric vehicle owners who struggle with tire failures. Owners of low-volume BEVs are flooding the internet with stories just like the one recounted here by C.H. The image above is from Ian Perry, the owner of a VW ID.4 electric vehicle. Would a plug kit have helped that EV owner get home?

Interestingly, many Tesla owners seem to live in a parallel world where spare tires are not offered any longer. Here in the real world, every top-selling vehicle (except Model Y) sold in America comes with a spare, either standard or one is available on specific trims. Here is a detailed chart showing all of the high-volume models in America and the spare tire situation for each one.

Arguably, low-volume EVs (and they are all low volume other than Models 3 and Y) do seem to ditch the spare more commonly than hybrids and conventionally-powered vehicles. However, there is a long list of vehicles sold in 2025 that have both a plug and a spare, including BEVs. Check out this list we pulled together of EVs with spare tires.

Early adopters of electric vehicles were very tolerant of the many hassles that EVs burden owners with. That tolerance has morphed into denial for many owners in 2025, who seem convinced that if they pay big bucks for an electric vehicle, they don't deserve the safety and convenience of a spare tire. The next thing you know, Tesla owners will be making excuses for not having Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

What do you think of Tesla stealing the spare from the Model Y? Why does every other top-selling model and many EVs come with one, but Tesla does not? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below. 
 

Related Story: My Electric Vehicle Is Burning Through Tires At a Rate of One Set Per Year In Under 20,000 Miles, Even Though the Last Ones I Bought Had a 75,000-mile Warranty, and the Shop Is Refusing to Honor the Warranty Because It’s a Tesla Model Y

John Goreham is a long-standing member of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his eleven years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools. 

Image of Tesla Model Y courtesy of Tesla, Inc. Grok image inserted in top left shows a Model Y being towed away with a flat tire.