On Friday, I had a flat. So I replaced the tire with the spare, noticed it was a little low, but I was heading straight to the tire store, which was about 4 miles away, so I didn't worry about it.

Well, the little B+$%&@@ left me stranded about 1/2 mile from the shop! I had to have it towed the rest of the way - what a PITA!

So, I went to several local JY's here in the area, and found that either the spare was gone, or 5 lug - another @#$@# PITA!

So - are there any other 4x100mm spare tires for other make/model cars out there that will work for a 1995 neon?

I so wish the trunk had about 2 more inches of depth, because if it did, I could put a full size spare in there and get rid of the B@#%@# donut tire!

 

BTW my car uses 13 inch tires. 185/70R-13 to be precise. The spare is of course the emergency spare that I have to replace as the original one is completely toast.

 

The Chevy Chevette from at least 80-87 used the 4x100mm 13" wheel, but the hub may not fit properly. I suggest you just purchase a new fullsize steel wheel for the Neon to use as a spare.

 

Would love to and have already thought about doing just that. Then when I tried putting the full size tire in the hole, it created a huge bump in my trunk which quite frankly is unacceptable as I use my trunk all the time, but only need a spare - - sparingly.

 

I have since found out some interesting information that I want to share that may help both me and others.

1) The spare tire in my 1995 car came out of some 1999 make/model car. I know this because the JY that sold it put 99 (in white grease pencil) on it. Now I know that only 95 and very very early 96 cars had the 4 bolt rims, so this compact spare came from some other car - most likely a foreign one as they still use the 4x100 pattern.

2) The compact spare for my car is actually a 14" rim. The tire size is T155/70 R14. I have searched for that tire size and found that the Saturn Ion from 2003-2007 used that spare tire size and rim size. Now I don't know if that tire will work yet, but I plan on finding out.

3) The old Dodge Omni (which is really a US version of a Volkswagon Rabbit and in fact used the same Rabbit engine for several years) and its Plymouth cousin (the Horizon) used the same 4x100 bolt pattern, so I wonder if the compact spare for that car may be a substitute, but wow, those cars are probably hard as heck to find now.

4) Many Toyotas, Nissans, and even Hondas, still use the 4x100 bolt pattern, so I also wonder just how many of those may be OK to use.

I understand that the problem is not finding a 14" 4x100 compact spare tire, but it is finding one that will not be a problem using on my car - such that the brakes (front or rear) or steering/suspension components do not come in contact with the rim or tire itself.

I am betting that if I find a 14" CST that has the same T155/70R14 size, most of them would work just fine. I know there is a 1999 make/model car out there that does have a compatible compact rim/tire and when I find it, I'll make sure to tell ya'll.