Flat Tyre and No Spare Wheel? What to Do

Flat tyre and no spare: what do you do first?

Get the car somewhere safe and put the hazard lights on. Then look at the damage. A small hole in the tread is what a sealant kit is for. A hole in the sidewall, or a tyre off the rim, means calling your breakdown provider.

Don't change a wheel on a motorway. Ever. Highway Code rule 277 says not to attempt repairs there, and that covers a puncture.

Having no spare isn't against the law. Nothing in the rules we read requires you to carry one, and the MOT doesn't look for it. The trouble starts when you find that out at the roadside, with a kit you've never opened and a key you've never seen.

Part of our guide to running a car.

Step one: get safe

The Highway Code's advice for a flat is short. Stop as soon as it's safe. Only change the tyre if you can do it without putting yourself or anyone else at risk. If you can't, call a breakdown service.

That's advice, not law. It's the government's own line in Annex 6 of the Code. If a tyre bursts while you're moving, the same passage says to grip the wheel firmly and let the car roll to a stop at the side of the road.

Rule 276 covers a breakdown on an ordinary road. Get the car off the road if you can. Use the hazard lights if you're causing an obstruction. Wear something light-coloured or reflective, and keep the sidelights on in the dark.

A warning triangle goes at least 45 metres behind the car, on the same side of the road. Never use one on a motorway. Don't stand between your car and oncoming traffic. Our winter preparation guide covers the rest of the boot kit.

On a motorway, Rule 277 adds rules of its own. It says leave at the next exit if you can, and otherwise go left and get out on the side away from traffic. It also says not to attempt repairs. Our guide to breaking down on the motorway has the whole procedure, and changing a wheel is not part of it.

Dual carriageways and fast A-roads sit in between. The Code doesn't name them in the motorway rule, but it does say the safest place to stop on any high-speed road is a service area. On a fast road, I'd get to a lay-by or a side road before I touched the kit or the spare.

Can the kit fix it, or do you call for help?

A sealant kit is a bottle of sealant and a small compressor that runs off the 12V socket. The handbook explains your car's version.

It only works on some punctures. The RAC says a kit is unlikely to work if there's a rip in the sidewall, a hole over 4mm in the tread, or damage to the wheel itself. Which? puts the limit at holes larger than about 4mm. Holts, which makes the Tyreweld kit, says its product won't work on a tyre that's come off the rim or has a ripped sidewall.

So a nail through the tread is kit territory. A gash in the side isn't. If you're not sure, call. And don't use sealant on a run-flat tyre or a space-saver, which Which? advises against.

Once the kit's in, you're on a temporary repair. How far and how fast you can go is on the kit and in the handbook, and it varies. Holts says up to 100 miles at a maximum of 50mph for its own product. Uniroyal, a tyre maker, says never faster than 60km/h after using sealant, and only as far as the next garage.

Go by the figure for your own kit.

Then get the tyre looked at straight away. The RAC says to replace the damaged tyre, and the can of sealant, as soon as possible. Whether the tyre can be repaired instead depends on the product. Holts says its sealant can be washed out so the tyre can be fixed, and that this isn't true of every kit.

Uniroyal says sealant can make valves stick and leave the tyre unusable. It also says a puncture in the shoulder or sidewall can't be repaired professionally. Tell the fitter you've used sealant and let them decide.

If you do have a spare

Check you've got everything before you start. The RAC's list is a spare wheel, a jack, a wheel brace and the locking wheel nut key if your car has locking nuts. If any one of those is missing, it's a phone call.

The RAC's guide to changing a tyre, dated June 2026, has the order of work. Don't park on uneven ground or on a hill. Handbrake on, first gear or Park, engine off. Loosen the nuts while the wheel is still on the ground, until they turn by hand, but don't take them off.

Then jack the car at the point shown in the handbook. Swap the wheel and do the nuts up by hand. Lower the car until the tyre touches the ground, then tighten the nuts fully. Lower it the rest of the way and check the nuts again.

The RAC says it takes around 30 minutes with the right tools. There's no torque figure here because it's specific to your car, so check the handbook.

A space-saver is a narrow temporary wheel, and the law puts a speed limit on it. In Great Britain, the rule is regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986. It allows a car to run on a temporary-use spare tyre unless it's driven at more than 50 mph. Which? says the rating is normally marked on the wheel rim too, typically 50mph.

The RAC says that a space-saver is only for emergencies. Don't drive on it longer than you have to.

Run-flat tyres are the other no-spare option. Their reinforced sidewalls let the car keep going on a puncture at low speed for a limited distance. The RAC says that's usually a maximum of 50 miles, at limited speeds.

Kwik Fit says no faster than 50mph for no more than 50 miles, and that the speed limit can be lower on some models. Your handbook has the figure, and Kwik Fit doesn't repair punctured run-flats, so expect to replace one.

If you can't find the locking wheel nut key, don't force the nut. Carbuyer's guide names the usual hiding places. Next to the spare under the boot floor, in a panel by the rear wheel arch, in the glovebox, under or in the seats, or in a door pocket.

If it's gone, a tyre specialist can remove the nut with approved tools and fit a universal set. Or you can order a replacement key from the manufacturer using its unique code, which Carbuyer says is the more expensive option. At the roadside, a missing key means a phone call.

Buying a used car: what to look for in the boot

Spend two minutes in the boot at the viewing. It's the cheapest check you'll do that day.

Lift the boot floor. There'll be a spare wheel, a sealant kit, or an empty well. None of those is a fault, because a car doesn't have to carry a spare. In 2023 the RAC looked at 313 current models and found only eight came with a spare as standard, though buyers can often add one as an optional extra.

If it's a kit, find the date on the sealant bottle. Mazda's handbook, for example, says the period of effective use is printed on the bottle label and not to use it once expired. An out-of-date kit is one you'll be replacing.

If it's a spare, check the jack and wheel brace are with it. Then look for the locking wheel nut key in the places above. A missing key isn't a reason to walk away, but ask the seller about it before you pay. Our guide to questions to ask when buying a used car has the rest of the list.

If the car has run-flats, Which? says to check whether all four are still run-flats or whether some have been swapped for normal tyres. The MOT manual allows the two types on the same axle but says it's not recommended.

Tyre history tells you something too. Our free car check shows the car's full MOT history from the number plate. Repeated tyre failures or advisories suggest a car run on the cheap. An advisory is a problem the tester noted for you to keep an eye on, which didn't fail the car.

Tread depth and the MOT belong to our tyres and MOT failures article.

Will breakdown cover help if there's no spare?

Usually, yes, but check what yours covers when there's nothing to fit. Start Rescue, a cover seller, says that as a general rule breakdown policies include punctures and changing tyres. The AA says its patrol will fit your spare or try a temporary repair, and recover the car to a garage if neither works.

The gap is distance. The RAC's own policy summary for its Breakdown Cover has a clause on this. Its Recovery level normally takes you to any single destination in the UK. But if you break down because of a tyre fault and aren't carrying a serviceable spare or the manufacturer's repair kit, it will only tow you 10 miles.

That's one provider and one summary, and the document carries no edition date. But it shows the kind of limit that lives in the wording.

Some providers sell a tyre add-on. The AA's Tyre Cover, as at 30 October 2026, costs £7.50 a month and covers up to five tyres a year, up to £160 a tyre, with no excess. It excludes claims in the first seven days, wear and tear, poor maintenance, collision damage and tyres below the legal tread depth. The AA's page also says many newer vehicles, especially EVs and hybrids, don't come with a spare.

Neither the RAC summary nor the AA page says whether a patrol will remove a locking nut when you've lost the key. Ask before you need it.

Common questions about flat tyres and spares