The other night when we went to leave for home, my carpooler discovered that he had a flat tire on his Chrysler Town and Country minivan. We didn’t think it was a big deal until we went looking for the spare.

Usually the spare tire for minivans is located underneath the rear of the car. But when we looked, there was nothing. Next, we checked to see if it was in a side compartment somewhere. No luck.

Since it was cold outside, we put our pride aside and got out the owners manual. That is when we learned that the spare tire was optional.

Now, my carpooler had just acquired the minivan and couldn’t remember if the spare was on the list of options. So, I suggested that we check the owners manual as to where the spare would reside if it had been purchased. That way, if the location was devoid of a spare, we would know that we were SOL.

According to the owners manual, if the spare had been purchased, it would be underneath the car between the driver and front passenger seats. A quick peak under the car revealed that he had indeed purchased the spare option.

Next was trying to figure out how to release the spare. Again, the manual gave instruction. According the manual, there was a plastic plug in the floor between the seats. You simply pulled the plug, inserted a T-handled wrench and cranked the tire down.

This seemed easy enough so we gave it a try. After about a minute of turning the handle, the tire appeared. Within a few minutes, we were on the road.

What a strange place to put a spare.