Listener John Bradley sent me a gripe worth passing along a few months back. Consider this a new-car-buyer-beware story.

His granddaughter was driving her new Hyundai and found herself stranded by a tire puncture. Trouble was, when Triple A rolled up on the scene, they discovered there was no spare tire tucked away in the trunk like you might expect. Just a tire pump, which was utterly useless given her predicament. As car makers try to achieve fuel efficiency standards, they're lightening the load in every way possible. That means scrapping that spare tire that weighs in at 20-30 pounds. Bradley's beef is this- the dealer never gave them the heads-up when they bought the car that this was a new industry standard.

Chances are, NO dealer is going to call attention to the fact that the new car they want to sell you doesn't have some back-up tread on-board. Make sure you ask if there's an option to buy one, or just sacrifice the trunk space and throw one in yourself. If you ever end up stranded, it'll be worth the "weight".