The car was purchased with alloy wheels but the spare tire has steel rims in which the existing lug nuts do not fit so the spare tire can not be used. I think the company should provide a usable spare tire. I contacted them about that but they said that year, their rav 4 came with steel rims so they gave me some lug nuts to use but they are too short and cannot lock the tire in place. The existing lugs also cannot lock the tire in place and the tire rattles. One of the managers told me to use these in an emergency only but I do not want to damage the treads on the bolts with the tire sliding on the bolt. I think if they sold the tire as a spare, it should function as a safe spare and I should not be responsible for purchasing another rim, lug nuts, or tire jack so I can use the spare tire safely. This should apply to all '97 rav 4 owners. I did not catch it earlier because I did not need to use the spare until now.

- Kaunakakai, HI, USA