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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2014 11:27:01 GMT 1
What a day yesterday, we "lost" our alloy wheel lock. All cars (I think) that have alloy wheels have one nut/bolt per wheel that will only work using a specially shaped socket. This is to stop thieving scumbags from stealing them. Last Monday ours was rolling around noisily in the glove compartment so we decided to put it into the boot with the jack etc. Went to get it from the boot yesterday and there it was gone! If we looked once we looked a thousand times. We love a bit of hyperbole up north!Anyway this morning we decided on one more look before going to the local Ford dealer for a new one. Anne and I have both looked under the front seats before, including using a mirror and torch for better viewing. I pushed back the front passenger seat and there, hidden out of site, was the bloody bit of metal! How it got there we do not know. It is now definitely in with the torque wrench. I think!!!!  BE  |
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Post by BartyB on Dec 4, 2014 12:43:18 GMT 1
While you have it, order a spare! They're a pain in the bum and I suspect that no record is kept of what "key" is supplied with what chassis number.
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Post by Em on Dec 4, 2014 16:08:11 GMT 1
While you have it, order a spare! They're a pain in the bum and I suspect that no record is kept of what "key" is supplied with what chassis number. Yes otherwise they have a dickins of a job cutting the bolt to change your tyre.................... |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2014 21:21:58 GMT 1
I'm amazed Em how many firms offer to remove them. About £50 for all four!!
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Post by Em on Dec 5, 2014 8:45:32 GMT 1
I'm amazed Em how many firms offer to remove them. About £50 for all four!! You'd be amazed how many people lose them or in our case the garage never put it back........... |
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Post by meldrew on Dec 5, 2014 14:26:15 GMT 1
You are correct Em. I just bought a 'new' car and as I was collecting it from the Uk I noticed that there were locking wheel nuts, asked the garage for the 'key', they did not have it, so in about 10 minutes with the aid of a large 'Manchester screwdriver' and chisel they got the locking nuts off and replaced them with ordinary nuts.
My son who runs a tyre depot in the UK says that locking nuts are the bane of his life, if you torque them to the correct limit they often shear off the key when trying to undo them a few months later!
Luckily in France the thieving of wheels is not a problem, but maybe in cities it is?
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Post by JohnP on Dec 6, 2014 8:45:18 GMT 1
Even more frustrating is the recent manufacturer's brilliant idea of not providing a spare wheel but instead a can of sealer to spray into and supposedly re-inflate the tyre. My neighbour has just spent 25K on a four year old VW caravelle. Yesterday he got a front wheel puncture. When he tried to resolve this he found he had no spare wheel, no jack and the wheel brace provided was too flimsy to undo the wheel nuts. The tyre was punctured through the wall so no can of spray was going to work on that. He had to have his car towed to the local garage and they cannot get a matching tyre till next Tuesday. he is expecting a bill in the region of 300€. What kind of idiots decide to sell cars with no spare? I can only imagine what kind of problem he would have had if it had been a Sunday or public holiday!
If you are buying a new car or a newish second-hand one, check the spare wheel locker!
On top of a very expensive puncture my neighbour now has to buy a spare wheel, a tyre, a jack and a decent wheel brace. That is going to set him back a tidy sum too.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2014 11:27:16 GMT 1
Just bought a "new" Mondeo and it had a spacesaver tyre in the boot. I bought a proper alloy and tyre and lo and behold it fits in the SPACESAVER hole perfectly. Also the spacesaver tyre is illegal because it is not speed rated for my car. Don't believe folk who tell you that the lower 80 kph limit for them gets round the law, it doesn't.
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Post by littlemouse on Dec 6, 2014 11:58:41 GMT 1
I have a normal size spare wheel and the spray in stuff,the reason being that I don't want to be stuck at the side of a busy road in the dark trying to change the wheel.Its much easier to spray it in and move the car somewhere safe to change the wheel.
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Post by meldrew on Dec 13, 2014 15:17:07 GMT 1
Bought a brand new Clio last February (well the bank did, I just hire it from the bank!!!!!!)
I was amazed that I had to pay an extra €120 for the spare 'skinny' wheel, it was an option!
Also was offered at the same price the obligatory 'safety pack' (triangle, yellow jacket, fire extinguisher and first aid pack (( 2 elastoplasts and a tube of antiseptic cream!!))
Having been trapped into buying the same thing a year earlier when I bought a second hand car that I was 'chopping-in' I declined.
This from the main dealer who charged over €20,000 for the car - hardly a budget model!!
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