It’s no coincidence that garages and vehicle repair shops hate locking wheel nuts. Vehicle owners’ might think they are being clever by protecting their car with a set of locking wheel nuts but more often than not, these little security devices are more trouble than they are worth.
Take routine vehicle servicing for instance. To be able to correctly service a car and check brake pads, discs, and hubs, vehicle technicians need to remove the wheels from the vehicle and this can be a problem if the locking wheel nut key is missing or the vehicle owner has failed to provide it when they drop their car off for a service.
You can hardly blame auto technicians for feeling a little bit frustrated. Without the right key, they have little alternative, the scheduled work will have to be cancelled and rearranged for another day.
No locking wheel nut, no service!
One of the biggest problems vehicle technicians face is customers failing to leave the locking wheel nut key in an easy to access place. In fairness, some drivers won’t realise they have locked wheel nuts fitted to their car, especially if they have limited mechanical knowledge, or simply show no interest in how the wheels are secured to their car.
Drivers of company cars and lease cars are some of the biggest culprits. They are often in a rush and simply want to drop their car off and be on their way as quickly as possible, but private vehicle owners can also have a moment of madness too.
If the workshop fails to ask the customer whether the car has locking wheel nuts, and the key isn’t left in an obvious place, this can be frustrating for everybody involved.
It’s a time thing…
Most workshops function to a tight time schedule. Every second of the day is accounted for to maximise the profitability of the business. When time is wasted searching for a locking wheel nut this has a negative impact on the performance of the technician.
If the key can’t be located, this might result in a phone call to the customer and more time is wasted as a result. Plus there’s no guarantee the customer will know where the key is stored so this can be a fruitless exercise.
It’s easy to see where issues arise when a car is equipped with locking wheel nuts and the key needed to unlock them has gone missing.
There are privacy issues too
Some workshops will rummage about inside your car looking for the wheel nut which is fine as long as you have nothing to hide or keep personal belongings inside your car. You have to ask yourself, would you feel 100% happy if a total stranger searched through your glovebox or explored the door pockets on your car?
By not leaving the locking wheel nut in a clearly visible place the mechanic might have little choice but to search through the car. That’s fine as long as you don’t have anything embarrassing inside the car or something you want to keep private.
Don’t put yourself in this position
One obvious way to prevent this problem is to remove the locking wheel nuts on your car. Whether you have the key or not you can have the locking nuts taken off and replaced with standard types of wheel nuts.
Calling a reliable and trusted wheel nut removal service is the best way forward in this instance. They will remove the offending locking nuts without causing damage to the wheels and leave you headache-free afterward.
This is something we do rather well here at the Locking Wheelnut Removal Service in the West Midlands. Get a FREE quote from us to have your wheelnuts removed by calling 0121 733 1956 or 0777 6231952.
