Hi folks, my car has no MoT and needs servicing but I have no key for the locking wheel nut.

Rang my local Fiat dealer and they told me to bring the car down and they can read the code from the existing nuts and order me a new key for about £30.

Problem is, if I get it MoT'd and it fails, chances are it will need a wheel taken off, and certainly will for a service, so I'm in a bit of a catch 22.

Any ideas?

Ring the garage the where the M.o.t is taking place ,some garages do have some specialist tools which can remove the nuts if its lost won`t hurt to try .

The first thing you need to ask yourself is if you actually NEED locking wheelnuts. I reckon they are pointless.

We somehow misplaced ours for our Clio some years ago. I reckon the garage lost them when it was serviced once. Either way, we needed new tyres, so the tyre place fitted new tyres by somehow removing the locks. I'd provided four replacement normal bolts to them beforehand.

Since then - maybe seven or eight years? - we've not had any locking nuts on the alloys.
Who cares?
Certainly not me, and if we had to do the same with our 500TA, I couldn't care less either.

Any wheel thief worth his salt could remove your alloys as easily as any tyre garage. They are a pointless expense to fit in the first place.

Regards,
Mick.

Mick F said:

The first thing you need to ask yourself is if you actually NEED locking wheelnuts. I reckon they are pointless...

...Any wheel thief worth his salt could remove your alloys as easily as any tyre garage. They are a pointless expense to fit in the first place.

Click to expand...

I'd agree that locking wheel nuts are more likely to inconvenience the owner than a determined thief.

Thing is, they're fitted as standard to all alloy wheeled 500's, at least in the UK market. So if you do remove them and you are unlucky enough to find your car up on blocks, your insurance company could refuse to pay out.

It does happen - I know someone who had a set stolen in a Harrow car park when going to the Cinema one evening.

I understand your warning.
This is a public forum, and you are one of the moderators.

If it were me, and I came out and found my car up on blocks, I'd claim off the insurance. They wouldn't know one way or another if the wheels were locked or not. They probably wouldn't even care because they know full well that a tea leaf wanting alloys wouldn't worry about locks at all.

They are only there as a luxury item to make you feel better and make you feel that you have expensive items hanging off your hubs.

Fiat 500s aren't even alarmed!!!!
Try jacking up our Clio and all hell breaks lose from the Thatcham factory-fitted wailing alarm.

No, in my humble opinion, locking wheelnuts are a waste of time and energy.

TTFN,
Mick.

Mick F said:

Fiat 500s aren't even alarmed!!!!

Try jacking up our Clio and all hell breaks lose from the Thatcham factory-fitted wailing alarm.



No, in my humble opinion, locking wheelnuts are a waste of time and energy.



TTFN,

Mick.

Click to expand...

Agreed about the wheel nuts being a waste of money and a false security gimmick.
But alarms? Ditto. They're going off all the time and I have yet to see anyone paying attention.
Truth is, if a tea leaf wants your motor or bits of it, you'll end up the loser in the end.

Yep.
You can't win. It's only the insurance companies that win.

Mick.

Thanks for the advice guys, I may ask the garage if they can do it. Maybe I won't bother getting any replacements then, just a set of second hand bolts.

Cheers

Whilst looking at wheels on eBay I came across a company selling locking wheel nut keys. Just had to identify the pattern from the template on the listing and ordered one £25 free postage. Cheaper than Fiat.

I wonder how many variations there actually are for the locks?
No doubt the design has a large number of variations, but in practice, I reckon there'll be only 25 or less.
Just a guess!

Any road up, if YOU can buy the keys, so can a tea-leaf, and if he's in the know, he'll get them a heck of a lot cheaper than £25 a pop.

I knew a chap who could get you brand new alloys off Rover Dealership forecourts. I had a Mini at the time and asked him to get me a set, but sadly we lost touch with each other. Maybe he got caught? I don't know.

As an aside, there was a new housing estate built and it was discovered that there were only a few different front door keys for the whole estate!

Locks will only keep an honest man out.

Regards,
Mick.

Oh! When I purchased mine from the dealer I had the next size up wheels put on. I noticed (with the original alloys) the wheel lock.

The newer alloys (normal fiat 500 16") didn't come with a wheel lock. I enquired and was told they don't come with them. Never thought anything of it.

Was I 'done out' of a wheel lock then?

I got mine from eBay the other day, perfect fit. £25 with free postage. Cheaper and quicker than Fiat and I didn't have to take the car anywhere.

All MoT'd and serviced now and on the road, yippee!!!

There aren't that many variations. Here's the little diagram that you have to pick your lock from.

Who did you get your key from typecastboy? I lost mine recently after swapping over from winter tyres, I was in a rush and think I left the key on the wheel nut. I'd expected to find it on or near my drive but didn't so either someone picked it up or it stayed in place longer than I'd expect. I did retrace my route but didn't find it so it may have flown off at speed, ouch!

Mick F said:

As an aside, there was a new housing estate built and it was discovered that there were only a few different front door keys for the whole estate!

Click to expand...

Not uncommon!

Our uni block (all 500 rooms or whatever) had idential window locks and certain cupboards were duplicates of others, etc, and some cupboard keys could open the windows and other cupboards. Mad.
Heard a certain brand of cars had this as well. Can't remember which one. Don't know how true it is either.

Good to know all this though. I was weighing up getting some pearlescent locking wheel nuts.

staffordmike said:

Who did you get your key

Click to expand...

I got mine from Desira Fiat who have an eBay page, looks like the same place although the wrong one was supplied at first

bravo86gaz said:

I got mine from Desira Fiat who have an eBay page, looks like the same place although the wrong one was supplied at first

Click to expand...

Did you quote the number or send a photo of a locking nut?

Quoted the number then ended up sending pics of the different keys

They've changed the pic on the ad but its the same ebay seller
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/141508382632?nav=SEARCH

staffordmike said:

Who did you get your key from @typecastboy? I lost mine recently after swapping over from winter tyres, I was in a rush and think I left the key on the wheel nut. I'd expected to find it on or near my drive but didn't so either someone picked it up or it stayed in place longer than I'd expect. I did retrace my route but didn't find it so it may have flown off at speed, ouch!

Click to expand...

I got it from eBay

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141508382632?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

He used to do the picture above and if you look at that and identify yours you can tell him which one it is, if not you can send him a picture for him to identify it. Came without about 3 or 4 days.

I went to my local breakers and they supplied me with four standard wheelnuts for £2 (for which Desira would charge £20), Desira removed locking wheelnuts and replaced them with my supplied standard ones for £14. I now have the set of locking ones for which Desira can order me the key for £27, however I probably won't bother - but I now have the choice.

A while back I damaged one of mine taking it off so replaced all four with standard ones but painted them red before I fitted them.

It always makes me smile when I take the car for a service or new tyres and they ask for the locking nut key. I say its not fitted with them and they always insist it is until I point out what I've done.
Perception is everything.