Locking wheel nuts

[White]

I have unfortunately lost my key for the locking wheel nuts. The car was supplied with the locking wheel nuts, key for same and the four original normal wheel nuts. The Volvo main dealer has told me that all Volvos are fitted with locking wheel nuts when they arrive in the UK. I advised the main dealer that I had lost the key prior to the car going in for service and they told me that they "may have a matching key but if not, they could weld on a nut and remove it, but render it useless for reuse".
On picking up the car I was advised that they did not have a matching key, were able to carry out the third year service (with the wheels on), did not have time to do the welding option and that I would have to book it in at a future date to have them removed. This would entail one hours time at a rate of £160/hr plus vat!! I was also advise not to bother with replacing the locking nuts but just to use the original normal nuts "as alloy wheels are unlikely to be stolen these days".
I declined their offer of £160/hr and will get my local garage to do the job at a more sensible rate but will take their advice regarding using the ordinary nuts.
If I had known all this previously, I think I would have discarded the locking wheel nuts, replaced them with the normal ones prior to this happening and saved a lot of hassle.
Have any other members had problems with locking wheel nuts, do they consider not having them a problem and is this likely to have insurance implications?

[Cevoli21]

Locking wheel nuts are more trouble than they are worth. Our son had one disintegrate on his V70. Anyone other than an opportunistic thief will have the knowledge and tools to remove them so really not worth the bother

[Deleted User 4296]

Many years ago, when most cars had cheap steel wheels, alloys were a must-have and were regularly taken if locking wheel nuts were not fitted. Today they are just a pain to any person who needs to change the wheel. Often, they are a different metal which easily corrodes and corrodes the alloy too. £160 an hour

[aj05]

I had this problem years ago when tyre fitters managed to strip the key and then could not remove wheels on my V70. dealers went through the need to be drilled out welded etc I bought a couple of 18mm sockets tapped them onto the locking wheel nuts and undid them with a normal socket wrench . Bearing in mind how easy this was I decided locking wheel nuts were not that secure any way and replaced them with std nuts

[aj05]

had this problem a few years ago when tyre fitters managed to strip key on a tight nut thus being unable to remove any further wheels. Local dealers went through the welding drilling out etc scenarios in the end I bought a couple of 18mm sockets tapped them onto the locking nuts and removed them with std socket wrench. seeing how easy it was to remove the nuts without any specialist equipment I decided to replace them with std nuts deciding that if any one really wanted wheels locking nuts were not going to be much of an obstacle

[Krystof]

I would echo what others are saying. Here in the Czech Republic, back in the 1990s it was quite common to see cars left on bricks, as the alloys had been stolen. In those days, there may have been an argument for locking nuts. Nowadays, cars on bricks is a sight you really never see here - and it's not because everybody has locking nuts. In fact, hardly anybody has them, because many have found they're more trouble than they're worth. Plus they don't offer any real level of security anyway. I think their day has passed. I used to have them on previous cars, but I don't any more, and I don't miss them.

[KeithR56]

If locking wheel nuts came as a standard fitting on your car and you remove them, I doubt your insurance would pay out if your wheels do get stolen.

[Grumpyfrog]

@ KeithR56

I wouldn't tell them I swopped the locking wheel nuts for non locking!

[KeithR56]

I wouldn't tell them

Fair enough