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Original poster

Not to know what whether or not my car has alloy wheels

189 replies

Rascalls3 · 01/07/2014 18:41

Just been told off by the Green Flag operator because I didn't know if my Mini had standard or alloy wheelsBlush Apparently ( he said ) that as I hold a driving licence I should know ALL about my car!!!! Interested to know how many ladies out there know what a alloy wheel is. My lovely car mechanic has told me that I am the proud owner of four alloy wheels!

OP posts:
angeltreats · 02/07/2014 07:03

I can and have changed a wheel. I doubt I could due it now due to a back problem (probably couldn't lift the wheel without my back seizing up) but I could instruct someone else! I'm not sure where the jack points are in my car as I've never had to do it but it wouldn't take long to find out. I carry the handbook around with me.

I'm also perfectly capable of checking oil, coolant, screenwash etc and topping up anything that needs to be topped up, and checking/topping up tyre pressures (which I should do every week but I am lazy).

My proudest car-related achievement so far is removing the entire dash and wiring in a new stereo in my now dearly departed Micra a few years back :D I also have sufficient knowledge that I can haggle with used car salesmen and no mechanic will ever rip me off or patronise me.

My husband did a car maintenance class at college a few years ago and now does almost all our maintenance and repairs with the exception of anything requiring welding, it's saved us a fortune over the years. I always meant to go along and do the class myself but never got around to it and now my belly is expanding rapidly so I doubt I'll manage to get underneath a car till maybe this time next year when I've lost the baby weight :)

tallulahturtle · 02/07/2014 07:13

I think that changing a wheel should be part of the driving test. It is such a basic thing that will need doing to a car often at the most inconvenient moment. Knowing how to do it saves time and money and doesn't signal to garages that you are so clueless that they can take advantage.

Once was at a garage getting my wheels balanced and met this guy who told me he was too well paid to get his hands dirty changing his wheel so had driven the car which was on the rim -to the garage. He then asked me to dinner .
I declined saying that all men should change their own wheels and next time to roll up his sleeves and man up rather than damage some very nice alloys.
I deliver wine for a living and it really angers me when i have to
do deliveries for colleagues as they are at the road side waiting for a wheel change from the AA. I would never dream of calling the AA for such a basic thing, bit like calling them out to change a bulb!

HouseofEliot · 02/07/2014 07:22

Yes I would have thought it was common knowledge. I also know how to change a tyre which everyone should learn. I know more about cars than my husband.

bigdog888 · 02/07/2014 08:06

Also worth noting that using the can of tyre foam does not mean the tyre has to be replaced. It's a load of BS from tyre fitters who are too lazy to clean up the mess and want to sell you a new tyre. If the puncture is repairable then it should be fine.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 02/07/2014 08:24

How do you use the tyre foam? Attach it to the valve and squirt?

AnsonsVoyageRoundTheWorld · 02/07/2014 08:40

I can change tyres like a pro and do other normal car maintenance but I am not interested in cars. We have had a million different cars due to moving countries a lot so sometimes I 'forget' what model car I am driving. It makes me look a bit dumb if I am booking the car in for a service or whatever.

I know what alloy wheels look like but I would probably be caught out by other things that are equally obvious to others.

I'm usually in the 'it's purple' camp. (I really, really wish it were purple Grin )

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 02/07/2014 09:19

I used to be a lot more interested in them, do all my own maintenance etc. Now I just want something practical and reliable, it's all a black box under the bonnet, it's 25 years since I've changed a wheel and I blanked when asked to fill in the registration number in a visitors book the other day Blush. I do still check oil, water and tyre pressures though.

Chattymummyhere · 02/07/2014 09:23

I can't believe how many people would call recovery for a flat tire!!

Every car should have everything needed to change the wheel. I know we pay for recovery but I would never call them out for something so simple unless say the locking nut would not undo and had to be taken to a garage to be welded off (happened to us). Breakdown should be for important things not oh I never bothered to learn/don't want to get dirty etc

BettySwollocksandaCrustyRack · 02/07/2014 09:24

I know I have alloy wheels - posh ones too - and I have no clue how to change a tyre, that's what I have my breakdown cover for.

However, my mini has run flat tyres so I don't have a spare!

VivaLeBeaver · 02/07/2014 09:24

I know I have them, I know where the nut thing is, I know how to change a tyre and have done so in the past.

If I had a puncture now I wouldn't change it. I'm in the RAC and would call them out. I'm not sure i have a wrench or a jack in the car.

Rosebug258 · 02/07/2014 09:25

On my current car I can tell you yes it has alloy wheels and I know that the nut is in my glove box!

Before I was allowed to start my driving lessons my dad make me learn to change a tyre, do an oil change do air filter changes etc on the car and general maintenance, as far as I know I'm the only female (in a small select group, im very anti soical) I know who can do basic maintenance on a car.

My brake pads and disc will need doing at some point so will buy them and fit them.

Dh is very good at car bits too :)

GrandadGrumps · 02/07/2014 09:26

Until relatively recently I'd never had a car with alloy wheels and I'd never had to change one. I knew all about the locking wheel nuts, knew where the key was, where the jack was and how everything worked.

What I wasn't prepared for was plastic caps over the wheel nuts which look for all the world as if they're actually part of the wheel nut. There's a special tool for removing them which is thoughtfully not included with the wheel changing tools.

Had I bothered to do a dry run at home, rather than thinking I knew it all, then I wouldn't have been left at the side of the road for half an hour scratching my head and being laughed at by the people I rang for advice. I eventually used two keys to prise the caps off.

BookieTubules · 02/07/2014 09:26

I know perfectly well how to change a tyre. However, I do not have the strength to undo nuts manually which have been done up by a garage. When I had a flat tyre I couldn't crack the nuts, a man came along and he was very patronisingly "ooh look at the little lady who doesn't know how to change a wheel". He couldn't undo them either. I had to walk to a garage for help.

TSSDNCOP · 02/07/2014 09:29

I have driven since 1987. In that time I have never needed to change a tyre. Theoretically I could do it, but why would I when I have breakdown cover.

HercShipwright · 02/07/2014 09:35

watercolour I don't know how to change a tyre. I've had a driving licence for 30 years. Never had an accident. Are you suggesting I should hand my licence back?

OneLittleToddleTerror · 02/07/2014 09:44

bookie I couldn't undo the nut either the only time I tried when I had a flat tyre. It only happened once in my over 20 years of driving. DH is worse with the car than me. I don't know if he could fill a tank.

I don't think it's a men's job. It's just something I don't know how to do. But I can build a computer from parts though. Hope that counts Wink

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 02/07/2014 09:49

I'd call recovery for a flat tyre, partly because that's what you pay for and partly because I have an injury which means it would be very inadvisable to attempt it myself.

chemenger · 02/07/2014 11:11

I just was not aware that changing a tire was such a black and white measure of competence. I still stick by my decision not to change tires except if I am completely without any alternative. I've only ever had one flat in 25 years of driving so its not exactly a skill I need every day. I know how to make bio-diesel from used cooking oil as well, but I 'm choosing not to do that either.

Bunbaker · 02/07/2014 15:46

"I can't believe how many people would call recovery for a flat tire!!"

Well, bully for you. I don't like the supercilious tone that some people have on here towards those that don't know how to or don't want to change a wheel.

I once called the RAC out for a flat tyre. I just don't have the brute force to be able to change a wheel. The wheels on OH's car are way too heavy for me to lift. Also, I would be worried that the car wouldn't be safe enough to drive if I had changed a wheel.

HercShipwright · 02/07/2014 15:54

I don't know how to change a flat tyre. I doubt I would be able to change a flat tyre. There are lots of things I do know, and can do, though. So I'm not about to let someone make me feel inferior because I can't change a tyre.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 02/07/2014 15:56

Oh and the other reason I'd call out the breakdown service is that they have vans with flashing lights to park behind yours and warn oncoming traffic. They can do it far more quickly and in much greater safety than I could on my own at the side of the road with just a high vis jacket and reflective triangle as a warning.

I've only had one flat tyre in 30 years of driving, so it's not something I worry about, but one of the reasons I'm happy to pay for breakdown cover.

ChunkyPickle · 02/07/2014 16:19

Yes, I know what alloys are, and I can change a tyre, and have done on more than one occasion. I'm 5' tall, and find it a bit Hmm that so many people don't think they have the strength to do it when I know that I do (although I would find it difficult lifting a steel wheel into the boot of the car I admit!)

The only time I'd call break down is if it was on the road side rather than curb side on a motorway, because that's just too dangerous without some way of keeping traffic back.

I equate not knowing how to do the basics of this sort of thing with the kind of people who get an iPad then their kids spend 1000s on Smurfberries because they didn't bother to learn how to lock it down. If you're going to spend the money to have an expensive bit of equipment you really should know how to use it!

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 02/07/2014 16:21

It's not that I don't know how to do it, but choose not to, big difference.

ChunkyPickle · 02/07/2014 16:37

I guess what runs through my head is that that means my breakdown cover is more expensive and slower, because I'm paying for loads of people who choose not to change their own tyres - but I don't know that any other solution is good - like I said I'd struggle getting the wheel back into the boot once I'd changed it (although I'm pretty sure I'd manage it - I have on other cars) and plenty of people have issues that mean they couldn't at all, and I don't think that having to justify yourself on the phone is in any way sensible.

Personally I feel that some basic maintenance knowledge is only sensible, so you can make educated calls on what is safe and what is dangerous.

Taz1212 · 02/07/2014 16:42

The one time we had a flat tyre, DH let me have a shot at getting it off and then stood there laughing at me as I couldn't get it to budge. If I'm on my own the next time it happens, I'll be straight on the phone to the RAC.

I don't know what alloys are, but I'm guessing that as we have "alloy"cleaner in the she'd that our cars have alloys. Maybe not though- you never know. It shall continue to be one of life's mysteries for me.

and I won't get started on my lightbulb changing phobia. I smashed one in my hand when I first moved to this country because I'd never heard of bayonet style lightbulbs. DH changes all of the lightbulbs!