Locking wheel nuts, are they worth it?

[PixieHot]

Are locking wheel nuts worth buying?

My old car had them, but my new car doesn't. I think it will cost ~£40 to buy them, so are they worth it? The car will be parked at home at night (nice area), and at work during the day (not nice area).

I just had this same dilemma. Mine cost £70 so ive said no for now. How much are the normal ones in comparison?

My very brief search (added number plate on the Halfords website I think) suggested £40 for mine. Can you fit them yourself though?

I don't know any stats, but I don't think there are so many alloy thefts any more, as they're very common now and not expensive to replace. If you've got 20" wheels then it might be worth it, but for standard fitments I don't think I'd bother.

If you do get them
er isn't going to be easy

Sorry, phone fucked up second half of the post.

If you get them, yes they're easy to fit. If you lose the locking socket adapter, getting them removed is either not cheap, or not easy.

Ah, thank you WMittens. DH said that he thought it was a crime that used to happen more, but that was less common now. We'll give it some thought.

I would, not sure insurance would pay out if you dont have them and £40 now is alot cheaper then a set of alloys and alot better then the inconvenience of coming out from work to find your cars on its brakes.

Gah, stop that Can't . Yes, you're right too. I'm not sure about the insurance thing though - Confused.com didn't ask when I used it recently. It would be a big hassle though, so it might be worth it to minimise the risk and for peace of mind.

Maybe I'll ask Santa for them...

You may be able to nick the ones off your old car and put them on the new one. Ive a feeling its an assumption on an insurance policy (like you wont leave your keys in it unattended type)... although i could totally be talking out of my bum there!!!

An insurance policy would need to explicitly state the conditions where they would not pay out for a claim (or depending how it's worded, where they would pay out a claim). I've just had a quick scan over the More Th>n and AXA wordings and not a single specific mention of theft of wheels, never mind needing locking wheel nuts so they will be covered.

But, as CBINB said, £40 isn't a massive amount.

How big are the wheels? Are they a manufacturer wheel or aftermarket?

I can check, I think they're standard size, manufacturer wheels. I'm leaning towards getting the locking wheel nuts.

I hadn't thought of taking the old ones from my old car Cant, and I'd just exchanged when I read your post . I'm not sure how specific they are to make / model though.

Thanks for all of the replies, we're going to Halfords this weekend!

Just looking for prices and I found this 25 second video showing how to remove a locking wheel nut - guess it's not as expensive as I thought to get them out! It casts some doubt as to how effective they are ( although it does depend on the wheels, the nut etc.).

Amazon sell the same nuts at about £21 that Halfords sell at £37 - shop around.

Thanks for the info WMittens . I found the same videos when I Googled too! I suppose that it's the same as a lot of other security measures, i.e. likely to reduce but not eliminate the risk of theft.

I had to replace an alloy wheel recently due to damage and it cost nearly £200 so if you lost all four that would be £800 plus the cost of the tyres.

WhoKnows you only get one key socket, not 4

I have them on my little Roadster, but a new set of Brabus Monoblocks would cost me thick end of £1,200.

Yes, I know that, I wasn't talking about losing the socket, but the cost of losing a set of alloy wheels if they were stolen because you didn't have locks on them.

You can get a brand new set of wheels with tyres far a damn sight less than £800, and much less secondhand. I recently bought some 17" alloys with (good) winter tyres for £450. Sets of 15"/16" wheels were going for about £100-£120.

It's by the bye, as alloys don't get stolen any more - too much effort, too little reward. Satnavs and similar are more at risk.

*for, not far