What is one of the most common time wasters in a repair shop? Well, I think I'll just tell you.
Everybody has a pet peeve. Want to know what mine is? Okay, I'll tell you. It's wheel locks. Not so much that I need them to remove the wheels to check the brakes or rotate the tires, but that I can't find the damn key when I need it.
Keeping Your Wheels Safe...
The theory behind wheel locks is to keep your expensive wheels and tires safe even in the worst neighborhoods. But if a thief really wants your wheels and tires, no lock in the world is going to keep him from them. But let's think about this for a moment. If a thief likes your fancy wheels and tires and he wants them, how is he going to get them? I'll tell you because I have to do it at least three or four times a week.
I'm A Wheel Thief...
Okay, I'm looking at your car and I want to get the wheels off. I see you have wheel locks on them so the first thing I do is try and figure out where you hid the key. Hmmm... I know!! You hid it in the glove box! So I open your glove box and as soon as I do 473 paper napkins, old speeding tickets, repair receipts and 20 years worth of old insurance cards fall out. Now this stuff makes good wheel lock key camouflage but it is the first place any wheel thief and I would look. I dig through this stuff and pull out the sacred key to the kingdom! Now I can do my job.
Getting Really Clever Now...
Okay, your vehicle doesn't have a glove box. So you hide it in the center console under old chewing gum wrappers, ten year old cassette tapes, $1.87 worth of loose change, some things I don't even want to know about and a couple of hairy hair brushes. You pat yourself on the back because it can't be seen when you open the console box. Well guess what? That's the second place any thief and I will look. Hey, we've been doing this a long time so we know all the hiding places. So I dig down deep, fish out the key and get to work taking the wheels off.
Third Strike...
Okay, you are one of those people who bought the car and never checked the spare tire, jack and tools. So the wheel lock key is still safely tucked away in the trunk attached to the jack handle. I already looked in the glove box and center console so there are only two other places where it can be hidden. The trunk is the third place it could be. So I pull out the golf clubs, dead bodies and any other stuff that you keep in the trunk so I can get to the jack and, hopefully, the wheel lock key.
The Best Place To Hide The Key...
The best place to keep the wheel lock key is in the top drawer of your desk at home. Now here is where the thief and I part company. The thief will not call you up at home and ask you where the key is. What he might do is get your address off one of your old insurance cards or quick lube receipts and stop by your house and get it. If you get a flat you will need the key so don't leave it at home.
If Not There... Where...?
Okay, so you ask where am I to hide this key? Well they do make a rather nice necklace. Like those rap stars that wear a Mercedes Benz emblem they stole off a parked Mercedes.
Oh yeah this is to the kid who keeps taking mine, find another car to get it off of. I'm not buying any more.
Or you can buy a set of plain lug nuts and throw the key away. Just make sure you throw the key away AFTER you put the new lug nuts on, not before. It will also make your life much easier if you get a flat.
So Now What...?
There are a number of ways to get a wheel lock off. There are special tools that can be purchased made just for that purpose. The wheel lock companies make available a special set of keys that fit their locks to mechanics. And there is a simple hammer and chisel. A few well-placed blows and a wheel lock is history. A thief is going to get your wheels any way if he wants them so why make your life and mine more difficult. It's like my Grandfather once told me, "Locks only keep honest people honest and makes thieves more inventive".
I don't know how much time we lose every week rummaging through glove boxes, consoles and trunks looking for the key. Or how many times I call a customer at home just to hear "I don't know where it is. Can't you just use yours?" Or how many times I got tied up waiting for a customer to run home and get the key.
If you bring your car in please do me a favor, leave the wheel lock key on the front seat so I can do my job more efficiently.
