I picked up my new F-Type S on Saturday. Came stock with P-Zero summer tires. I live in Ohio so it's 30 degrees. I ordered Michelin's and arrived at tire shop only to discover the dealership put security lock lug nuts on the car. We check the trunk, glove box, everywhere we can think of to find the lock socket, but we can't find it. We can't get the rims off to change the tires...

So I call the dealership service department and they tell me if I bring the car in, they have a master set of lock sockets. So I drive back to the dealership, the tech comes out to the car, pulls up the floor of the trunk to reveal a compartment with the fuse box... and sitting next to the fuse box is a foam tray with a tow hook and the lock socket.

But how stupid is this?
1) Why wouldn't the dealership ask me to check there before driving in?
2) Why would Jag place these items there in the first place
3) If such a thing exists as a universal set of lock sockets - what's the point of locking lug nuts in the first place... any good thief would have a set of these already?!?!

So I just lost my entire morning on a tire change that should have taken an hour... at least I have my winter tires on the car now and actually drive is safely.

 

Operator error.

Did you read the owners manual?

 

Seriously? You stated...
"We check the trunk, glove box, 'everywhere' we can think of to find the lock socket, but we can't find it..."

...which is obviously a flawed statement as you didn't look thoroughly in the trunk or you would have noticed the cover and the compartment below it. Myself and most every other F-Type owner spotted it within the first few seconds.

1. So the fault was really that you "missed" it in your hurried rush at the tire dealership and that urgency was likely due to your self-created anxiety based on a flawed mis-perception that the dealership had not provided the components. That may have been a bit embarrassing but no need for this thread as it wasn't REALLY a "big deal" at all. Just a lack of knowledge on your part. We all make mistakes so suck it up and move on.

2. Jaguar normally has a delivery specialist who walks you through all the cars features and components. Did you not have one of those? If so, shame on the dealership as that SHOULD have been provided. However, even when those resources are available and perform their function, a number of buyers tend to not hear everything they are being told as... it's a NEW car and all they want to do is to get in and DRIVE IT!!! Yeah!

3. I will agree with you that the dealership should have directed you better when you called in from the tire shop with your missing parts. Any salesperson should have been able to have told you to look at the compartment in the trunk PRIOR to asking you to drive back to the dealership. If they did not, then YES, they failed there & in doing so wasted a bit of your time to return to the dealership.

 

Locking lugs are not a "be all end all" for rim security, much like a deadbolt isn't going to stop a good thief from getting into your house. Certainly there would be ways to get a master set, but it's not something that is just available to the public. The locks serve to keep thieves of opportunity "honest"

 

My dealership left the key along with the 4 displaced standard lug nuts in the original lock packaging within plain site in the trunk. They left it up to me to figure out where the key should be properly stored. The packaging allowed me to register the locks with McGard so that I can easily order a new lock or key if need be. A wheel refinisher did manage to lose one of my locks. No biggie,

 

Do wheel locks even work? If not, why bother with this security theater?

 

It makes money!

 

To be fair they are well hid, you need to lift the boot (sorry trunk) cover panel and then there is another panel to lift before you can get to it, and then its not exactly obvious that it is stored in the corner !

 

wow - someone's got a burr in their saddle, you must be a pleasant person to hang out with... not.

First off, I didn't expect to have to dismantle my car and pull out paneling in order to find hidden compartments. Second, there was no delivery specialist or anyone whom showed me anything about the car... they just handed me the keys. Further, when I called the service department and spoke with the service manager, he obviously had no clue (which I further confirmed when I returned to the dealership because he was equally surprised as I was when the tech pulled up the paneling to find the compartment).

Yes, it was a lack of knowledge on my part and I did make a mistake... isn't that the entire purpose of a user forum... to share mistakes, experiences, and to commiserate or prevent others from making the same mistakes. You don't agree with me, I get that.

I love my new F-Type, but this is the worst delivery experience I've ever had. I've had better delivery experiences at the Honda dealership.

 

sorry you had to go through all of that. usually the dealer will hand you the key before they send you off. sounds like you didnt get a proper walk through.

in general wheel locks are not that secure. they can stop the amateur thieves, but a professional get get them off in a blink of an eye. Infact the wheel shop could have done it themselves as well....breaking the lock is super simple.

 

Sure the OP could of/should have been able to find it but it'd be pretty annoyed that the service department couldn't just tell him where it was over the phone.....


JMHO

Dave

 

As far as this being a bad thread, I can imagine someone buying one of our cars used and needing this to tell them where their lug nut key likely is as they are trying to get a tire shop to fix a flat. (I don't know about you, but my car picks up nails like a fricken magnet).

 

Let's keep to the discussion without any personal comments.
Thanks

 

I was very surprised to read you were having issues finding the locking wheelnut key ........ until I looked for the relevant section in the 2018MY F-Type Owner Information on the Jaguar website.

First I read that not all vehicles are fitted with locknuts. That came as a surprise as all my Jaguars for at least the last twenty years have been fitted with them.

Then I found the locking wheelnut NOTES section.



This informed me the locking wheelnut adaptor may be in the glovebox and must be moved to its correct storage position in the luggage compartment. It doesn't say where this "correct storage position" may be but has a useful link to the WHEEL CHANGING section.

Don't waste your time looking in the WHEEL CHANGING section - there is no further mention of the locking wheelnut adaptor.

Now you've found the locknut adaptor, I recommend you do as I do. Buy 4 plain nuts, replace the locknuts and leave them in a bag in the luggage compartment until you sell the vehicle.

If anyone wants to steal my wheels then locknuts certainly aren't going to stop them. I've had a Jaguar stolen but never lost a wheel.

Graham

 

Another F type in Columbus!!! Shoot me an email if you want to get together! See you at Cars and Coffee!

jv105506@ohio.edu

take care!

 

Looking forward to seeing it at Cars and Coffee! We can always use another F-Type!

 

sounds good! I'll try to make it this weekend. At AMC Lennox, right?

 

I will try to make it if the weather holds out, though I will probably be in my XJ8 has I still have the F-type in storage for the winter. Mine isn't AWD

 

I drove down there today and no one was there...

 

It was I!

Thanks for your positive comments chaps.

If anyone is having problems with the following lockers:

1. The two slotted design 1990s and early 2000s

2. The domed top four slotted type 2000 on

3. The 2020 on approx virtually circular design with a wavy circumference

Please get in touch as I have proven, successful solutions for most scenarios.

Hope this helps.

Mike.