Comments on: Volkswagen’s Safety Just Got a Little Too Safe for Me…

By: Tracy Ganis

Tracy Ganis — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 06:17:47 +0000

Excellent post, I will be sure to save this in my Diigo account. Have a awesome evening.

By: rschaefer

rschaefer — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:30:12 +0000

I bought my ‘05 Passat 4 months ago and tried to rotate the tires yesterday to find I have no key. So I went back to my dealer because surely they would just give me one since I bought it from them. Nope, they didn’t even have the adapter. The parts guy had a tool help identify which one I needed (#5) then told me he can’t order just the key, he has to order an entire set of lugs at $175. So I am contimplating hammering a socket over the round lug and forceing it off to replace it with a regular one. Love my VW, hate the lugs.

By: Alexis

Alexis — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:15:18 +0000

I just bought an ‘02 Beetle and I’m running into the same problem with my tires. I just took my car to have the tires rotated and I waited 3 hours for them to tell me they can’t take the tires off without the key. At first I was thinking to myself what key, then they told me there is a key that is required to take the tires off. They said they checked where the spare was supposed to be, turns out I didn’t even have a spare tire, and it wasn’t there. So now I’m hoping my tire doesn’t blow on my 4 hour drive through the mountains to go home.
I’m completely with you, whoever thought the locking lug nuts was an awesome security feature needs to look at it at this point of view. If I get a flat in the mountains, hours from civilization, I wont be able to do anything about it because my tires are locked on. Great security feature, I’m just glad I found out about it before I took my 18 hour trip home.

By: Tim @ another Bob Sumerel

Tim @ another Bob Sumerel — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:34:49 +0000

Sorry you had a bad week however a second option would be to remove the 4 locks and replace with lug nuts to avoid future time loss, I have alot of customers who do just that and feel the same way you do, nevertheless if you need any more assistance I am sure Hyde Park will take great care of you.

Tim
Assistant Manager
Bob Sumerel Tire Co.

By: stuckandangry

stuckandangry — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:11:37 +0000

I have always been a fan of my VWs, infact, I just bought mine out of my lease. Literally, JUST did it. And thats about the time, say 10pm on a week night that my tire blows out when I’m on my way to the hospital… not a big deal, i’m a big girl, i can get a tire on and off a car… that is, if the last service center who sold and installed a tire for me didn’t rip the kit from me… so, all i have is this piece of crap jack which wouldn’t get the car up an inch…so, in handy comes my roadside assistance, who shows up pleasantly within the time expected only to find out that not only can he do nothing for me, but that the tow hook is also in the kit that i no longer have in my posession (who checks for these things?!) and in order to tow it, I would have to have my front bumper taken off… so, lesson learned, I get it…. never trust anyone who works on your car to leave it the way they found it….

By: Dan Volkens

Dan Volkens — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:17:26 +0000

Cool, glad it got fixed ok. Yay, $18 for some insignificant little part that you don’t really need. :P

By: Beckers

Beckers — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:56:48 +0000

Oh, J, I didn’t know that the nuances between security and safety meant so much to you – my bad. Whoosh.

Regardless, here’s how the situation netted out:

Took buggy to the Dub dealer to get a part. He had to dig through a box of 20 “master” security adapters to find the right one (lesson learned: there is no rhyme or reason to how they pair the lock to the car; it’s just random assignment). Put the part on order, look 3 days to get that in. Took part back to Bob Summerall, they swapped the tire, end of story. $18 for the part; $25 for the service at Bob Summerall; a week of my life to get a flat fixed. That’s sad.

Seriously, if I had high performance tires, that’d be one thing. But I don’t. Make the locks an option, Dub Masters.

[PS - the new site looks supa-bad, Vizzle!!]

By: Dax

Dax — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:24:07 +0000

I’m assuming tekmassa is replying to the first commenter? lol :] Anywho, how did everything go Beckers? Get it taken care of?

By: Tekmassa

Tekmassa — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:46:33 +0000

Lemme guess, you leave your front door unlocked so it’s not an inconvenience if you lose your keys? I mean, plenty of people leave their doors unlocked and they don’t get robbed, so what’s the big deal?

By: Jeremiah

Jeremiah — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:21:50 +0000

It’s a security feature—not a safety feature. It doesn’t make your car any safer, but it helps prevent the theft of your wheels. That’s why they’re called wheel locks.