450H Locking Wheel Nut Problem

[Wolf02]

I have a bit of a problem,

bought my gs a few months back and never thought to check for the locking wheel nut key! I now have a flat tyre and the local garages wont touch it and keep referring me back to lexus to sort it!

BUT as far as I can tell the 450h doesn't come with locking wheel nuts so I doubt lexus will be able to help (other than offering to force them off)

can anyone confirm if the gs 450h 2008 came with locking wheel nuts, if it did its worth me chasing lexus for a fix.

If it didn't I need to find somewhere to get the locking bolts off all 4 wheels without paying a fortune!

can anyone confirm if it came with them ? and if lexus are likely to be able to help.

[mikeyv]

Can't help with the first part of your question, but if you end up needing the locking wheel nuts removing, go to an independant tyre fitting company, in my experience they had a few different tools for removing without the proper "key", and at reasonable cost.

[Rotty]

I had pretty much the same problem

I got mine removed by the the rac for £20 with no damage to the wheels.

Alan

[rhosneigr]

Can't understand what the problem is. If it has locking wheel nuts they are usually one per wheel and are quite obviously different from the other nuts. I would think that Lexus will be able to sell the appropriate key to undo them or is it a case of the nuts being to tight and garages are not keen to attempt incase they damage the wheels.

[Exdee]

Lexus dealers have a master key which can used to remove any OEM Lexus locking wheel nut. What I suggest you do is go to your local dealer and request they remove it. Make sure you take either 4 normal wheel nuts or a new set of locking wheel nuts. If you don't the dealer will probably give you some health and safety crap about the car being unsafe without the 5th wheel nut and refuse to take it off.

They shouldn't charge you for this but there may be a wait involved. Don't buy locking wheel nuts or a tool for your existing ones from your dealer. They will rip you off.

PS: If you bought your car from a Lexus Dealer who isn't local to you, just take a picture of the locking wheel nut and email it to your Dealer. You will have to speak to them over the phone first and tell them that the locking wheel nut key is missing and inquire about their email address. They will send you a key for free.

[Wolf02]

Well finally got it sorted.

Ended up having to call out a specialist as the locking nuts had the rotating suround and most places could or wouldn't attempt it.

Cost me £80 to get all 4 removed, guy came out and removed all 4 in under 1/2 hour no damage to the nuts or wheels, real pro job!

Ended up getting some cheap Halfords locking bolts simply so I had 5 bolts per wheel back on ASAP!

Don't care about them being locking nuts really just wanted some bolts back on the car!!

Thanks all, luckily puncture was repairable too so not too bad in the end but cost about £140 all in to get a simple puncture sorted!

[Wolf02]

FYI Lexus dealer was not much help,

Said they couldn't give out the code as they don't keep them on file.

Offered to remove the bolts IF they ended up being Lexus bolts but only if I could get the car to them.

Said I had a puncture so can't get the car to them they couldn't do much.

They suggested the aa but the AA said they couldn't as I didn't have homestart package and couldn't guarantee removal.

So ended up stuck, just glad the specialist was local and did call outs otherwise I would be stuffed!!

Lesson: don't trust garages to give you the wheel nut key even on an expensive car! Trust no one!

[steve2006]

Good to hear the problem was sorted.

I see you have replaced the locking nuts but did you make sure the correct ones were supplied and fitted?

Lexus wheels normally use sleeved nuts not tapered which can damage the wheel.

The link below (post 2) shows the different types of wheel nuts, standard Lexus wheels normally use the centre type so just make sure they are correct on yours.

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/81555-nissan-gtr-r32-wheels-fit-is200/#entry813706

[Wolf02]

Good to hear the problem was sorted.

I see you have replaced the locking nuts but did you make sure the correct ones were supplied and fitted?

Lexus wheels normally use sleeved nuts not tapered which can damage the wheel.

The link below (post 2) shows the different types of wheel nuts, standard Lexus wheels normally use the centre type so just make sure they are correct on yours.

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/81555-nissan-gtr-r32-wheels-fit-is200/#entry813706

Interesting,

No the type i got were the acorn tapered style (type 1 in that post), went through the car selector guide online before buying.

The ones that came off my car were I believe type 1 as different lexus' have different styles of wheel from a quick check on the forums.

They were definitely NOT flat bottomed as per type 2.

The only complication was that there WAS a washer on mine as well as it being tapered!

I will take a photo and post it on here when i get home.