Do yourself a favor, check to see if your car has wheel locks. One lug nut on each wheel will look different from the others. Go check; I’ll wait.
OK, now if you do have wheel locks, make sure you know where the key for them is. Go, find it now, put it in your glove box.
On Sunday I tried to help a woman with a flat on her minivan. First, it took way to long to find the spare tire. (Chrysler has it hidden under the front sets. You have to find the magic portal, get the wand, lower it, then pull it out from under the van. Then you have to figure out how to detach it from the gizmo. This is the price of “stow and go” seats.)
Once found, I tried to remove the wheel, only to be foiled by the wheel lock. The woman had no idea what it was or where the key might be. We looked in the usual places (glove box, center console), but couldn’t find it.
The end result: instead of a fairly simple tire change, she had to call her auto service. I’m not sure what the results were — I’m sure they have some way of removing the locking lug nut — but I do know that instead of a 15 minute free tire change she was in for a couple hour ordeal. Hopefully her auto service covers it and she didn’t have to pay extra for something so simple.
So, go now. Know your car. You don’t have to change the tire, just help those helping you.
