A flat tyre on a car parked in Thorley Park or St Michael's Mead is a short job until the locking nut key turns out to be missing. Then nothing moves until that nut is removed, which the fitter does at the car with care for the alloy.
Bishop's Stortford is about 27 miles in a straight line from our only base at Brent Cross, NW2. We give you an arrival time when you call.
If the job is urgent, say so when you ring. Urgent jobs are fitted in when the diary allows, and you are given the arrival time on the call rather than a promise we cannot keep.
If the locking nut is all that stops you fitting the spare, tell us the tyre size too. Once the nut is off, a puncture can be repaired if the damage allows, or the tyre replaced. Common sizes are often on the van; other sizes are sourced for the job.
We never work on the carriageway of a motorway or main road, on a hard shoulder, in a smart motorway emergency area or on a slip road. If you can get safely off the M11 at junction 8, or off the A120 or A1250, onto a side road or into a car park, we can work there.
Once off the road, a drive or a legal space on a residential street in Thorley, Hockerill, Havers, Parsonage, Bishop's Park or St Michael's Mead is ideal.
Jackson Square, the station, the Herts and Essex Hospital, the Thorley Park shops and the car parks around Stansted Airport are private ground. So is Clarklands Industrial Estate near Sawbridgeworth. Each owner decides whether a fitter can work there, so check before booking.
The price depends on how many locking nuts need removing and whether you want standard nuts or a new locking set, plus any tyre work. It is confirmed on the call before anyone sets off, and it does not change in the evening or at the weekend.
Most cars with locking wheel nuts have one on each wheel, with a patterned head that only its matching key will turn. The key is a small socket that fits between the nut and the wheel brace. Without it the wheel cannot come off, so a lost or broken key turns a simple puncture into a bigger job.
Each key has a code, usually on a small card that came with the car or stamped on the key itself. With the code, a replacement key can often be ordered from a dealer or the lock maker, which is worth doing if the wheel does not need to come off urgently.
A nut can also be damaged: the pattern rounds off when the wrong tool or an impact gun is used, or the key snaps inside the nut. In those cases the key would not help even if it turned up, and the nut has to be removed.
Every wheel nut is tightened to the maker's setting with a torque wrench. It is good practice to have the nuts checked again after the first short drive following any wheel work, as alloy wheels can settle slightly.
If you want locking nuts again, a new set can be fitted later. Keep the new key in the glovebox and note the key code somewhere outside the car, such as on your phone, so a replacement key can be ordered if it goes missing.
Tell us whether the key is lost, broken or rounded off. A clear photo of one of the nuts helps.
You hear what the job involves and the options for your car. Nothing is booked until you say yes.
The fitter comes to your home, your workplace or a safe place to park, raises the car on a jack and does the job beside it.
Before the fitter leaves, the wheel is checked for security and the tyre pressure is set to the maker's figure.
If the key turns up but does not fit, or it slips on the nut, stop rather than force it: a rounded nut is harder to remove.
The previous owner, or the dealer that sold the car, may still have the key or its code, so a call to them can be worth it if the wheel can wait.
“I urgently needed to replace my tyres and the team were prompt, friendly and efficient at a great price.”
“Arrived and was very kind and polite. Reassured me about changing the tyres and was quick and attentive straight away.”
“Fast and efficient, really good service, sociable guy.”
These are the neighbourhoods, postcode districts and main roads on record for this area. Whether we can take a particular job depends on the diary and the distance from our base, so the call always decides.
Yes, if the site allows it. Supermarket, retail park and station car parks are private ground, so the owner's permission comes first. Places of this kind in this area include:
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Tell us the make, model and registration, and whether you have the key code card. The price is given on the call.
