New A3 and locking wheel nuts

[Karcsi]

The new A3 comes with locking wheel nuts as standard. However, they have to be fitted by the dealer pre-delivery and then they get refunded by Audi UK.

Now the problem. My dealer says that they aren't expecting any until the end of November. That would me that I would have waited over 6 weeks for this standard item!

I asked what the problem was, and the dealer claimed that they were specific to the new A3 and Audi Germany had run out. Considering that my 17" 5 arm star alloys are have been available on both the A3 and A4 for yonks, is this claim credible? Is each set unique and allocated to a particular Audi model?

Someone mentioned on another forum that there are only 8 combinations of Audi locking wheel nuts available, so they were not worth the bother. That seems a bit ridiculous to me.

 

[Karcsi]

In the UK the 17" five star alloys have been available on the old A3 (no cost option on Sport models) as well as on the A4 (cost option, now standard on Sport) for more than 2 years.

Hmm, that doesn't sound very secure. So if you see a nice set of factory fit wheels on an Audi, all you need is a set of 8/9 keys to ensure you can easily lift them. I'll get the Audi ones (as they are free), but will also get some aftermarket ones.

Thanks Gambba.