A fly in the grease of Peugeot's usually exemplary engineering is the design of their wheel locking bolt and key, apparently known as 'the worst in the business'.

At nearly 3yrs old and 16k miles, time to swap front to rear for even tyre wear. I cannot believe a normal adult can transmit over 70Ftlb (100nM) via the effectively 8" lever of the tiny obtuse angled wrench supplied. Even stamping on it with substantial footwear failed to dislodge the bolts. The locking key with its tiny short circular lugs just jumped out of position. My cheap old 17" torque wrench cum breaker bar was needed to exert the required circa 100Ftlb. But the key lugs failed to locate adequately in one bolt; on inspection its receiving holes were malformed.

So, appointment at local Wellingborough Peugeot garage for a 'complimentary inspection'...had to book in and leave the car for an hour!

Pg - 'not covered under warranty'. JF - 'clearly a defective bolt'. Pg - 'must have been over-tightened'. JF - 'untouched since delivery'. Pg - 'probably at pre-delivery inspection where you bought it - they must sort it'. JF - 'I was told any Pg would do warranty work - not making a 100 mile round trip' Pg - 'must be the wrong bolt fitted'. JF 'unlikely the factory bolt fitting robot has selected the wrong bolt; even if it did, it's still Peugeot's problem if a reasonably competent amateur mechanic cannot remove it with basic equipment.' Pg - 'we'll do it for £57' JF - 'no thanks '.

Then some fruitless and lengthy email exchanges with Peugeot Customer Care of Coventry who persistently endorsed the Pg decision 'wheels and tyres not covered, including this bolt attachment.'

My final reply to PCC of C included the observation that their customer carelessness and stubborn unhelpfulness matched that of my local Pg. I forwarded the email thread to the personal email address of the CEO of Stellantis in the vain hope of apprising someone higher in the food chain of its Peugeot subdivision of their appalling lock bolt design and provincial uselessness. I'd get my local trusty indie to remove it at the imminent MoT and accept the risk of car recovery in the event of a puncture.

Two days later a very well spoken, helpful and apologetic man rang to say I would be soon be hearing from my local Pg! Further appointment offered at 8am. Frosty reception. Settled comfortably with my newspaper and its somewhat demanding crossword by the coffee machine. Was not offered (and did not consume) coffee by any of the many staff who used it. Asked for progress report at 9.25. 'Car still in workshop - we'll take you round there'. Asked to see the offending bolt, now completely knackered as they'd had to weld an old socket or somesuch onto it to get a grip. JF to mechanic..'thanks'. Pg - 'sorry, we can't let you drive it away - it's unsafe with only three bolts' - smirking and licking lips in lascivious expectation of remunerative business (I made that bit up;-). JF - 'it's a trailing wheel and would hold temporarily (and probably permanently for us) with only two opposing bolts, but - no problem..' ....producing a wheelbrace and the last of a set of replacement normal bolts bought at my expense for a tenner on ebay.

Result!!! .... and having torqued up the bolts to a perfectly satisfactory 65-70 ftlb (it's a small runabout, not a rally car) I know I'll be able to change any wheel in the event of a puncture.