Vauxhall Mokka SRi Nav Premium 1.2 – long-term review

When the Mokka recently suffered a puncture, I discovered an intriguing new fact. We all know that Vauxhall is now part of the burgeoning Stellantis group, so it comes as zero surprise that the group is sharing tech between its brands.

Example: the boot struts on the Mokka are clearly badged as a PSA part. This is no bad thing, in fact, this is a good thing.

Part sharing saves costs,  which is not only good for the customer  but also for R&D and the environment. In the inimitable words of Hot Chocolate, “Everyone’s a winner”. But  not all tech is necessarily shared in the right direction.

To my intriguing new fact… Vauxhalls now use PSA locking mechanisms for the alloy wheels. This is an update that would have been better off going in the opposite direction, I am reliably informed by a wheel changing expert.

That is to say, PSA would have  been better off keeping the Vauxhall locking alloy wheels nut set-up. Why? Ah, told  you it was intriguing…

The previous version of the Vauxhall locking wheel nut key (the pic on the left) has no moving parts – pop it onto the locked wheel nut and it works every time. Simple. However, the PSA locking wheel nut key (the pic on the right) has little rod-like inserts that loosen with time and can fall out, rendering the locking wheel nut key utterly useless at undoing your locked wheel nuts.

No rod inserts and the key is incapable of fixing into the locking wheel nuts. Not so simple. So, Stellantis vehicle owners, a piece of advice for you – keep your locking wheel nut key in a little bag so if the rods fall out, you stand half a chance  of being able  to pop them back in and use the locking wheel nut key again.