Honeymoon at a beach house in North Carolina. My car (because it was relatively new and less likely to die en route than Typo Knig’s car). I had the only key to it. We were loading the car on the last day. I had the tailgate up (Dodge Omni hatchback). Noticed the bottle of Windex and paper towels, thought “Hmmmm, the windows are cruddy from the salt, I should clean them before we go”. Set the keys down, picked up the cleaning supplies, closed the liftgate so I could do that window first. Then I realized that all the car doors were still locked.
:smack: :smack: :smack: :smack:
Had to hike a half-mile up the road to the nearest public phone (the rental house had none and of course this was LOOOOONG before cell phones existed). Called AAA. They came out and popped the lock for us. Happiness.
A couple years after that - same car. I dropped it off at the service station early in the morning before work (before they opened) and left the key in the ashtray as was my habit. A colleague met me there to give me a ride to work. I hopped out, pushed down the door lock, and closed the door. OOPS. I phoned the service station and spoke with the owner and explained my dilemma. He laughed at me - deservedly so - and dealt with the problem.
I went to pick it up that afternoon and asked for the key. He said (verbatim quote here) “Key’s in the car, door’s locked, you get in the same way I did!”. Fortunately for me, he was kidding!
Now I keep a spare key. And car design is such that it’s much harder to lock keys in the car (I can’t push the thingy down on the door if the door is open, and even the remote won’t lock if a door is open).
The most inconvient car lockout experience for me happened at 2:00 AM at a truckstop in Alabama. I was driving from my parents’ house in WI back to Fl where I was stationed. I found out that the State Patrol’s in AL will come to your car and unlock it free of charge.
It took almost an hour for the cop to get there and unlock the car, but he was really cool about it and I bought him a cup of coffee afterwards. (don’t worry, he took the coffee to go, he didn’t sit there and take a break.)
I’m hoping that I didn’t skim this thread entirely too quickly, but I wanted to make a point. Some of you mentioned AAA will come by and unlock your doors for you, but you should also be aware that AAA will make – for free to members – a plastic mold of your door key for you that is the size of a credit card and will fit easily in your wallet.
I realize this might not be convenient for ladies if you’ve locked your purse in the car with your keys, but it has saved me four or five times over the years when I’ve had a mental lapse.
Only if the automaker has provided the pattern to AAA. I know this because for some reason Nissan has neglected to do this for the 2000 model year, so I have had to go 5 years without a keycard for my truck. The bastids.
On my previous car, I had surreptitously wired a spare key to the undercarriage (specifically, in the wheel well beneath the car bra). I ended up using it once or twice.
Huh. That’s a good idea. However - maybe I’m a moron, but what does the chip in the fob do? That was part of what made it so expensive when I had to get my car rekeyed.
On my 2001 Honda 2 door coupe, there is only one way to lock the keys in the car and it takes some effort.
Exit driver’s side door. Lock car from outside with key (both doors lock). Go around to passenger door. Open door with key, toss key into car. Manually push lock button back down on door. Close passenger door.
I’ve never locked my keys in this car. Given my track record, that’s due solely to Honda’s moron-proofing, not my own efforts.
Unless I’m mistaken about what you’re asking about, it verifies to the ignition that it’s an authentic ignition key, authorized to not only unlock the door, but start the car.
Lately, the local hardware store is NOT where you go to get a new key for your car.
MM, next time, check your insurance. I have barely-miminal insurance from Geico but lockouts is one thing they cover. They came within an hour and paid for it all, it was great!
No kidding. Our spare took two weeks to arrive, was $250 plus another 60 for the Service dept. to “configure” it to the car. I think I’ll buy a safe and keep it in there.
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