Lugging that heavy car key

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fishmonger
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Re: Lugging that heavy car key

Post by fishmonger »

longri wrote:
fishmonger wrote:My Mini Cooper has a plastic emergency key.
Have you tested it?

A friend had a plastic key from AAA and I suggested that maybe we try it first before relying on it. It twisted off in the door!
Good point. It works here, but it may not work so well when it gets real hot. Have to test it on site on a hot sunny Yosemite parking lot.
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rlown
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Re: Lugging that heavy car key

Post by rlown »

longri,

How did you get into the car after the plastic key break?
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longri
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Re: Lugging that heavy car key

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We tested it at home. It twisted off and the broken piece came out with the help of some needle nose pliers. No drama, no night spent on the side of the highway, no story to tell.

With my friend's current vehicle I don't think this would even be an option since the key has an electronic chip in it. I'm not sure but I'll bet a regular key, plastic or not, would set off an alarm or disable the ignition or call in the airforce or something.

With my own ancient vehicle I just hide the key if I'm trying to save that precious half ounce. And I always have a backup key hidden on the car. That strategy has saved me a few times over the years.

Eventually we won't need keys. Our cars will will recognize us: "There you are, finally! What took you so long? I was expecting you sooner. Look at me, I'm all dusty! Now get in and I'll drive us home, stopping at the car wash in Escalon where you can wash me."
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rlown
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Re: Lugging that heavy car key

Post by rlown »

:) nice. nothing more to ask.
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fishmonger
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Re: Lugging that heavy car key

Post by fishmonger »

That car wash in Escalon must pay for itself just with the long term parking lot hikers coming down from Yosemite. I've stopped there starting back in the mid 90s, always wondering how a car wash can cost less in dry California than in a state that has more lakes than Minnesota.

Way back in the day when cars were still running with carburetors and you could open them with a coat hanger, I just put my keys under my truck on the frame rails with a small magnetic key holder. I wouldn't use it while driving, but in a long term parking lot, this creates a safe place for keys. Just don't touch it with your Meadow Burger fingers before hiding it.
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paul
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Re: Lugging that heavy car key

Post by paul »

Not in the Sierra, but - we once came out of the Marbles from a snowshoe trip and found the truck still there but without the back wheels. Fortunately two of our party had friends in the area so we were able to get local help.
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longri
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Re: Lugging that heavy car key

Post by longri »

I didn't know you could leave your car at the Escalon car wash. Do you just park it behind the wash stations and it's all good?

A thief will know to look for one of those little magnetic boxes or in the usual places like under the bumper. I may be a little paranoid. But consider this: Once, a couple of friends finished a ski tour at a different trailhead than planned. It was a bit of a drive to where their car was, maybe 20-30 miles. They could have hitchhiked eventually but nobody was around at the time. So they fished around under the other cars parked at the trailhead until they found a hidden key, drove that stranger's car to the other trailhead where their car was parked, and then drove it back. They replaced the key and left no note.

My hidden key is in a weird place and requires a tool to access. Once I accidently locked myself out of my car in a blowing rainstorm while opening a gate on a narrow dirt road. The engine was running and I had no raincoat on. Fortunately there was someone camped a couple hundred yards away. I ran. They had a swiss army knife. I ran back and by this time there was another car of impatient looking people trapped behind my vehicle looking at me like, WTF? I extracted my hidden key and all was well.
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