My turn for rant!

Brown Swiss

Well-known Member
So I need to work on the car, okay but no keys in it and it is in my driveway! My wife was a city slicker and always took the keys out when leaving the car. I am in the country and I leave the keys in, ask her for the keys, they are in my purse, okay where is that? Found the purse but no keys in the purse. Must be in my coat pocket, okay which one, I don't remember which one I had on last I hear! Nope they were in pants pocket! Okay so back in the day if someone stole a horse they got hung, sounds like a good idea to do to car thieves! I could have just grabbed the spare keys, but then it messes with the stupid security on the car since the spare has no chip in it! Rant over, thanks for reading! LOL
 
Ah, yes.... women and car keys...
We're going to be trading the Taurus ('02,) soon. Think she can find both sets of keys for it?
 
Yes and my wife was not leaving keys in car at home in the driveway or garage. Her excuse. "I always take them out when I get to work". I ask here if our driveway looked anything like the parking lot at the mall!!! She shrugged her shoulders and said, " its not really that big a deal'. Pass the beer nuts!!!! lol gobble
 
My wife always seemed to loose the keys. Except when it was time for shopping. Then you couldn't pry them from her hands.
 
Remember parking in front of the barn you wouldn't dare take the keys out. If you ever had a conversation with a vet, breeder or the worst a milk hauler you wouldn't do that again bad enough parking in there spot
 
Glad all my cars use real keys so no stupid chip to cause problems. Now days thing are getting to the point that you can no longer drive them let alone work on them
 
Quote: (Okay so back in the day if someone stole a horse they got hung, sounds like a good idea to do to car thieves)

How times have changed. I was in the local coffee shop a while back and a guy came in from Topeka, KS. Made some small talk with him and the subject of crime in bigger cities came up. He stated that in Topeka, if someone gets their vehicle stolen the police won't even file a stolen car report anymore. A call to the police station and they tell you to call your insurance agent. They don't have the time to fill out these reports anymore. I imagine a lot of the bigger cities are like this. Welcome to 2016.

Tom
 
I left my keys in the ashtray at parking ride when I came back it was gone that 95 Buick was my favorite to.the person probly looking for change and wala joy ride never got it back . the worst part was my 5 x hunting bibs were in the trunk the bibs were worth more than the car.
 
My dad was telling me one time that him and his dad needed the skidsteer out of the shed and my grandpa's BIL had his car parked in front of the door with no keys in the ignition, so grandpa jumped on one of his tractors, backed up to the BILs car hooked a chain on to it and pulled it out of the way with it in park yet! I guess his BIL didn't find it as funny as others did! LOL
 
My wife has a new Jeep that you do not need a key, just a FOB. Last week we went out to eat and I dropped her off at the front of the restaurant. When she went inside the Jeep lost contact with the FOB and I could not move it until I went inside and got it. I felt like a fool as I had traffic backed up.

As far as keys, my wife has never lost a key during our 37 years together.
 
Someone went cheap and got a spare key without a chip? All it will do is unlock the door, you can't drive it, that's only useful if you lock the keys in.
 
One of the best theft deterrents nowadays is a manual transmission.Most young car thieve mutts nowadays,have never driven one.
 
My last two cars (2010 Toyota and 2015 Lincoln) have the push button start. The Lincoln gives two short horn honks if it senses the fob moving away from the car while the engine is still on. It keeps you from #1 walking away from the car with the ignition on and #2 warns you if the fob you need to run the car is leaving with whoever just left the car.

The quick double honk is a bit irritating / embarrassing, but prevents what you describe. Now the Toyota would run and drive without the fob, as long as you did not shut the ign off, but you needed the fob to restart. The Toyota did not give the honk warning, but I don't know if the Lincoln will allow me to drive without the fob.
Otherwise, I very much like not having to dig a key out of my pocket every time I get behind the wheel.
 
So if the vehicle is not reported to the police as stolen and the license plate/vin is not entered in the NCIC computer, how would it ever be recovered, not too mention an Officer safety issue if used in a crime or a traffic stop?
 
I have to be honest. My (new to me) '08 Mazda 4x4 pickup has the 'chip' in the key - apparently an anti theft thing. When I get out of the unit, I leave the window down enough so that I can stick my hand in and open the door ( I've already put the key in my pocket) - just don't trust that stuff. My old one, I'd leave the key in the ignition when I went shopping or for a beverage. Change of thinking (this trukk will be the last one) and there are WAAY more thieves/crooks around nowadays. Yep, I use the lock button at the shopping places that I have been going to for years ! (Also the Beernasium). Not so sure I like getting older/up to date.
 
Makes no sense. Insurance companies usually won't do anything until a police report is made. Not only is it a felony, but more importantly, an Officer safety issue...
 
Just goes to show you that the cops only work for those who are willing to well lets say go a bit more under the table if you want help
 

You got it easy. I had 4 kids with my key-losing wife. Oddly, she never lost them???
 
Been there, done that....
The last one that I really remember was when the key was dropped and fell down inside the console of the car between the area of the floor shifter and the shifter covering.
So I get this phone call to bring in a spare key so the car can be started and moved.
The car was sitting at a busy gas pump and was blocking customers. I'm sure the owner of the gas station wasn't happy.
 
Time to get another set of car keys? I don't bother trying to have a copy made of a car key, I get new keys them from the dealer.
 

I live out here in the country. Always have. I NEVER leave the keys in ANY vehicle, and if the vehicle is parked outside, the doors are LOCKED. The keys are kept in my pocket. I carry a set for my truck, and I also carry a set for my wife's truck. Wife does the same. Leaving the keys in the vehicle is just asking for trouble. If a thief wants my truck, he'll have to come to the house and ask, and most likely will be met with a .357.
 
Always pull keys out and if left out for the night, the vehicle gets locked up. Wife lied in NM for 30 years and locks doors behind her all the time, even during the day. It has happened more than once, that I will be out in the yard or garden working and when I try to get in the house, LOCKED! Have to stand there and ring the door bell or knock so I can get in my own house. Now have a key hidden for such reasons. Like if I am outside and she leaves and locks the door, I can still get in when she is gone
 
left the keys in the truck 94 and in the old truck 91. came home and no truck. well I must of left it behind the barn. 10 min later it comes driving up the driveway. and its the farmer that farms across the fence. so I go out and say rich whats going on and he says I broke a part on the sprayer and had to go to jimmys and git a new one I hope that you don't mind. I say any time you need it that's whats its for. I tell them that if you need some thing and iam not hear just start looking its hear some place. Bob
 

My sil and daughter were going to be gone for a week and he asked his cousin to put new brakes on the rear of his pickup while he was gone(they were going to do it anyway). Jesse had the new brakes in the garage and he gave his cousin the keys.
When they got back from the trip the brakes weren't installed and also the guy borrowed his truck to go to work when his car broke down!
 

I am retired from Wichita PD, just down the road from Topeka, and actually what happens (nearly everywhere, I thought) is that when your vehicle is stolen you make the report by phone. The VIN gets entered into the NCIC database so the vehicle can be recovered if ever found.

If you think about it there is NO advantage to having an officer come out so you can point out the spot where the vehicle USED to be. A phone report works just fine.

If the vehicle is taken as part of a burglary the officer may come out to work the burglary, but if a vehicle just disappears from the parking lot or driveway there is no point in sending an officer.
 
This whole thing with keys and fobs is only going to get worse.
The "keyless" ones with just a fob are going to be a disaster in the making. Fobs will get OLD and expensive to replace when they start to fail. Dealer support will start to taper off long before the cars go to the scrapyard.
I personally vow to never own a car without a key. I simply do not trust the fobs. Batteries in the fobs go dead at unexpected times and leave you stranded - potentially hundreds of miles from home and low on funds. They also wear out, get contaminated with pocket lint or whatever. Mechanical failure of the micro switches in them will fail after so many uses.
Now, if you are the person that is going to update every couple of years, this will not affect you directly. However, ultimately it WILL bring down the value of these cars as used cars. Even the keys with the chips in them are potential problems. Time will tell.
 
(quoted from post at 09:20:05 04/30/16)
I am retired from Wichita PD, just down the road from Topeka, and actually what happens (nearly everywhere, I thought) is that when your vehicle is stolen you make the report by phone. The VIN gets entered into the NCIC database so the vehicle can be recovered if ever found.

If you think about it there is NO advantage to having an officer come out so you can point out the spot where the vehicle USED to be. A phone report works just fine.

If the vehicle is taken as part of a burglary the officer may come out to work the burglary, but if a vehicle just disappears from the parking lot or driveway there is no point in sending an officer.

That makes sense. Cop setting behind a desk has a computer. I call and say my car is stolen he can pull up the registration on the car faster than I can read him the VIN over the phone. Leaves more time for them to work on crimes they have a better chance of solving.

Rick
 
I prefer keys, but that is just me. My son in law has a 2015 Lincoln highbrid. He likes all that fancy stuff. I like the simple things in life. LOL!
 
Leaving the keys in the car is not a good idea no matter where you live. We had a rash of car thefts around here because people thought it was ok to leave the keys in their vehicles. A couple were crashed, a couple were used in burglaries.
 

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