Stupid ways to lock you keys in the car (or house, boat etc)

[stevesey]

Another post made me think of this idea for a thread.

Did a good earlier in the year - loading the boot with plastic bottles to take to the re-cycling point (an infrequent occurance, so plenty of them). As I closed the boot lid, the "where are the keys" thought flashed across my mind. This was quickly answered as the central locking triggered the instant boot closed.

In moving a couple of things out of the boot before loading up I'd left the keys on the boot carpet, put a couple of bags of plastic bottles on top, the bottles squished down as I closed the boot and pressed the central locking button.

Spare keys? Wife - who's away for the weekend - had them, as she'd left the car near work for me to bring home before catching the train! And to top it all my son had the wife's car and wasn't back until Sunday.

Still - I ended up having a nice quiet weekend.

Steve

 

[television]

Key less go takes care of all that, so no problem, I am pleased that you enjoyed your week end

 

[angus falconer]

Drive to Stanstead on way to honeymoon. Arrive and cart luggage and baby to bus stop in long stay car park. When bus arrives suddenly remember that you've left baby seat and a couple of other things in in car. Sprint back across to car, open boot to get stuff out then open passenger door to take out baby seat (bus still waiting...), shut door and lock with remote (boot still open) then remember CD's in auto changer in boot - run round to boot put key down on boot floor to free up right hand, grab CD's, close boot - Doh....

 

[television]

Drive to Stanstead on way to honeymoon. Arrive and cart luggage and baby to bus stop in long stay car park. When bus arrives suddenly remember that you've left baby seat and a couple of other things in in car. Sprint back across to car, open boot to get stuff out then open passenger door to take out baby seat (bus still waiting...), shut door and lock with remote (boot still open) then remember CD's in auto changer in boot - run round to boot put key down on boot floor to free up right hand, grab CD's, close boot - Doh....

What can one say, its all over in a flash, what did you do ?

 

[Rory]

Drive to Stanstead ...

We usually get friends or family to drive us to the airport (Manchester) but for this years holiday I got a good deal in the T2 long stay so took the car.

However, after leaving the car I became absolutely convinced that I'd left the driver's window open - it was a bit of a palava getting into the car park using a credit card. It quite spoilt my holiday thinking about the soaked interior, and wondering if someone would have wrapped the car in a tarpaulin and scratched it. :-(

I got back and of course I'd shut the window after all!!

 

[verytalldave]

Many years ago....TOO MANY....I owned an Astra Estate and we were visiting friends miles from anywhere (Mayfield actually). One of my darling daughters managed to lock the keys in the car somehow. So there we were - about 8pm on a Sunday evening about 40 miles from home and blocking his drive - so he couldnt even drive me home to pick up my spare set.
I had seen on TV shows people breaking into cars using a wire coat hanger pushed down between the window and the rubber seal and opening the lock. So as there was nothing else for it - except smashing the window - I thought give it a go. And after about 30 seconds giggling around, up popped the lock button. Part of me thought great, but another part thought that if I could do it so easily, so could anybody. Next weekend I had a good quality alarm and immobiliser fitted.

 

[Myros]

A nice AA man in 1985

broke the lock on the boot of my BMW in about 30 seconds flat. It only took him that long as he was trying not to make a mess that would show the lock was busted. Just a big screwdriver, a few hammer blows and a lot of torque. Still, I had to get the wedding presents out, and the keys of course, so do it I did ( spares were 250 miles away). Couldn't have got my lady friend home otherwise. It made me wince to watch though.

 

[Silver Arrow]

Last year, we had gone up to the house in Scotland in the Audi, which we had left outside the back door. (It should really be called the front door as everyone uses it).
My wife had walked past it just as it unlocked itself. She stopped and looked at it in surprise as she wasn't carrying any keys. As she looked, it then locked itself again.
She came in wondering what was happening.

I had been rummaging in the fridge with the keys in my pocket and must have triggered the remote. As the Audi detected that nothing had happend since the remote signal activated, it decided that it was a false alarm and re locked itself.

 

[jberks]

many many years ago, we had a factory in a shared building with one loading bay. Seeing a couple of trucks coming down the road, I didn't want to have to wait for them to unload and free up the loading bay and I only had a couple of cartons to throw in the back.
So I dived in in front of them, executing a perfect quick reverse into the loading bay with my ford escort and trailer. Won't be a second I shouted as I grabbed the key from the ignition, flicked the lock button down and shut the door in a well rehearsed single movement. As I leaped onto the loading dock I looked down to see ..... an empty broken keyring. The key was still in the ignition.
I managed to get a lift home from one of the secretaries and got the spare key, but wasn't too popular after I'd blocked the loading bay for over an hour!

A few years later I was having a bad day. Some blind muppet had backed into me and mangled the drivers door. After exchanging details, I went to park, only I guess I was distracted and locked the keys in the car. So, seeing a garage off in the distance, I walked over to see if they had anything I could use to get in. The chap grabbed a few tools and followed me back. took one look at the door, put his hand on the window edge, pulled what was left of the door skin out, reached in and pulled up the button. Why didn't I think of that!

 

[stevesey]

I had seen on TV shows people breaking into cars using a wire coat hanger pushed down between the window and the rubber seal and opening the lock.

That fibreglass "tape" stuff they use to around boxes cartons was best for that. Or steel rule down the glass to the lock mechanism - once used a laminated pub menu to do that on a well worn Astra Mk1 (12years/175K).

On a related note - Bath Uni, 1984 I think, RAC rally started/finished in bath and the gravel car park was being used for service area, scrutineering (got to do sound checks). Anyway a bunch of us motor club students had to clear the remaining student cars from the car park on the first morning (they had been warned) - 70's fords, BL stuff mainly (some abandoned). With five/six sets of keys between us we able to open all the (about a dozen) cars and start more than 50%, in order to get them out of the way. Security's improved a bit since then!!

 

[anyweb]

I had seen on TV shows people breaking into cars using a wire coat hanger pushed down between the window and the rubber seal and opening the lock. So as there was nothing else for it - except smashing the window - I thought give it a go.

with the old ford escort, all you needed is a screwdriver

and this is what the car might end up like after the loosers are finished with it

http://www.niallbrady.com/ford/

 

[Silver Arrow]

I once had a Rover 2000 (new) and I had locked the keys in it.
As I didn't want to damage it I used the plastic packing wrapping tape previously described to get in. (Less than a minute).
Even earlier, when an undergraduate, my mate had left his ford (Prefect) outside my parents house and had gone home without it, worse for ware, following a party. As said parents didnt want it cluttering the place up, I got in, hotwired it, drove it to his place, removed evidence, re-locked it and went home.
When he recovered from his hangover, he couldn't remember driving home!

 

[television]

I once had a Rover 2000 (new) and I had locked the keys in it.
As I didn't want to damage it I used the plastic packing wrapping tape previously described to get in. (Less than a minute).
Even earlier, when an undergraduate, my mate had left his ford (Prefect) outside my parents house and had gone home without it, worse for ware, following a party. As said parents didnt want it cluttering the place up, I got in, hotwired it, drove it to his place, removed evidence, re-locked it and went home.
When he recovered from his hangover, he couldn't remember driving home!

That was funny, poor devil in the morning

 

[ShinyF1]

Aged 22 drove with a pal to the mediterranean coast in a new VW Golf in 1989. Windsfurf board and kit on the roof, a couple of girls to meet up with in the Algarve, stopping in France & Spain at various places along the way.

We get to a campsite near Rosas in Spain, unload the car, rig the board up, and get out windsurfing, taking turns on our one board. Great.

Then a nagging thought - where are the car keys? Something telling me that they were in my shorts pocket on the way to the beach.... I look really hard for about 10mins, checking each corner of every bag, pocket etc, no key. Decide to chicken out and ask pal where he's put the keys :Oops:[immoral I know, but worth a try]. Eventually resigned to the fact keys were in my pocket before windurfing, now at the bottom of the sea. Yikes

Much cursing and abuse ensues, replacement key turns up 8 days later via VW in London and DHL. And that was still quicker than VW Spain could get it to us.....but we got into the car and hotwired it while we were waiting. We chickened out of breaking the steering lock off though.

Still met the girls in the Algarve - so a partial RESULT!:-D

 

[angus falconer]

What can one say, its all over in a flash, what did you do ?

Spent a fortune making calls home from France during my honeymoon. Arranged for a mate to get keys to my house. He went in and (eventually) found the other keys I had and had them couriered them to Stanstead (it took about 20 calls to sort all that). Flew back in with the family, picked up keys and went to car. The spare keys opened the doors and the glove box but NOT the boot....groan.

Packed the wife and baby off to catch the train back to London. I waited two hours for the AA to come out. After a MASSIVE effort the guy managed to retrieve my key from the boot by taking the first aid kit out of the rear shelf and pokng about with a great selection of welding rods and bendy tubes with a variety of mirrors, lights and magnets on the end.

The guy was amazing. My wife was royally p****d of! I was knackered.

 

[Rory]

Interesting that MobiloLife covers loss of keys, but apparently only for the first two years and there doesn't appear to be a way to extend that (and other "minor mishap") cover.

I vividly remember reading a newspaper story extolling the virtues of this cover and featuring a woman who drove with her kids in her A Class to DisneyLand Paris and then lost her keys. MB flew a technician over there with a new key and she was delighted that he drove her home!

 

[Old Hat Shop]

In the late 80's I was riding my Trimph Bonneville somewhat enthusiastically, when I felt a thud on my left knee. Miles later I removed the key from the ign barrel (left hand side of the headlamp) only to realise that the rest of my keys in the key wallet were missing. Hmmmm....

And another related note.....
One of my first bikes was an early Yamaha 200 with a simple key, just one notch at the end, and it managed to open half the cars in the street.

 

[stevesey]

Key once fell out of my MGB while cornering (after 25 years the lock barrel was well worn).

 

[Cnics]

Luckily (touch wood) i've never done it, however a guy who used to work for me managed to do it with my van. Twice. The first time he went into the back of the van put the kys down on the wheel arch got something out locked ad shut the door.

The second time the van was full he put them just inside the back door, locked and shut the door.

Some useful information. the bulkhead in my van is 8inches infront of the BACK of th side loading door. (about 3feet behind where it should be).

On the first attempt he managed to get the keys off the wheel arch through the 8inch gap using 2 upright lamps from ikea.

The second time, the van was full, he managed to get a rather small person to squeeze into that gap, through a maze of PA equipment and do the back to open the door.


Another time, not exactly locking keys in a car but more not being able to get in. My Late grandfather had a Renault Laguna (2001) and after he died there was some time before we got around to moving it to sell. the battery had gone flat and the car was parked with the passenger door a folded wing mirror distance away from the garage wall. Of course, with no key (only a card) the only way in in this situation is using a little pull out key from the end of the card, ripping off a flap on th passenger door handle and getting in though the passenger door. Queue me (all 6ft and 19 stone of me) on the roof of the car using rope reinforced and held into shape with welding rods through a half inch gap in the passenger door to pull the bonnet catch. It was an interesting half day.

 

[Ben Lovejoy]

I have heard tell of a Porsche 968 Cabriolet owner who put his keys down in the open boot while lifting something out, then closed the boot.

The electric boot release required the ignition to be on, which required the key which was in the boot.

Accessing the boot from inside the car required folding down the rear seats, the release catches for which are inside the boot.

The spare keys are at home, 500 miles away.

We- Er, I mean, they did eventually manage to get a hand through a gap in the seats and pull the keys back through.

Ben