Car Keys

Greg Pavlov wrote:
...
Luckily my wife keeps our AAA subscriptions
up to date, ...

Yep, that's the best $73 a year we spend. We get that back with
a couple of hotel stays in Chicago and a pair of eyeglasses at
Lenscrafters even if we never need any roadside assistance.

--
Ken Fortenberry

Ken Fortenberry wrote in
gy.com:

Greg Pavlov wrote:
...
Luckily my wife keeps our AAA subscriptions
up to date, ...

Yep, that's the best $73 a year we spend. We get that back with
a couple of hotel stays in Chicago and a pair of eyeglasses at
Lenscrafters even if we never need any roadside assistance.


I totalled a car once-- very cold out, nasty weather. Cop shows up, asked
if I had AAA. I did, and he called them for me. Then he told me that they
ONLY deal with AAA, or their own contracted towers. They won't deal with
any Insurance company or dealer roadside assistance plan. Really is great
in an emergency.

Scott

Toyota Sienna.

hmmm, one brand I didn't have

I thought it might have been one of those bavarian bast... , um, I mean,
vehicles.

I really have grown to like Ford ignition switches which, as long as they don't
short and start a fire (:-O) wear out such that you can use just about any ford
type key blank to start the car.

really, I think most wear on the switches just causes the key to be *more*
reliable for *starting*, so I'd opt out of the aluminum keys myself.

'course, those keys with chips in them are excluded from this discussion...

-- Rob

A problem for me is that supposedly it's not easy to obtain
replacement keys: they are made with some sort of proprietary
blank - local key places don't carry them - and the machine
that cuts them is fed a code that defines the pattern.


see this is the type of thinking that product managers employ... make it as
hard on the consumer in the name of "safety" whilst the bad guys will figure
out a much easier way to swipe the car anyway.

they
ONLY deal with AAA, or their own contracted towers. They won't deal with
any Insurance company or dealer roadside assistance plan. Really is great
in an emergency.

Scott

of course, in NJ, specifically with local cops, I and my children on 4
different occasions, have had cops either NOT want to wait for AAA, or try to
bully me into using their towing company. A royal PITA and I know it has to do
with the local contracts signed (and the associated pressure from the pols to
use them).

-- so much fishing, so little time --
--please remuv the 'NOWAY2it' from my email addy to email me--

they
ONLY deal with AAA, or their own contracted towers. They won't deal with
any Insurance company or dealer roadside assistance plan. Really is great
in an emergency.

Scott

of course, in NJ, specifically with local cops, I and my children on 4
different occasions, have had cops either NOT want to wait for AAA, or try to
bully me into using their towing company. A royal PITA and I know it has to do
with the local contracts signed (and the associated pressure from the pols to
use them).

-- so much fishing, so little time --
--please remuv the 'NOWAY2it' from my email addy to email me--

"Greg Pavlov" wrote in message
...
Peter and I had an experience I hadn't expected:
we got back to my van after a day's fishing and
found out that the key wouldn't turn in the ignition.
After a tow to a dealer, etc, the diagnosis was
that the key was worn. The van is 3 and a half
years old and the key worked fine righr up to that
point. I've found out that other people have had
that problem and also with no advance warning
of ani kind. So if you've had your car for a while
you may want to carry an extra key with you.

How much weight did you have on your key chain? We had a problem with SOs
car. She had keys from the house ( front door. back door, )work (3) , a
half pound pewter rabbit etc. on her key ring. Driving around with all that
mass on the end of a key doesn't make the lock happy. the electronic
ignitions are worse than the old ones.
Going into the steering cloumn of a new car is not cheap.
I have a hidden key on each of our vehicles. Take some Scotch 33 + tape
and wrap a key somewhere underneath the car. Make the first wraps around
the key with the sticky side out ( keeps the adhesive off the key) and tape
the key on something. The black tape is hard to see especially after you
get a little dirt on it. If you don't trust the tape put some wire or a
ty-wrap on before taping the key on.

"Jack Schmitt" wrote in message
...
Greg Pavlov wrote:

Peter and I had an experience I hadn't expected:
we got back to my van after a day's fishing and
found out that the key wouldn't turn in the ignition.
After a tow to a dealer, etc, the diagnosis was
that the key was worn. The van is 3 and a half
years old and the key worked fine righr up to that
point. I've found out that other people have had
that problem and also with no advance warning
of ani kind. So if you've had your car for a while
you may want to carry an extra key with you.

I had this happen to me in my 82 GMC pickup that was 11 years old at the
time. I was using an aluminum key made at Sears, I think. I replaced the
ignition module and have used steel keys since with no problem in the
last 11 or so years.

I've had this problem with three vehicles.....including my current one. All
of them used standard chrome plated brass keys. I HAVE seen both aluminum
and steel keys, but aluminum infrequently and steel only rarely.. The
majority (and EVERY one that I've had for a motor vehicle) of keys in the
U.S. are made of brass. I have never even SEEN a car key made of either
steel or aluminum. The only steel keys I have ever personally seen have
been in......um......well, the bighouse. The machines used for duplicating
keys at the local hardware store are not designed to cut steel.

Wolfgang

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 23:48:54 GMT, "B J Conner"
wrote:


"Greg Pavlov" wrote in message
.. .
Peter and I had an experience I hadn't expected:
we got back to my van after a day's fishing and
found out that the key wouldn't turn in the ignition.
After a tow to a dealer, etc, the diagnosis was
that the key was worn. The van is 3 and a half
years old and the key worked fine righr up to that
point. I've found out that other people have had
that problem and also with no advance warning
of ani kind. So if you've had your car for a while
you may want to carry an extra key with you.

How much weight did you have on your key chain? We had a problem with SOs
car. She had keys from the house ( front door. back door, )work (3) , a
half pound pewter rabbit etc. on her key ring. Driving around with all that
mass on the end of a key doesn't make the lock happy. the electronic
ignitions are worse than the old ones.
Going into the steering cloumn of a new car is not cheap.
I have a hidden key on each of our vehicles. Take some Scotch 33 + tape
and wrap a key somewhere underneath the car. Make the first wraps around
the key with the sticky side out ( keeps the adhesive off the key) and tape
the key on something. The black tape is hard to see especially after you
get a little dirt on it. If you don't trust the tape put some wire or a
ty-wrap on before taping the key on.

My last two vehicles came with special, minimalist keys that I tucked inside
my wallet. They'll open the drivers doors if I somehow lock the regular remote
key/fob inside one of them. I haven't tested that theory yet...

On Mon, 12 Jul 2004 23:48:54 GMT, "B J Conner"
wrote:


"Greg Pavlov" wrote in message
.. .
Peter and I had an experience I hadn't expected:
we got back to my van after a day's fishing and
found out that the key wouldn't turn in the ignition.
After a tow to a dealer, etc, the diagnosis was
that the key was worn. The van is 3 and a half
years old and the key worked fine righr up to that
point. I've found out that other people have had
that problem and also with no advance warning
of ani kind. So if you've had your car for a while
you may want to carry an extra key with you.

How much weight did you have on your key chain? We had a problem with SOs
car. She had keys from the house ( front door. back door, )work (3) , a
half pound pewter rabbit etc. on her key ring. Driving around with all that
mass on the end of a key doesn't make the lock happy. the electronic
ignitions are worse than the old ones.
Going into the steering cloumn of a new car is not cheap.
I have a hidden key on each of our vehicles. Take some Scotch 33 + tape
and wrap a key somewhere underneath the car. Make the first wraps around
the key with the sticky side out ( keeps the adhesive off the key) and tape
the key on something. The black tape is hard to see especially after you
get a little dirt on it. If you don't trust the tape put some wire or a
ty-wrap on before taping the key on.

My last two vehicles came with special, minimalist keys that I tucked inside
my wallet. They'll open the drivers doors if I somehow lock the regular remote
key/fob inside one of them. I haven't tested that theory yet...