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Lost Your Car Keys? What Not to Do.
Lost Your Car Keys? What Not to Do.
| Lost Your Car Keys? What Not to Do. |
| Written by Martin Style | ||||||||
I recently lost my car keys.. in the snow in Thredbo.. on a Sunday. I only realized when I got back to the car and checked every pocket in my ski suit. I then had to trek back in my ski gear, since my shoes were in the trunk, to the ski hire place where my girlfriend was waiting and tell her what had happened with a most dejected look on my face. Luckily, I have a very kind and understanding girlfriend.
First port of call was the NRMA. I'd always thought that the NRMA could solve all my problems when it came to anything car related. Unfortunately, I was wrong.. dead wrong. The best that they could do, as told to me by the semi-friendly voice at the end of the phone whilst I was trying my best not to start to panic, was to call a patrolman and get the phone number for a locksmith. The five minutes that they took to try and locate the patrolman felt like five hours and when they finally got back to me, they told me that they couldn't find him as he was out. We were pretty much on my own on this one. Thanks very much, NRMA. After a number of calls to Virgin Red Pages, trying to locate a locksmith, I finally got through to one who quoted me about $300 to come out on a Sunday, until he found out where I was. "It'll take me 4 hours to get there so you're better off finding someone closer". Fair enough, except there was noone closer. I know this because after that call I spent an hour trying to find one, only to get voice mail systems and unending ringing on the numbers I tried. We tried asking people in Thredbo and the best that they could do (apart from sympathetic looks to make me feel pathetic) was to send me to lost and found, where I managed to fill out a form. Woohoo. Life is good again! Then again, I was still stuck 6 hours away from home with a locked car and no key. The euphoria from filling out the form left as soon as it had come and I was back in my state of panic. So I called the hotel I was staying at and the manager tried her best to help me but she couldn't find a locksmith either. However, someone who worked at the hotel knew someone who could hotwire the car so that we could get the car home. Now when I think of hotwiring a car, memories of movies come flooding back where the guy pulls a couple of wires out from under the dashboard, strikes them together and the engine starts. Sound good? I thought so too, so I agreed and half an hour later a man in a van pulls up to my car. This guy was a proper licensed mechanic (at least that's what his van said on the side) and proceeded to open the car door with nothing but a pump and a wire in a few seconds. "Looks like it's going to work", I was thinking. I thought I'd leave him to it then as he tried to remove the steering column casing, under the dash. It looked like he knew what he was doing. He then needed to get the steering wheel off to get to the wiring but couldn't because the bolts were not visible so he ran back and forth from his truck getting different screwdrivers and spanners. After an hour, he did finally get it off as I helped him pull back the steering wheel while he unscrewed the thing. Once that was done he realized the steering column had tamperproof bolts. Out came the hammer as he tried to knock them out, with every strike sending chills up my spine and not in a good way. He was then able to pull of the starter switch and start the car with a screwdriver. Hurrah! He's done it. "Not quite", he said. The steering lock was still engaged because you need the key to disengage it. He needed to remove the ignition barrel. About 20 minutes of trying to remove it later, he realized he didn't know how. A quick call to a colleague or mate made him realize he had to drill it out. "It's the only way", he said and I reluctantly had to agree for him to do it. And so he started to drill... About 2 hours of drilling later, tempers are beginning to flare. "Not quite Gone in 60 Seconds, is it?", the mechanic says. More like gone in 4 hours and 60 seconds. Finally, he tells me that he's done it but the steering lock is still engaging and he doesn't know why. He knows of an advanced way of making sure the lock doesn't engage... tape. He tapes the lock down and puts the steering wheel back on. "It shouldn't pop up again", he says in a put-on reassuring voice. At that point I just want to get out of there and so I agree to take it as is, even with the image of us careering off the road as the steering lock engages mid-turn. It's now been about 5 hours since I found out I lost the keys and we still have a tense 6 hour drive ahead of us. 6 hours later we made it home. So, if you ever lose your car keys, don't do what I did. Do whatever you need to to find a locksmith. They can just take the barrel out of the door and cut you a key on the spot with it. Lesson learned!
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Hits: 1347 Comments (2)
pilogui
said:
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... At last the truth should have dawned on you that you should possess not one but a duplicate also while you go outstation. I have had similar experiences and now I carry two and keep one outside the car ie on my person or with her. nosle.com pilo |
Lost car keys cost
said:
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... This is a great example of why it is important to use a reutable auto locksmith that knows what they are doing. I am talking from experience. I have lost my car keys twice now and have found auto locksmiths like this to be very helpful |
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