No cure for stupidity.....

This afternoon I spent over an hour waiting for a locksmith to come and help me get into a locked car (an '02 Olds Aurora), and a little old lady got into the car with a coat hanger in 45 SECONDS.

I was so focused on trying to get the door unlocked I completely overlooked the fact that with the window open about an inch, it would be fairly easy to get a bent coathanger into the car and push the WINDOW DOWN button.

It's always the simple solution you over look.

It's better than thinking "I just got out-done by Grandma."

how's that work ? with my Integra the down (or up for that matter) don't work unless the ignition is on....

My girlfriends olds intrigue had a bad window regulator on the passenger rear, so every time I locked the keys inside, I would just push the window down and unlock the car....worked like a champ!

I've locked the keys in my Civic a few times, but the locks move laterally, not vertically. However, an extended coat hanger wil reach the floor-mounted hatch release lever.

Presto, followed by contortions to crawl through the cabin and get to the front seat...........

I did car opening for ~16 years in the locksmith trade, and boy could I tell you some stories!

I have a set of car opening tools consisting of 45+ various specialty tools, each made for certain types of lock mechanisms. Some so specialized as to only open one certain model of car. In truth, they are nothing but heavy guage coat hangers bent in just the right places.

One day I got a call from a lady who'd locked her keys up at a nearby Wendy's. I got a description of the car, and drove over to open it. I spotted the car as I pulled in the parking lot; the lady was standing next to the driver's door with that classic look of embaressment and frustration. The space to the right was vacant, so I pulled in next to her and looked the car over (a locksmith learns to observe certain things right away, in order to save grief later). Sure enough, I could see the keys hanging from the switch, and the driver's door lock flush with the panel.. then I noticed something else. I was still sitting in my van, so I said to her, "Would you like to save $40 today? Come to this side of the car."

She walked around to the passenger side and looked at me as I told her, "Why don't you just open the car from here?" She looked a little bewildered, then turned around and tried the handle. Of course the passenger door opened right up..it had been unlocked the whole time!

I explained to her that since I hadn't gotten out of the van, I would not charge her, but she shoved a 20 in my hand anyway. She went on her merry way, and I used the opputunity to grab lunch at the drive-thru. Mmmm.. Taco salad!

That was a happy story; I have horror stories as well..if I'm not boring you, I may tell them to you.

I had a 77 LTD with the frame-less windows. Bailing wire would get me inside in under 30 seconds.

NYG95GA wrote: That was a happy story; I have horror stories as well..if I'm not boring you, I may tell them to you.

Please do. Enquiring minds want to know.

"Help, help, my car's locked and my kids are in there!!!"

914Driver wrote: "Help, help, my car's locked and my kids are in there!!!"

Duh....who do you think locked the doors?

NYG95GA wrote: I have horror stories as well..if I'm not boring you, I may tell them to you.

not boring - NOT BORING...tell us TELL US!!!

Better yet, make one of those little videos of it from the DIY Cartoon site.

John Brown wrote: Better yet, make one of those little videos of it from the DIY Cartoon site.

que?

John Brown wrote: Better yet, make one of those little videos of it from the DIY Cartoon site.

OMG those can be hilarious. My wife sent me one about "cryptosporidium" after it came up in conversation once. And I got myself out of trouble for forgetting to defrost dinner by sending one to her explaining my stupidity.

I guess you had to be there.

I locked myself out of the AE92 once, but I had the trunk open so I used the jack handle through the cracked-open window to unlock the door

My son locked the keys in my 2008 Silverado about 4 months after I bought it. We were a the kart track in Norman, OK. Asked around for a locksmith and got the number of a guy who took 2 hours to get there. Anyway, $200 lighter and I'm in my car.

On the drive home someone had their brights on so I reached up to flip down the mirror.

Hey, that's an OnStar button. I think I have a free first year service........

DOH!!

When OnStar ran out I was pondering whether or not to renew it. My wife said, "Why would you, you'll just call a locksmith, anyway...."

-Rob

NYG95GA wrote: I may tell them to you.

Purdy pwese tell us another!

I once had a lady call because she couldn't get into her car, because the key fob remote battery died. It never occurred to her to use the key. She seriously thought that the key was just for starting the car, and the remote was the only way to unlock it.

One day I got a call from a prominent local attourney, who explained that he'd just talked to his father in law, who'd lost the keys to his Oldsmobile. He told me the car was in the carport, and gave me the address. He also said nobody woould be home for a while, and to leave the keys under the mat along with the bill.

I found the place easily enough, and opened the locked car and started making the glovebox/door/trunk key. Then I looked closer at the steering column, and was suprised to see the switch was encased in a hardened steel shroud. I'd seen these in catalogs, but this was the first one I'd seen that was riveted on! The ones I sold at my shop had a key to remove them, but this thing was meant for extreme theft protection. The rivets had to be ground off one by one with a dremel; there were about a dozen of them, and they were hardened.. damn.

I finally got it off, pulled the wheel and switch, read the code, cut a key for it, then replaced the shroud with steel pop rivets. The job so far had taken over an hour. I usually could do both keys on this model (w/o shroud) in half and hour or less. I wrote out the bil, and charged accordingly.

About that time, the lawyer's wife pulled into the drive, and asked me what the hell I was doing to her father's car. I explained that her husband had hired me to do it. She muttered something about that damn dumass as she unlocked the carport door and disappeared into the house, coming back seconds later holding two set of GM keys!

" I already have keys to this car. My father has Alzheimer's, and I hide them from him so he can't drive anywhere!

Her husband subsequently refused to pay the bill, and I ended up having to "eat" the bill and write it off as bad debt.

EPILOUGE: About a year later, the same lawyer called the shop asking for someone to come make keys to his FIL's Olds at the same address. Luckily, I had answered the call (one of the other guys would likely have gone out on the job same as I had). I replied to him, "Your own wife thinks you are a dumass, and so do I. Don't call here ever again. Have a nice day." and hung up.

914Driver wrote: "Help, help, my car's locked and my kids are in there!!!"

Actually, that happens more than you would think, but the "kid" was always an infant strapped into a child seat (except for one, which I'll get to later).

I had a policy of not charging in cases like this, although I did get a few "green handshakes", as well as a lot of hugs from grateful mothers.

One that stands out in my memory is a time when I got a call from the manager of the Red Lobster. A woman had locked her infant in the car, with the motor running. I told him I'd be there in a few minutes (it wasn't very far from the shop). He said to hurry up, since the mother was hysterical. It was a hot day, but the car was running, and the A/C was on, so the baby was in no immediate danger, but the mother freaking out was freaking the baby out (kids pick up on stuff like that), and he was screaming bloody murder, even though he didn't know why.

I took off as fast as I could, and was a block away from the restaraunt when I had to pull over for a fire engine with it's sirens on. Damn if they didn't pull into the Red Lobster just ahead of me! Seems the mother, after asking the manager to call a locksmith, had taken it upon herself to call the Fire Department as well. I pulled my van up beside the car, now surrounded by onlookers, one screaming mother, and several firefighters. I opened the back door to my van and grabbed my tools; I knew exactly which one was required. I had it in my hand, and was about to head to the car when I heard a loud Ka-Boom!

The FD had used one of their punch tools to blow the back seat window out, covering the child (and back seat) with broken safety glass!

I would have had the car open in less than 30 seconds, but the firefighters were pumped up. I even heard one of them say "If we have to get on the truck and leave, I'm gonna bust something!

Later, I was talking to a friend who's a Captain on the FD, and mentioned what had happened. He was livid! They hadn't followed policy on this call at all, and created needless damage to boot. Heads rolled.

A week later I got a call from my friend.. from then on, all similar calls would be refered to my shop. So this is a horror story with a happy ending.

I brought a ford probe a few years back that was a non-runner. No power to anything in the car, looks like it had been sitting. Numerous other people claimed this or that sensor was bad. My dad and I show up, find the main fuse blown and test the electrics with a piece of metal in place of the fuse. Everything works as it should, even the door locks.

I leave with the young owner to go do the title work and a I get a call from my Dad looking at the key in the ignition and the doors locked. Turns out the PO only had one key. I had to break into my own car before I even had a chance to drive it.

Good news was a main fuse and crank sensor later I used the car as a daily driver for a year.

"Help! My baby is locked in the car!" -- Part Two

So this lady calls me and says her baby is locked in her Nissan Pickup. I explain that I do such openings for no charge, and she gives me the location. Once there, I find that her "baby" is a Jack Russel Terrier!

Anyway, Nissans at the time were notoriously easy to open, and I had the button pulled up in no time. I turned to the lady to tell her it was open, when I heard a familiar 'Clunk'. I looked around to see the button was back down in the locked position, so I went back in, and pulled the button up again. The dog was propped up on the door with a smile, tail just a-waggin'. Then he pushed the button back down again with his paw!

The lady says, "Oh, I taught him that trick.. I put him in the seat, get in and lock my door, and he goes to his side and locks that door.. I thought it was cute, but he's never locked the driver's door before."

Just for grins, I left the tool in the door and pulled the button up several more times.. each time the dog would mash it back down like it was a game. I got the lady to go to the other side of the truck and distract him while I got it opened.

I didn't charge for the service call, but I did sell her a duplicate and a 'hide a key', so she'd be prepared for the next time, of which I'm sure there were many.

Those Jack Russels are very smart little babies..

4cylndrfury wrote:

John Brown wrote: Better yet, make one of those little videos of it from the DIY Cartoon site.

que?

http://www.xtranormal.com

Yay stories. I haven't gotten story time since I was in elementary school. Keep 'em coming. As long as you're happy to write them, I'm happy to read them.

Good stuff so far. Keep it coming if you are so inclined. Thanks