This is the story of how one family fell in love with a car and, then with a car key. It is a tale of money, loss, necessity, frustration and relief. This is the story of how we lost our car key and had to dole out way too much money to our local neighborhood lock company.
When my wife and I decided to move to the west coast with our one-year-old daughter, we needed a car. We hadn’t bought a new car yet and we were quite excited to get one. With a little money to our names, we went out looking. We needed something that was safe for our new family and large enough to haul most of what we owned across country comfortably. We found the new Chrysler Pacifica was perfect.
We loved the car but, more than that, we really loved the key with all its wonderful features. It could start the car remotely, set the alarm, lift and drop the rear gate and even open the doors. This was a key that did it all and we loved using it over and over.
All the keys functions helped us quite a bit on our trip. Our hands were often full and starting the care remotely or lifting the rear gate with the press of the button was a great convenience. Then, I did it. We got to the west coast and we were only there a short while before I lost my key!
The dealership would gladly replace it for an exorbitant fee. We loved all the features of the key not even considering that it cost so much to make it - $100 for a replacement. So, we made the decision to keep just the key we had and not get a new one.
We got used to doing that and after a few years were over the loss of the key. Although, we didn’t really like the key nearly as much anymore. Then one day it happened, the thing we dreaded - I lost the other key! Now we had none and would have to pay a fortune to replace them. We looked everywhere but to no avail. We called Chrysler and local Hollywood locksmiths who made these keys. It was now much more than the $100 is was a few years back.
But, we needed it so we bit the bullet and hired the Hollywood locksmith. He was better than Chrysler because he gave us a deal and we got two keys for a great price. They wouldn’t have done that at the dealer I am sure. But, the locksmith could only make a plain key. It had no features, couldn’t open anything or start the car remotely. It even set off the alarm whenever we got in the car and we had to start it to turn the alarm off.
The moral of the story is. You may love a key for its features but don’t forget those features have a price. A few days after we got the new keys made, our daughter presented us with a box she decorated for us and hid in the kitchen. They key was in it. We may not love that key anymore but we sure love her.
Want to find out more about rekeying locks, then visit Nikki Nelson’s site on how to choose the best security door locks for your needs.