T
toddjb123
Guest
...I think I started a post a long time ago on this or another forum regarding my disappointment with the bulky key/remote and lack of an emergency thin key for getting into the vehicle. I usually lock my keys in my car once or twice a year, no big deal, I have always had an accessable hide a key to get back in. This hasn't been an option with the rover unless anyone has a suggestion for me...PLEASE!
Here's the long story - I was down in Avon, NC last week kitesurfing (similar to windsurfing FYI). So, you park on a sand beach and head out in the water. Salt water wouldn't be good for the key fob and either way its too thick for a swimsuit pocket. So, that leaves stashing the key on the vehicle somewhere so you can get back in when you return to the beach.
What I usually do is lock the car, hide the key, and then get a couple last minute items out of the back before shutting the tailgate/window. Once you do this, the lights flash and the car is locked. I've done this before, no problem. So, I go out for a nice ride in the water, come back in to get something, open up the vehicle, close it again, and hit the water. Come back an hour later and some friends have walked up the beach to meet me. They don't have 4WD, would like a place to sit, so they look for my key to open up the tailgate and rest. Well, my key isn't there. Sure enough, I have locked it inside the car in my rush to get back out on the water. I had "locked" the car, placed the key on the rear window dash instead of its hiding place, and forgot to remove it before shutting the tailgate. So, I can see the key, but its inside the car. I'm on the beach. F*ck.
At this point I was really wishing I had GM's OnStar system so I could call up and have someone unlock my car remotely.
I'm far from a LR dealership and figured that AAA wouldn't know much more than me about getting in the vehicle, so we gave it a go. The only ****** of luck was that I had left my sunroof cracked, but had left the sunshade drawn. Luckily the sun shade is not glued on the sides so that does give some access to get into the vehicle. The first attempt (45 minutes or so) was to push that big unlock button on the center of the dash. We were able to find a long plastic cable shroud that was stiff yet flexible enough to get in the narrow opening and bend down to the button. It took several tries and a lot of finese, but finally, we were able to depress that button repeatedly. Unfortunately, as some of you may have guessed, this button is deactivated once the car is locked with the remote. F*ck.
So, the only other option was the manual unlock button on the front doors. Again, took several tries, variations, and an assortmant of items borrowed from other kitesurfers...we ended up with a bent butter knife electrical taped to the end of a fishing rod. Got the fishing rod in through the sun roof and were able to unlock the door.
Now, if anyone thinks I am giving away crucial break in advice, don't worry about it, when you open the door the alarm goes off and the car won't start. You still need to get to the remote to turn the alarm off. So as you can guess, there was a lot of cheering once we got in the car after 90 minutes of trying and we didn't care too much about the alarm while I dug for the remote and turned it off. But man that was a pain in the ass!
In summary, I really wish we could make a valet key for these things for easy hiding under the vehicle. I know there are ways to make a waterproof box for a spare remote, but I'm not one for taping a $250+ key to the bottom of my rover just in case. Any other ideas for hiding a key? Can the key be copied? (not the remote, just the key.)
The lesson here is to always keep your sunroof cracked and make sure you have access to a fishing pole, butter knife, and some electrical tape. Maybe I should tape all those things to my frame in lieu of a hide-a-key?
-todd
Here's the long story - I was down in Avon, NC last week kitesurfing (similar to windsurfing FYI). So, you park on a sand beach and head out in the water. Salt water wouldn't be good for the key fob and either way its too thick for a swimsuit pocket. So, that leaves stashing the key on the vehicle somewhere so you can get back in when you return to the beach.
What I usually do is lock the car, hide the key, and then get a couple last minute items out of the back before shutting the tailgate/window. Once you do this, the lights flash and the car is locked. I've done this before, no problem. So, I go out for a nice ride in the water, come back in to get something, open up the vehicle, close it again, and hit the water. Come back an hour later and some friends have walked up the beach to meet me. They don't have 4WD, would like a place to sit, so they look for my key to open up the tailgate and rest. Well, my key isn't there. Sure enough, I have locked it inside the car in my rush to get back out on the water. I had "locked" the car, placed the key on the rear window dash instead of its hiding place, and forgot to remove it before shutting the tailgate. So, I can see the key, but its inside the car. I'm on the beach. F*ck.
At this point I was really wishing I had GM's OnStar system so I could call up and have someone unlock my car remotely.
I'm far from a LR dealership and figured that AAA wouldn't know much more than me about getting in the vehicle, so we gave it a go. The only ****** of luck was that I had left my sunroof cracked, but had left the sunshade drawn. Luckily the sun shade is not glued on the sides so that does give some access to get into the vehicle. The first attempt (45 minutes or so) was to push that big unlock button on the center of the dash. We were able to find a long plastic cable shroud that was stiff yet flexible enough to get in the narrow opening and bend down to the button. It took several tries and a lot of finese, but finally, we were able to depress that button repeatedly. Unfortunately, as some of you may have guessed, this button is deactivated once the car is locked with the remote. F*ck.
So, the only other option was the manual unlock button on the front doors. Again, took several tries, variations, and an assortmant of items borrowed from other kitesurfers...we ended up with a bent butter knife electrical taped to the end of a fishing rod. Got the fishing rod in through the sun roof and were able to unlock the door.
Now, if anyone thinks I am giving away crucial break in advice, don't worry about it, when you open the door the alarm goes off and the car won't start. You still need to get to the remote to turn the alarm off. So as you can guess, there was a lot of cheering once we got in the car after 90 minutes of trying and we didn't care too much about the alarm while I dug for the remote and turned it off. But man that was a pain in the ass!
In summary, I really wish we could make a valet key for these things for easy hiding under the vehicle. I know there are ways to make a waterproof box for a spare remote, but I'm not one for taping a $250+ key to the bottom of my rover just in case. Any other ideas for hiding a key? Can the key be copied? (not the remote, just the key.)
The lesson here is to always keep your sunroof cracked and make sure you have access to a fishing pole, butter knife, and some electrical tape. Maybe I should tape all those things to my frame in lieu of a hide-a-key?
-todd
I also enjoy driving it with the rear hatch up while at the beach. Makes for much nicer airflow through the vehicle (but I close it for beach driving so the window hinges don't get jarred by rough terrain). Only other LR3 I saw down there was a black one in Waves one day. Did you get the LR3 out on the beach?
