On Meghann’s post about a reader who fell for a locksmith scam, the aptly named commenter “yetiwisdom” left a great tip for never getting locked out your car again:
TIP: get a cheap key dupe made at the hardware store and drill a hole through it (or get your fave local handyman to do it). Then place said key behind your license-plate with screw through hole. This will keep it secure and it’s rare that you’ll be stranded without something that can be used (dime, piece o’metal by road, helpful person’s screwdriver) to remove the screw and access the key. This $2 fix has saved my bacon many times. Those magnetic boxes are OK but they can dislodge when you hit a pothole.
Brilliant.However, as other commenters noted, if you live in an area known for license plate thefts or your key has a theft-deterrent device in it, you’ll want to explore other options.
(Photo: Getty)
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First, you should have screws on your license plate that need to be drilled to be removed to protect your plate. You are better off with a spare in your wallet or calling AAA.
NEVER call a lock smith. They will rip you off.
Never let a tow truck driver slim jim your drivers side door. You don’t want that door broken. Have him do a back door or passenger side door.
Think you just had a brain storm and thought of a place to hide your key or remote? Hit yourself on the head and open a V8. A criminal thought of that place LONG before you did. They know ALL the hiding places. After all, you don’t think much about being a good guy. Criminals think about bring criminals all day.
How about just not lock your keys in the car in the first place? Newer cars with keyless entry like the Lexus IS make it IMPOSSIBLE to lock yourself out. I’ve even tried to do it purposely. =P
Great idea. Screw the key to the friggin’ license plate. Then, after 6 months of road grime and weather, the screw is frozen in, and the piece o’ metal you were hoping would be strong enuf to get it out isn’t.
Better idea: zip-strip it to a part of the frame. It will always be there, and nylon zip-strips are weatherproof. When you need it, just twist the key to break the strip.
My car has an RFID key. If it’s in the car, the door can be unlocked. I love it. Only thing that sucks about it is the cost of making a new one (between $100 and $200).
AAA Membership and get the Credit Card Key made, it works great, sits in my wallet behind my license. Just beware that it wont shut off your alarm. Also the CC Keys are not made in NY state and possibly others but they are definately available in California.
I’m sorry, but this is a very stupid tip. I mean, it is like saying “Always forget your ATM pin? Write it on the envelope you keep the card in! That way you’ll always have it!”
i don’t think this will work in northern climates where road salt attacks the screws attaching the plate to the car. i moved from minnesota to south dakota, and my plate would barely come off from having six winters worth of road salt attacking it. i can’t imagine on the side of the road trying to use a dime/other scrap on the ground.
I don’t understand the need to drill a hole. Isn’t there already a hole for the keyring??
I always use the remote or lock from the outside. i have been stupid enough to lock my door from the inside while i was closing the door, only to realize the engine was still running and my door was now locked.
The flaw in this plan: One of the license-plate screws is GOING to be rusted at the moment of need, and no dime is going to let you unscrew it.
Hey folks – original suggester here. To respond to some of the comments:
- The idea that we’re telling everyone where we hide our key, while superficially seems like a horrible idea, really doesn’t matter. Consider that in the US there are well over 200 MILLION registered cars with approx 100M drivers on the road today. Consumerist gets under 300K visits per day, so for the sake of argument (rough math here), that’s .3% (NOT 3, POINT 3 percent) of the drivers who visit this site – ASSUMING each visit is a unique visitor, which is probably not the case. Long story short, don’t overstimate the reach of Consumerist. It will not be time well spent for Mr. (or Ms.) car thief to start running around taking off license plates looking for keys when max 3 cars in 1000 will have a hidden key (again assuming that EVERY Consumerist visitor takes this advice).
- I don’t know what town you’re from nor do I know what your criminals do. What I do know is that in Philly there is a very small incidence of people getting their registration tags cut off their plates with tin snips and a still smaller rate of plates getting stolen. I back this with no stats. It’s never happened to me nor a friend. I’m not in the habit of parking in shady areas. I exercise good judgment when I park, not because I think someone will steal my plate but because I want to minimize all risk to my automobile. I encourage you to do the same.
- I don’t own your car so I can’t say how much torque it takes to remove your plate screw. What I can say is that in the rare situation where I’ve locked my keys inside, I’ve ALWAYS been able to borrow a screwdriver or use a dime to unscrew it. This is on my current and last 14 or so cars. It helps if you don’t screw it down so much that you can’t get it off, too.
- I think the key-in-wallet idea is super. Knock yourselves out. I, personally, do not carry a George Costanza wallet and I keep the crap I carry in there to a bare minimum. No sugar packets. No hard candy. No keys.
Finally, I’ve been doing this since, oh, about 1987. Had more than 15 cars. Some desirable, some beaters. Never had my plate stolen, never had my registration tag cut off, and never had the key discovered. What I have had is the peace of mind of knowing that in the RARE instance when a key gets lost or locked-in, I can get back on the road easily. This has been borne out in practice as well.
Opinions are like assholes – everyone has one but that doesn’t mean you want to hear it. This suggestion is my opinion, take it or leave it but no need to be a hater.
Love, Yetiwisdom
@yetiwisdom: You know, the opinions to assholes analogy is flawed, you only have one asshole, but many opinions.
Also, while your points are valid about parking in better areas, my sister has had her plate stolen in a fairly good area.
I think this is a fantastic idea – plus how many car thieves read the consumerist? My guess is 0.
My Dad told me this tip when I first started driving over 30 years ago (wow!). It’s a great tip! He told everyone about it and several people thanked him later when they lost their keys!
How about some common sense and………..don’t lock your keys in your car! Take 5 seconds, take a deep breath and don’t rush around and you won’t forget them and lock them in your car.
The best way of not getting locked out of your car is keeping a spare key in your wallet. It’s saved my life so many times.
“He’d be damned if any slopes were gonna put their greasy hands on his boy’s birthright. So he hid it in the one place he knew he could hide something. His ass.”
One thing everyone should keep in mind is that there are multiple places on a vehicle where you can hide a key or remote. Most thieves are opportunists and a determined thief will take your car/belongings no matter what measures you take. I have a few creative place where i stash a key and I change locations about every month.
Horrible idea. Analogous to what we in the tech industry derisively refer to as “Security by Obscurity.”
Bad, bad, bad idea. Carry one in your wallet or somewhere else on you, never on the car. Even if you live in a “good” neighborhood, your plates could get stolen, and, hey!, now they have keys to your car! Two for one special!
Get a remote entry system installed or get a car with one. I haven’t locked myself out of my car in over a year since I did that, because you get in the mindset that you get out of the car and need to have the remote in hand to lock it. Believe me, I locked myself out a lot before this (granted, I also had a ’92 Escort, and could break into it with a hanger, but, still…).
Broken hangers always did the trick for me.
I generally do not lose my keys, but I do keep an entry key hidden on the car. The times when I lock my keys in the car seem to be when my standard routine is perturbed in some way, and generally results in my leaving both my keys and my wallet in the car. For instance, when I go to the beach, I secure my wallet in the glovebox or some other location, and then leave the keys dangling in the glovebox lock when I close the door. I have an older car without remote entry, so the doors can be closed and locked in one motion.
I have always found it easier to get a penny or a screwdriver from a nearby shop than to get a compatible key
As for making the car more vulnerable to thieves: I think a car thief has many other techniques to enter and steal my car without need for the keys.
This really does seem like bad advice.
It is probably best to get a duplicate key and stick it in your wallet – something that is a good idea for things like a house key. One tip for all your locks at home – get them all keyed alike – that way you’ll only need one key for every door and lock at home.
I had an old car that didn’t even need a key to start. It was an 81 Gm something. I bought it used from a friend for 200 bucks and he had a light switch behind the seat hooked up to something in the engine.
That was the whole reason I purchased the car in the first place, it worked 8 months then I just junked it.
I just keep both my original keys in my pocket. If I lock a set in the car odds are I have my other set in my pocket.
Another idea for beaters is to duct tape a key inside one of the wheel wells. I used to do this in a country in which car thefts were not common. Now that I need a security system, I’ve upgraded my backup key system, which I call “Wife”.
This is such a bad idea. In the SF area I got my plates stolen. If I had hid the key behind the license plate I would have had a great time dealing with the insurance company with a car found a few miles away with everything inside trashed/stripped but no broken window or jimmied door.
This is ridiculous, what happens if you don’t have a screwdriver, just use a magnetic box and place it some where it won’t get dislodged, most stick so well anyway that it would never come loose
I’ve locked my keys in my car twice, but never with my new car (VW), though it’s probably more due to paranoia than because of the cars preventative features.
Both times I locked my keys in was awful. Once I had to walk home barefoot in the rain (started raining suddenly and the sandals were too slippery on the pavement). The other time I couldn’t get ahold of anyone for a long time until my friend finally answered their phone and had to come down with a coat hanger. Definitely learned my lesson after those.
I just keep a spare key in my purse. While I might leave my keys in the car by accident, I almost never leave my purse in my car.
get a copy like he says but keep it in your wallet on one of those inside ‘pockets’. That’s what I do and it’s saved me a few times.
no need to be screwing/unscrewing stuff. And if you’re seen somewhere near your home at a place that you frequent often, well guess what? you just gave someone a free car for some night riding fun!!!
Also, be sure to tape your password to your laptop, hide your house key under the mat, and leave me some milk and cookies for my visit.
And instead of screwing your key to the license plate, why not just save me some time and keep it in the ignition? Be sure to leave me a full tank of gas while you’re at it.
I’ve used the key-behind-the-plate gambit since I moved to North Carolina thirty years ago. As true for 18 other enlightened states, my adopted state doesn’t require a license plate on the vehicle front. My key isn’t behind the attractive-to-felons state plate in the rear but behind the front “plate,” the unofficial plate that says NCSU Fan! UNC, Duke, Wake Forest & ECU fans/car thieves, statistically the majority of thieves in NC, won’t look there. Scrounge a penny to turn the screw, and the spare key is in my hand.
Now I know I’m not paranoid! I keep thinking someone will see me as I retrieve my key from behind my plate. Thanks to Consumerist and Digg, they will!
There are also screws that hold trim on in your wheelwells, as well as in other places under the chassis to hold brake lines and such. I would explore your vehicle to find some odd spots other than behind the license plate. You could even go as far as to drill a hole and use a bolt and a locking nut to put it anywhere you want. Just be smart about where you drill – never near a weld or other joint.
I try to keep a spare key in the glovebox so that if I’m ever locked out and I have the convertible top down I have a way in