Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

iordseyton t1_jbqxjjw wrote

Reply to comment by Giantmidget1914 in B.C. man says he accidentally unlocked and drove someone else’s Tesla using the app by ChocolateTsar

Back in the 80s or 90s, Toyota would only actually have like 150- 250. Different keys/ locks for any given run of cars. Dealerships would buy packs that were each key and could figure out the right one based on Vin (iirc)

As luck would have it, in our small town, there was one other guy with a red 86 Toyota pickup, and his and my dad's had the same key.

To make matters worse, they both worked with boats (my dad built them, and the other guy was a fisherman we think)

Occasionally, when launching a boat or doing something at the marina, when we came back at the end of the day, the other guy would have taken my dad's car home for the night. So my dad would just take it home for the night, then drop it back off in the parking lot first the next day, and get his back when the guy came back for it.

It happened 3 or 4 times that I know of- first time was a surprise when we came back from a sail, My dad reached under the seat for a fresh pack of smokes, as he pulled out of the lot, and came up with a fishing knife instead.

82

this_1_is_mine t1_jbrctqw wrote

Ford had around 30 different door key cuts in the same time frame. The likelihood you could open any passing Ford was pretty high. Made working opening lockouts a pretty easy but not too time consuming task to do. But in the days of 2 keys to open and then start it was still pretty secure cause even of your door key worked the ignition key probably wouldn't.

20

iordseyton t1_jbrqg8t wrote

I'm confused, are you saying that ford's came with 2 separate keys back then, or was it a half and half kind of thing?

7

ctheory83 t1_jbrs4te wrote

My mustang (85) had an ignition key and a hatchback key, I also later found out my friends key for his ranger would work on my car.

9

StygianSavior t1_jbrt75x wrote

My first car (‘85 Bronco II) had separate keys for doors and ignition.

3

Mndelta25 t1_jbrzjnj wrote

My 86 Oldsmobile had two keys, my 72 Mustang originally came with two.

3

Guideon72 t1_jbrze6r wrote

Problem was, once the keys wore down a bit, you could get into any, other Ford with em. Thankfully, the ignition didn’t appear to suffer the same.

6

Spire_Citron t1_jbs7f2e wrote

Maybe you wouldn't get your car stolen, but wouldn't it make it super easy for thieves to steal things from people's cars? Just collect a few different keys and you can open any Ford.

3

ScattyWilliam t1_jbr6akl wrote

Never new of different keys starting vehicles but was definitely some 80’s imports (Asian) that often had door keys that worked on different vehicles. When we learnt this in high school there was some shenanigans

8

giskardwasright t1_jbr920d wrote

This happened with multiple Plymouth minivans in the 90s as I recall

1

bilateralrope t1_jbsbrd8 wrote

My dad once owned a car where the door locks were so worn out that anything vaguely key-shaped would unlock them. The ignition had flanges around it so you didn't even need a key.

​

It only got stolen once before my dad decided to replace it with something new enough to require rear seatbelts.

1