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I now drive a fairly new (bought new in 3/15) Toyota 4Runner in their "Magnetic Gray Metallic" color - which seems to be a very common color. The vehicle has no external customized features (or internal ones, for that matter), so it would be fairly easy to confuse mine for one just like it.......especially when parked near another one like it. The one aftermarket item I have added is an alarm system with included remote engine start. I have used that once or twice to figure out which car was mine. Plus, when you get in, the AC is already running; so.......bonus points. But if you don't have an alarm, most key-fobs have a button to cause the parked car's horn to start beeping, sometimes flashing the lights on and off when they do it. That is also a good way to identify your vehicle........or just to locate it if you're not sure where you parked it.

The Annoyed Man wrote:I now drive a fairly new (bought new in 3/15) Toyota 4Runner in their "Magnetic Gray Metallic" color - which seems to be a very common color. The vehicle has no external customized features (or internal ones, for that matter), so it would be fairly easy to confuse mine for one just like it.......especially when parked near another one like it. The one aftermarket item I have added is an alarm system with included remote engine start. I have used that once or twice to figure out which car was mine. Plus, when you get in, the AC is already running; so.......bonus points. But if you don't have an alarm, most key-fobs have a button to cause the parked car's horn to start beeping, sometimes flashing the lights on and off when they do it. That is also a good way to identify your vehicle........or just to locate it if you're not sure where you parked it.

I've had to use that method to find my vehicle more than once. Especially when parking in a field where there are no marked lanes.

C-dub wrote:

mescobar_rpls wrote:So about 12 yrs ago, my wife and I were getting dinner. We came out of the restaurant to go home. I unlocked our minivan with the key, get in and try to start the vehicle. It did not start. I began cussing, then noticed that the van was quite a bit messier than I remembered. We both look around and realize that it was not our van.

It was the same make, model, year and color. The outside keys worked the locks, wow!

I went back inside the restaurant and located the owners and explained the situation, which was probably overkill, but oh well.

A lot of Fords used to be like that. I don't know how many models are now. A father of a family I was friends with back in the 80's worked for Ford at the Mahwah plant in NJ. They had 5-6 fords of different models and years from the 70's and into the 80's. One set of keys worked in at least 4 of them.

In the 80's I read a news article about a guy who worked in a multi office building that had a large parking lot.

He was in a rush to leave on a business trip and gave his secretary his credit card & sent her to gas up his car. She gassed the car and returned only to meet her boss in the parking lot demanding to know why she hadnt yet taken his car! As you can deduct, she took the wrong car!

The article went on to explain that at the time GM didnt have that many different keys and the odds of keys interchanging was ridiculously low - something like one in ten or so.

Not long ago I parked in a small lot while my girlfriend went into a little shop. The only other vehicle in the lot was a white Ford ranger next to my blue Toyota Camry. I watched a woman walk out of the store, walk directly to my door (hand started reaching for my Sig at this point) and she proceeded to yank on my very different door handle for a few seconds. When she looked up I flashed her a giant grin as she shuffled to her Ranger.

It can happen to anyone no matter the vehicle. I've never screwed up as bad as this woman but close enough. Just be prepared and ready to laugh.

Did anyone notice that all these "wrong" vehicles that you're getting into are unlocked!!!! There is something wrong here. My vehicle is locked unless I am in it or near it. When I go into a store it is ALWAYS locked.
But I too have door locks that unlock when put in park. On my H2 Hummer I was able to disable this, but on my H3 Hummer, I don't have the option.

Keeping car and house doors locked also helps keep good people from advancing too far when making innocent mistakes.

I was once visiting someone I met for the first time at an unfamiliar apartment complex. They had requested that I put some items in their car and I mistakenly put them in someone else's unlocked car. The mistake was realized before the owner noticed, but the situation would have gone better had the car been locked.

Another example would be a visitor walking into the wrong house by mistake, which could quickly turn tragic. A locked door would make them either realize their mistake immediately or require them to be knock.

SRO1911 wrote:I think my next company truck will be purple..maybe orange

Don't sell yourself short, get both colors on your next truck!

tqu9047 wrote:Did anyone notice that all these "wrong" vehicles that you're getting into are unlocked!!!! There is something wrong here. My vehicle is locked unless I am in it or near it. When I go into a store it is ALWAYS locked.

I hardly ever locked my last car, but then a) the door handle didn't work right anyway, so most people couldn't have gotten in it, (passenger side didn't work at all) and b) not too many people are going to mistake a faded blue 1994 Sunbird for their car.

Jim Beaux wrote:

C-dub wrote:

mescobar_rpls wrote:So about 12 yrs ago, my wife and I were getting dinner. We came out of the restaurant to go home. I unlocked our minivan with the key, get in and try to start the vehicle. It did not start. I began cussing, then noticed that the van was quite a bit messier than I remembered. We both look around and realize that it was not our van.

It was the same make, model, year and color. The outside keys worked the locks, wow!

I went back inside the restaurant and located the owners and explained the situation, which was probably overkill, but oh well.

A lot of Fords used to be like that. I don't know how many models are now. A father of a family I was friends with back in the 80's worked for Ford at the Mahwah plant in NJ. They had 5-6 fords of different models and years from the 70's and into the 80's. One set of keys worked in at least 4 of them.

In the 80's I read a news article about a guy who worked in a multi office building that had a large parking lot.

He was in a rush to leave on a business trip and gave his secretary his credit card & sent her to gas up his car. She gassed the car and returned only to meet her boss in the parking lot demanding to know why she hadnt yet taken his car! As you can deduct, she took the wrong car!

The article went on to explain that at the time GM didnt have that many different keys and the odds of keys interchanging was ridiculously low - something like one in ten or so.

Interestingly enough, that's not that all uncommon. about 10 or so years ago, my sister had taken ownership of a Gen1 Ford focus hatch that I had driven for a bit. One day I had to do some work on it for her, and when I pulled my keys out, unlocked the door, and got in, I was hit with a realization. I didn't have HER keys. What I had with me, were my keys, which didn't have a Ford Focus key on them. What they did have however was the key to my old 89 Supra, which is the key that unlocked the door. Thankfully they wouldn't fit the ignition, which sort of helped with the aforementioned moment of what the heck.

Deltaboy wrote:Earlier this week we swing by our HEB a bit before noon. We parked and before we got out a man walked up and opened the back door and my Daughter screamed at him this not your car. I had saw him in the mirror as I started getting out and I had it halfway out before she hollered and he almost dropped his groceries he said Sorry and went down 2 more cars and got into a similar car in Color and style. Our car unlocks the doors when you put it park. We got back in the car for a minute then had a good laugh.

You may check your car's option settings I know my truck (Chevrolet) lets me select if the driver/all doors unlock on park/key-removal.

It turns off when the car is turned off. She off to college and all set.