Not mine Paul. It looks like I paid $500 for it, which I did, and it gets a little rustier every day. You have to have a key in the shift lock to get it in gear, and a few days ago somebody backed into at the grocery store and dented the front quarter panel and the driver's door wouldn't open.

It's name is Gus.

You would actually be surprised.

Most of the time they don't care about the car itself, they just want to steal whatever is easiest and strip off whatever they can. Whatever the can't use or don't want then gets sold for scrap. A $500 car can put a few grand in their pocket pretty quick.

Speaking of which, I had an old K5 blazer that I used to use as a plow truck. The thing was a total rust bucket that was beat to crap. When I decided to replace it, as a whole truck, the scrap yard was going to give me $250 for it. So, I instead decided to part out what I could and just sell them the shell. Would you believe I got $100 just for the seats? Never mind the engine, trans, wheels, rear, ect. Then I brought the body and frame back to the scrap yard and they still gave me nearly $150 for it. When all was said and done I made more on that truck than I paid for it.

Old vehicles are also stolen to commit crimes. They go half a mile or so, then dump it and take off on foot, or in another vehicle.

Around here, they use them to rob mail boxes-- if they're seen and reported, the license plate is traced back to the old owner, who had reported the vehicle stolen, and the law is no closer to finding the perps.

Sue

For future reference, how did you do this? Through Craigslist?

Da Bing

I paid almost $300 for a spare key for my Land Rover. But I too will not go on trip without a spare car key!

Yup, craigslist and ebay.


I also sold a couple of snowmobiles on ebay not that long ago. The day I listed them, a guy called me from NY state that night, said he really wanted them for vintage snowmobile racing. He drove down the 6 hours the next morning with his trailer to pick them up. The whole process took less than 24 hours, which amazed me.

Locking keys inside the car is becoming more of a rarity in modern cars. For example, its almost impossible to do so in my old 97 BMW. If you push the door lock button down with the door open and shut the door, it simply unlocks itself. It can only be locked with the key from the outside or the fob with the door shut. I can't even lock the keys in the truck as the lock incorporates a push button that can only be double locked with the key or the fob with the trunk shut. I must believe more modern cars are incorporating this 14 year old technology. Probably worth the time to test your current ride and see if it has an idiot resistant door lock system.

My Rover had the keyless entry built into the key and I actually paid over $400 for the key. I also have a '10 Toyota Corolla S and I promise not to lose any of the keys! Which reminds me, when I bought the car it has a sat radio antenna on the roof, a Sat radio button on the radio and silly me, I ASSumed it had sat radio. Nope, I called and asked (every Toyota dealer in town) how much to add the tuner?? $500. Seems a standard theme. Ok, I just plug my XM/Sirus Roady2 into the AUX jack and throw the little mag antenna on the football field size dash and away I go! Total cost? $0, hah!

Months ago my wife went out to get something out of the trunk of my Nissan. She came back in the house carrying her stuff and announced that she couldn't get the trunk closed. She said when she closed the trunk the car beeped at her and the trunk opened back up.

I asked her where her keys were and she started checking pockets. We walked outside and there they were, laying in the trunk. When she had reached in to pick up her package the keys had slipped out of her hand and were laying just inside the trunk where you couldn't see them easily.

I defeated the 'idiot proof' system.

One 30 degree below zero F morning in International Falls, MN (Frostbite Falls to you Rocky and Bullwinkle fans) I decided that I needed to warm up the car before driving. I separated the key from the fob thinking I could lock the car and let it run for a while while I downed some hot coffee in the motel lobby, and then unlock it with the fob. I started the car, manually locked it, and shut the door leaving the key in the ignition.

I found out when I came back out that the fob does not work while the car is running.

I now have another key with me at all times, and a touch of frostbite in my left pinkie.