Car Insurance

This is the story of how one family fell in love with a car and, then with a car key. It is a tale of money, loss, necessity, frustration and relief. This is the story of how we lost our car key and had to dole out way too much money to our local neighborhood lock company.

My family took a road trip across country and, for this we bought a new car. We had not bought a new car before and were very excited at the prospect. We save up a little cash and we started visiting dealers and doing research. This car had to be large enough for all our stuff and fit us comfortable during our cross-country trip. It also had to be safe for our one-year-old daughter. We settled upon the new Chrysler Pacifica.

What really sold us were not just the features of the car itself but the features of the key. This key could not only open and close doors, but lift the lift gate and drop it, set the security and start the car from quite a distance. We loved this key.

All the keys functions helped us quite a bit on our trip. Our hands were often full and starting the care remotely or lifting the rear gate with the press of the button was a great convenience. Then, I did it. We got to the west coast and we were only there a short while before I lost my key!

The dealership would gladly replace it for an exorbitant fee. We loved all the features of the key not even considering that it cost so much to make it – $100 for a replacement. So, we made the decision to keep just the key we had and not get a new one.

So, we went on for years like that, trading the key and not loving it so much anymore. We even stated to resent it a bit. Then one day and another daughter later, we lost the other key or, as my wife will tell you, I lost the other key. We looked for days knowing what they key cost. We even looked outside of Chrysler and found local Hollywood locksmiths that could make the key. It was even more expensive and not a factory original.

But, we needed it so we bit the bullet and hired the Hollywood locksmith. He was better than Chrysler because he gave us a deal and we got two keys for a great price. They wouldn’t have done that at the dealer I am sure. But, the locksmith could only make a plain key. It had no features, couldn’t open anything or start the car remotely. It even set off the alarm whenever we got in the car and we had to start it to turn the alarm off.

The moral of the story is. You may love a key for its features but don’t forget those features have a price. A few days after we got the new keys made, our daughter presented us with a box she decorated for us and hid in the kitchen. They key was in it. We may not love that key anymore but we sure love her.

Want to find out more about rekeying locks, then visit Nikki Nelson’s site on how to choose the best security door locks for your needs.