Hi all, just thought I'd share my embarrising experiance I had today with you all!

I went to my car today and fired up the engine. I shifted into gear and the doors locked as usual with the exception of the passenger door. I stepped out to check this out, I opened the passenger door and sat in there. Shutting the door I played with the lock button on the dash to see what happened, and the pin didn't move because it was catching on the trim. Deciding to fix it later on, I pushed it to lock and stepped out shutting the door behind me. It was at this point I discovered I never unlocked the rest of the doors, thus locking myself out the car with the engine running

I never got a spare key with this car, so began to panic After nearly smashing the window to get in, I remembered my breakdown cover and called them. An hour later a local mechanic turned up, and had me inside in about 3 minutes. First he separated the rubbers by sliding two bits of metal in, then he fed an airbag in there. He pumped the bag up to separate the door from the frame, then he slid a rod in and hit a window switch. I could then reach in, unlock the car and switch it off! He did this without causing any damage

Not bad considering it cost me nothing as I get my BD cover with my bank account. I did eventually get my haircut, which is what I originally set out to do, after which I saw the locksmith next door who made me a spare key for £7.50 (Roughly $12), though it is to unlock only not to start the car. I don't mind though, because I'll be able to get in now if I ever get into this situation again.

I know what you're thinking right now, "How Silly is he!"

 

we've all pulled a move similar to that stu, though I refuse to give any details about mine.

 

Hmm it seems like the locking mechanism works differently on your care compared to mine. I dont know if its a dealer programmable difference or if its due to England Vs. USA car specs. In my car, when I open the front drivers door, all of the car doors automatically unlock. If I push the door lock down on either front door while the door is open, it will go down for about a 1/2 second and then return back up while unlocking all of the doors. Its useful for when you are standing outside of the car, and you dont want to reach all the way into the car to unlock the doors for passengers. It locks like yours when shifted into gear however.

 

I do like the way it locks me in when gear is selected, it makes me feel safer. Since owning this car however, I find myself locking the doors on cars that don't do this because I don't feel safe. I feel better now I have a spare key for the car, I was surprised at how little it cost me! Happy Days!

 

yea stu, we all do bonehead stuff. Just few of us admit it!.

 

Thankfully you were able to get in without too much hassle. I had a similar experience recently when my wife locked her Range Rover with the keys inside. No spare. Our biggest problem, among the many that situation presented, was that she managed to do it right after she unloaded our 4 yr old daughter and 8 mo. old son, but before she had unloaded our 8 mo. old daughter. 3 hours, 2 locksmiths, and a rear hatch almost completely disassembled, I finally broke out the window. Amazingly, my daughter slept through the whole thing and didn't get even a sliver of glass on her.

As Stu will likely agree, there is a lesson here. Get a spare key, even if it just unlocks the car!!

 

Nobody is perfect

 

I was 1 slam away from locking myself in my XJR trunk a few months ago. My trunk lights weren't working so I fixed them (the usual wiring harness failure at the hinge), and I was then paranoid about them staying on even when I closed the trunk and the battery getting drained. It was a Friday night, I was home alone, the car was in the garage under the house, no neighbours within shouting distance, gf not due to show up until next day. Cell phone left on the roof of the car. I had one foot in the trunk before I suddenly realised this was going to be a bad idea.

I'm sure there would be a way to pop the trunk from the inside, but with no tools, and in the dark, and not having done it before, I'm pretty sure I would have struggled. Once I had seen the error of my ways, and had a stiff drink to recover, I looked at the wiring diagrams and realised that the lights are wired into the same logic switch that the info centre uses, so if they were on, I would have had "trunk open"/red light shown on the info centre

I know new cars have to have some kind of yellow glow in the dark handle so you can open the trunk from the inside.... I wonder if you could retofit one to the XJ ? Either that or just ensure the owners have an IQ higher than 50 before selling them the car :-)

 

or you could make a sticker that says
" to check the trunk light goes out simply flick the lever inside the catch to fool the switch into thinking it just closed "


a trick i learned from the AA breakdown guy after took too much power out of my battery by doing short journeys , and ... erm .... messing around with my newly fixed trunk release and leaving it open all day

he opened the trunk and put the shaft of a screwdriver in the catch and gently pushed , emulating the action of the trunk-lid hitting the striker when closing .... the light turned off proving it works correctly

 

True Ian, but it's no fun doing it that way :-)

 

Been there done that too.

BTW Cadillac....the only exception to your statement is the woman in your sig. Who is she?

 

Somebody get this man the complete film catalog for Charlize Theron. Yes, she is about as close to perfection as is attainable. Wouldn't mind getting locked in a trunk with her.

 

Yes get a spare key! I've noticed that only US cars have one of those glow in the dark pulls. The Dodge Intrepid we had in AZ once on holiday had one, and I tried it out. It was a silly idea to lock myself in the boot of a car in a AZ summer, but I was only 15 years old at the time! :P

 

You guys are making me so laugh in loud

 

Whats making you laugh? Is it the many ways which people have locked themselves out? Or just my silly mistake! Ha Ha! Either way its good to know I'm not alone......

 

SotXJR's message making me laugh . You did a mistake at first glance that might be laughed at but I would not make a fun with that at all
Because you might have had some hard times not you anyone else .