Just wanted to comment on the 16 year old girl from Alabama that could remove the key from her 93 Dodge Dynasty while running the car. I had a 99 Jeep Cherokee, which I bought new, where I could do the same thing. I discovered this when the vehicle was not even a year old, and found it completely by accident. If I “halfway” inserted the key, I could turn it and start the vehicle, then “easily” remove the key. However, if I put the key in all the way, it could not be removed. Since Jeep is part of the Dodge family of vehicles, and since Dodge most likely used a similar key on all their vehicles from that time (at least since '92 or before), it is possible that she had the same problem that I had, and that the age of the key (or of the key it was cut from) has nothing to do with the ability to remove it while the vehicle was driving.
I am curious if anyone else has had the same problem or “feature” of their Chrysler vehicle (from around 1992 to 1999 model year).
Lots of cars will do that now. My Mazda pickup would let the key fall on the floor when I turned left. It was just a bit loose.
My 1985 Buick Skyhawk would do that. It isn’t that uncommon for cheaply made cars.
alabama boy here 35244, i have worked on cars for a long time, older ignition switches were made stronger than ones out there now, the key is not the issue wear and tare is likely the cause. the issue with the 99 cherokee is cheaply made parts from foreign countries, things just arent built the same today as they were 10-15 years ago
You could take the key out of my old 1988 Toyota truck while it was running. It was a manual trans with that button you had to press to get the key out, although you never had to press the button to get it out. I bought it used, no telling what that little old lady who owned it before me did to it.
If the vehicle has a steering wheel lock activated by the ignition key, removing said key can lock the steering and make your day suddenly turn out ‘interesting’.
just a thought!