I was listening to cartalk and I hear that some keys fit in different cars. So let’s say you have a Honda civic, does that mean you can steal c
some Honda civics you find on the street? Even if the key does get stuck that’s not good.
At one time, car makers only used about 200 different keys…Car thieves had all 200 of them. Today, they use more and many use trick electronic keys that are truly one of a kind…But yeah, you can try your key in every Honda you can find until someone finally breaks your arm…
I think the converse scenario is more likely. As I did more than once, you’ll be trying to unlock your popular car (say, a brown Chevy wagon, or a silver Camry), wondering why the dang key won’t turn in the dang lock, and fearing that the lock is broken. Then the the real owner of the car will come up and ask what you’re doing, and you’ll notice that your actual car is two spaces away.
No it does not. Even in old cars even if the “blanks” were the same, there are so many variations of “cut” that the lieklihood of a key from one cars starting another was extremely small. With todays “chips” it’s almost impoassible.
Interestingly, my '91 Camry and '89 Toyota Pickup used the same blanks.
Back in the 60s a few friends and I had about 7-8 keys for General Motors cars. With some fiddling, those keys could open the doors and start the majority of GM vehicle we tried. Then in 1967, GM changed it’s basic key design.
Until the early '60s many GM cars had an ignition switch that could be turned to lock, or left unlocked and the key removed. I remember my '62 Chevy had a switch like that.
In the mid '50s the sheriff of my home county drove his own '55 or '56 Chevy to a neighboring much more populated county on official business. They only had one sheriff’s patrol car, so he had to leave it at home. Think Andy Taylor going to Raleigh… He finised his business and got into the car and drove it 45 miles home. It was only when he go out of the car to get some stuff from the trunk that he realized he had “stolen” someone else’s Chevy that had the switch left in the unlocked position. A quick call back to the “big city” confirmed that someone was looking for their car that was identical to one parked near where his had been. Talk about embarrased.
As for keys fitting another vehicle, I’ve had success finding keys that worked at salvage yards. Many keep a big bucket of keys from long-gone vehicles. As long as there is no “chip” involved, a few dozen trys of keys from the same blank will usually turn up a winner.