# Ever lose your car? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063 "2017-07-20T05:33:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![macfisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@macfisto](https://community.cartalk.com/u/macfisto)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 5:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/1 "2017-07-20T05:33:29Z")
This is easily the funniest thing I’ve read today: > **[Syracuse teen drives to rock concert, loses car after he forgets where he parked...](https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/07/19/syracuse-teen-drives-to-rock-concert-forgets-where-he-parked-again.html)** > > After parking his vehicle to see a Metallica concert, Gavin Strickland can’t find it. His parents asked the internet for help. I once took 45 minutes to find my car after a concert. I was certain I was on the right label of the parkade. Right section too. But wrong side of the building. The venue had two identical parkades underground. Who knew? ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 6:11am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/2 "2017-07-20T06:11:40Z")
I think he needs to exercise the left side of his brain a little more. Riding his bike will be good for him. We went to a Willie Nelson concert at the casino and there were about 9000 people there. Parking was in a field and looks a lot different after dark. I knew where my car was withing a couple rows because I had noted land marks when I parked. I saw lots of bewildered people though walking back and forth clicking their key fobs hoping for a response. It took a couple hours to clear the lot anyway so they had lots of time to find their cars. ---
**Author:** ![BillRussell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/billrussell/32/3179_2.png) [@BillRussell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BillRussell)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 10:39am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/3 "2017-07-20T10:39:02Z")
I did that once at a Sears. Parked the car in their lot to wait out a huge Xmas traffic jam. After a few hours, went out to find the car. Couldn’t. Walked up and down the isles hitting my remote hoping to hear the beep. Finally realized that I used a different exit and different lot when I entered. found the car, but remote no longer worked. Apparently there is a security feature that locks out the remote after some number of attempts with no answer. Thought I’d have to have it towed, but remembered the key, which still worked. Had to have the keys reprogrammed at a dealer. ---
**Author:** ![JoeMario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JoeMario](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JoeMario)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/4 "2017-07-20T11:40:20Z")
I never lost my car, but have often had to think twice on where I parked it. Now whenever I park in a new-to-me big lot or garage, I take a cell phone pic of some landmark near the car. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 11:51am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/5 "2017-07-20T11:51:54Z")
Hmmm…like the characters in this movie from 2000, it might be a good idea for that Syracuse teen to cut back on his use of **_wacky weed_** … ![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/2X/3/3ae673df203c7ec0e61d378b0c302bdd986eced2.png) 😏 ---
**Author:** ![BillRussell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/billrussell/32/3179_2.png) [@BillRussell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/BillRussell)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 11:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/6 "2017-07-20T11:54:04Z")
> [@JoeMario](#): > > I take a cell phone pic of some landmark near the car. good idea! ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/7 "2017-07-20T13:12:01Z")
THIS is just too easy… I won’t comment, just lay this here and back away laughing…😅 From the article: “The car, itself, has Florida license plates, a small Canadian flag attached to the doorframe, and a Bernie Sanders bumper sticker” and this is not the first time he’s lost his car. As the article states, “He’s just unlucky” Yeah, No, “luck” has NOthing to do with it! ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/8 "2017-07-20T13:48:00Z")
Went to the state fair once as a teenager with my girlfriend. My state takes the state fair very seriously and you usually have to practically park the next county over, but I got lucky this time and was able to park inside the fair grounds. The state fair grounds are huge, with lots of twisty streets, and landmarks where I parked were hard to see through all the trees. As this was the first time I’d been there since I went with my parents in middle school, I was thoroughly lost all day, then had to spend hours just wandering around looking for my van. It didn’t help that shortly after I parked, they erected barriers on the street where I parked, so I went past it several times assuming I didn’t park down there 'cause it was closed. Taught me a good lesson though, and now that I carry a camera-equipped computer with me everywhere I go, if I’m parking somewhere unfamiliar for a long time, I take a picture of the area, which is automatically geo-tagged so I can home right in on the coordinates. Google provides a nice backup because it now automatically figures out when you park, marks the spot, and pops up a notification to lead you right back to your car if necessary. ---
**Author:** ![bloody\_knuckles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@bloody\_knuckles](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bloody_knuckles)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 1:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/9 "2017-07-20T13:48:30Z")
Well, much to our relief, dude found his car!!! > **[‘How did I walk past this?’: Syracuse teen has picked up his lost and found car...](https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/07/20/syracuse-teen-who-lost-his-car-after-metallica-concert-says-it-has-been-found.html)** > > Gavin Strickland tweeted around 1 a.m. on Thursday that the car had been located after a citywide hunt prompted by a Craigslist ad. ---
**Author:** ![Noelm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Noelm](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Noelm)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 3:13pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/10 "2017-07-20T15:13:49Z")
I don’t blame him. Happened to me 3X in our local Ikea parking lot. Since then I started parking right in front of the landmark and then make sure to take a picture with the landmark included in it. ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 3:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/11 "2017-07-20T15:19:23Z")
> [@Noelm](#): > > Happened to me 3X in our local Ikea parking lot. Oh, come on now. Just how big of an IKEA parking lot do you have ? ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/shadowfax/32/13026_2.png) [@shadowfax](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadowfax)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/12 "2017-07-20T15:45:59Z")
[](http://www.steve.wagar.com/2007_moa/moa_from_air.jpg) The building on the upper right is Ikea. The parking lot below it is the Ikea parking lot. The short part of the building on the left side is a multi-story parking garage. The building to the left is the Mall of America, the largest mall in the country. You could fit 7 Yankee Stadiums inside it. It has its own amusement park, with 3 roller coasters and a log flume. And a more-than-a-million-gallon aquarium. It also has more than 500 stores inside. In short, it’s kinda big. Note that the parking lot is the same size as the mall if you don’t count the parking garages on either end of the mall. Given that area, I could easily lose my car in that parking lot if I ever shopped at Ikea. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GorehamJ](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/gorehamj/32/24103_2.png) [@GorehamJ](https://community.cartalk.com/u/GorehamJ)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/13 "2017-07-20T19:00:19Z")
I use my cell phone now even at places I am familiar with. I just take a picture of the place I parked with some obvious clue. Sometimes I take a couple. Works great at Logan Airport. My Subaru App also let’s me flash the lights a few times, which I used once coming out of a concert at Gillette Stadium to find the car in a dirt lot with no markings. The fob does that too, but only from a close distance. Another way is to use an app like Google Maps to mark the (exact) location you park (it sort of does anyway if you let it) and then ask if for walking directions back. You’d think a kid would know these things. ---
**Author:** ![FoDaddy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/fodaddy/32/717_2.png) [@FoDaddy](https://community.cartalk.com/u/FoDaddy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2017, 11:25pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/14 "2017-07-20T23:25:47Z")
A couple years ago, I was desperately trying to find a brick and mortar store that was selling a CPU cooler for a LGA 115x motherboard. I was finishing up a build for a customer, and had promised that it would be done and ready to go the next day. The cpu cooler than had come with with the CPU was defective and I didn’t feel like paying for overnight shipping, which in any event would probably end up showing in two days since it was already the afternoon. I tried two local independent shops and they had nothing next I tried Best Buy, they we’re sold out., I tried a 2nd BBY, and actually had one AIO water cooler, but I wasn’t spending $120, so then I decided to try Radio Shack, the first one I went to wasn’t even there, it had closed down. The 2nd one had nothing, but an employee there said the “big” radio shack across town would be more likely have what I was looking for. So I headed over there and of course they had nothing at all. I decided to head back home and order what I needed and just explain to the customer what the situation was and that it was going to be a day later than promised. I head out to my car. I hit unlock button on the fob and nothing happens, great, the battery just died I thought. So I attempt to unlock the door with the key, the key goes into the lock, but will not turn. Hmm. I never use the key to unlock the door, maybe it’s gummed up or something from lack of use. I head back into the Radio Shack to get some new batteries for my fob. They do, and I replace them. On the way back out I notice a another car parked about 60 feet away from my car that looks just like mine 01-04 Mustang GT, silver, with a Mach 1 chin spoiler/grille delete, Cobra wheels, and about 1.5-2 inch drop. Then it hits me, I was trying to unlock someone else’s car. The cars were practically doppelgangers of each other, same color, exterior and interior, same wheels, same stance. I go up to the other car (which is my car) and hit the remote and it unlocks. Curiosity gets the better of me and go back over to the car I was originally trying to get into and look inside. We both had aftermarket head units, and both had short shifters, but the gear shifter knobs were different. That’s the only different I saw. I went back to my car and left. Fortunately I was able to locate the unused still-in-the-box CPU cooler from my old Sandy Bridge i5, (which turns out is identical to the stock Ivy Bridge/Haswell CPU coolers), and was able to use that., the build was done on time, and the customer was happy. I know I could’ve called the various businesses rather than driving to them, but I have zero faith in retail employees of chain stores when it comes to specific computer parts, especially when the companies in question don’t specialize in computers. TL/DR : I spent a few minutes trying to get into a car that wasn’t mine ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/15 "2017-07-21T01:21:44Z")
A friend of mine once lost his tractor trailer on The NY State Thruway. He had stopped at the Iroquois Travel Plaza to get something to eat and catch up on his log book. He was having trouble with his logbook beause he was very tired and he decided to back to his sleeper cab for some rest. when he went to the parking lot, his truck wasn’t there. He called the state police and when they came he gave them a description of his tractor which he owned and the company trailer. The police sent word to the tollbooths to be on the lookout. While he was sitting there trying to figure out what to do next he mentioned that he was heading home to Buffalo and didn’t know how he was going to get there. The trooper said, if you were heading to Buffalo, your rig is on the other side of the thruway, you have been looking on the Eastbound side. The restaurants are in the middle of the Thruway with the parking lots on either side of the Thruway and pedestrian bridges over to the restrooms and restaurants in the middle. He had simply turned the wrong way leaving the restaurant! ---
**Author:** ![Renegade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Renegade](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Renegade)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/16 "2017-07-21T01:28:21Z")
I have also done that a few times but after a few minute’s I figured out what was wrong never had to call the police. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/17 "2017-07-21T01:33:07Z")
I lost my Corolla in – believe it or not – downtown Palo Alto one time. Walked around for about 2 hours before I finally found it parked on a seldom used side street. I got a good walking tour of downtown Palo Alto though. The 2 hour walk was probably a good thing, I had been to a specialty beer brewery for some (i.e. many) samples … . lol … ---
**Author:** ![thegreendrag0n](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/thegreendrag0n/32/9265_2.png) [@thegreendrag0n](https://community.cartalk.com/u/thegreendrag0n)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/18 "2017-07-21T01:58:40Z")
a friend of mine recommended me to install “Car Compas” Android app on my cell phone: this thing records phone position when phone gets disconnected from Bluetooth in car stereo, so position is automatically recorded where you shut your engine down > > > Car Compass automatically records your car location when your phone disconnects with your car's bluetooth device. You can also manually record the location by clicking a button after parking the car. Car Compass helps you get to your car using a map. An arrow points to the location of your car. Walking navigation directions are available as well. > > Key features: > \- Automatically records car location by monitoring the connection to your car's bluetooth device (no additional software needs to be ins... I use it for years now, very happy when leaving car on big parking lots: it simply guides you toward your car ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/ever-lose-your-car/106063/19 "2017-07-21T04:07:08Z")
Yeah I was at the Mall of America on the day it opened. I was supposed to pick up a glass basketball backboard on special that day while quantities last etc. I don’t remember why I didn’t get it anymore but it was enough for me to vow to stay out of there whenever possible.