I lost my car keys

[who?]

If someone gets your wallet with a car key and your ID they can go to that address and look for a car that matches the key.

 

[Alpha One Seven]

Wow 28 years, what's your system? No kids?

2 kids.

 

[WilliamM2]

Not yet - AAA determined that the only way to get a key made was to tow to the dealer. I'll check more to confirm that before doing it.

You know with some cars they need the car, and one working key to make you another. I know that's the case with my Camry.

 

[BudAshes]

Maybe if you find the mind you lost you will remember where your keys are.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Keys
Backpack
Wife's purse
Wife's keys
Camera bag
Car (cheap Lojack!)

Tiles are the bomb. They've paid for themselves a dozen times easily in all the time I've been using them. I hate the price & having to buy new ones every year or so (they do offer a trade-in discount), but they are 110% worth it!

I decided to go with the Lappa b/c of the replaceable battery and light.

https://findlapa.com/

 

[Humpy]

Hurry up and find your fucking keys!!!

I don't need this kind of stress in my life.

 

[Fern]

Craig, I haven't read every post here but since you drove yourself home the keys are nearby.

It seems very unlikely that a stranger would steal the keys out of your car. I suppose it possible your wife may have picked them up..

Otherwise they must simply be somewhere between your car and where you wandered around in your home.

In case you haven't already: Look under your car etc. If you missed when trying to put them in your pocket upon exiting your car you may have inadvertently kicked them under the car etc.

If you always keep them in your pocket check the wash machine etc.

Just rethink all your steps that day upon arriving at home. E.g., when you went to get out of your car did you need to carry anything with you? If so it may have prevented you from immediately placing them in your pocket and perhaps you inadvertently set them down with whatever you may have been carrying (my wife does this regularly).

Anyhoo, good luck.

Fern

 

[Thebobo]

You got home and ran into your house to the bathroom, you had to take a poop. In your haste you put the keys on the bathroom counter near the edge. After you finished your evacuation you got up, turned to flush and knocked your keys into the trash can. The sound of the keys hitting the bottom were muffled by the flushing sound of the toilet. Go now, you will find them there.

 

[destrekor]

Check inside shoes? In your hamper (and other clothes?). If you changed near your bed, did you check under it, under nearby furniture, in your sheets, between mattress and foot/headboard, etc? Mailbox? In your car, did you check in-between seat and back cushion, under floor mats, in-between console/seat near buckle, in every single cup holder (even if covered/stowed), every magazine/map/bin-like structure on doors and seats and wherever, on the opposite side between console and passenger seat, under the pedals, wedged under a tire, in the wheel? Anywhere under car, behind car, dirt/grass anywhere in a complete circle around the car, and even near the windshield wipers all along that groove? In any planters/bushes? Stuck to a belt? In a bowl of change? Anywhere near the sink, or fridge? Inside it? Behind bathroom door or under a towel/rug? Checked other pants or jacket in case you totally forgot what you wore?

Looked carefully in every single one of those spots, multiple times?

 

[Thebobo]

I'm channeling

 

[destrekor]

Wait, I see a post you said you did have groceries? So you walked into the house and had groceries in your hand?

Checked in the plastic bags wherever they went (trash, recycling)? Not sure what you bought but anything that's open? Thinking: flowers, bag of food like apples or vegetables, etc? Cardboard-packaged beer, be it a 6-pack or a case? Pinned between seat back and chair cushion of a kitchen chair?

 

[Craig234]

Maybe if you find the mind you lost you will remember where your keys are.

I'd say you could have just asked to be put on ignore, but that's not true - I do require a post like yours.

 

[Craig234]

You know with some cars they need the car, and one working key to make you another. I know that's the case with my Camry.

Turns out, some locksmiths can make them (one couldn't) - but the price estimates were $220-$255, so it's actually cheaper to go the dealer towed.

 

[Craig234]

Hurry up and find your fucking keys!!!

I don't need this kind of stress in my life.

I can relate. I did my 'the car is by far the most likely place' fifth extra thorough search today and nothing. I don't see HOW they could be anywhere in the car as an accidental fall.

But I have a call in to try to schedule the car to be towed to the dealer tomorrow. In the meantime, this is a hell of a mystery and I wonder if I'll ever find the keys (right after new ones?)

 

[Craig234]

Craig, I haven't read every post here but since you drove yourself home the keys are nearby.

It seems very unlikely that a stranger would steal the keys out of your car. I suppose it possible your wife may have picked them up..

Otherwise they must simply be somewhere between your car and where you wandered around in your home.

In case you haven't already: Look under your car etc. If you missed when trying to put them in your pocket upon exiting your car you may have inadvertently kicked them under the car etc.

If you always keep them in your pocket check the wash machine etc.

Just rethink all your steps that day upon arriving at home. E.g., when you went to get out of your car did you need to carry anything with you? If so it may have prevented you from immediately placing them in your pocket and perhaps you inadvertently set them down with whatever you may have been carrying (my wife does this regularly).

Anyhoo, good luck.

Fern

Thanks. No other person except a stranger stealing them is a possibility. I've looked under the car. They pretty much either are forgotten in the ignition (not there, checked 10 times literally), or they go in my pocket while seated in the car. The pants didn't go near the washer in the time before the keys were missing - the rest of the stuff was in the pocket. No weird activities.

 

[Craig234]

Check inside shoes?

Yes. For that matter, I literally looked inside the toilet paper roll for an idea how I'm trying to look everywhere.

In your hamper (and other clothes?)

Was simple - pants left, check for keys. No hamper placement or washing or anything.

If you changed near your bed, did you check under it, under nearby furniture, in your sheets, between mattress and foot/headboard, etc?

Been checking everywhere the pants were near, under lots of crap but pretty damn thoroughly. And even the bedroom though the pants weren't there.

Mailbox?

No mailbox, but searched the area it goes.

In your car, did you
check in-between seat and back cushion, under floor mats, in-between console/seat near buckle, in every single cup holder (even if covered/stowed), every magazine/map/bin-like structure on doors and seats and wherever, on the opposite side between console and passenger seat, under the pedals, wedged under a tire, in the wheel? Anywhere under car, behind car, dirt/grass anywhere in a complete circle around the car, and even near the windshield wipers all along that groove?

Yes to all except the tires. I've had 3 days.

In any planters/bushes?

Don't see any way they could get there, but if they did, they're going to be quite hard to find. I'll take a look at the ones I would have been near.

Stuck to a belt?

Checked.

In a bowl of change?

Checked. I found change some places, but no keys.

Anywhere near the sink, or fridge? Inside it?

Checked. Yes, I was looking around in the refrigerator despite it making zero sense as a possibility.

Behind bathroom door or under a towel/rug?

Checked, but I'll check under the shower mat.

Checked other pants or jacket in case you totally forgot what you wore?

I'm sure what I wore - it still had the rest of the stuff in my pockets.

Looked carefully in every single one of those spots, multiple times?

Pretty much. Most multiple times.

It's really not that big of places so re-looking is all that can be one over and over, trying to look a little more completely.

 

[Craig234]

Wait, I see a post you said you did have groceries? So you walked into the house and had groceries in your hand?

Checked in the plastic bags wherever they went (trash, recycling)? Not sure what you bought but anything that's open? Thinking: flowers, bag of food like apples or vegetables, etc? Cardboard-packaged beer, be it a 6-pack or a case? Pinned between seat back and chair cushion of a kitchen chair?

Good call, but did that. Actually I had four or five items without a bag. I remember setting them down on a box which tipped over, and then put them away. So naturally that was my first suspicion, and I actually checked the items (though there's no way for the key to get inside them, sealed boxes/bags) and repeatedly carefully the whole area where I'd sat them and they tipped over.

These were just simple items like a box of honey-butter biscuits, nowhere for keys to get lost in them.

The only seating involved was the couch and computer chair, both of which of course have had their areas searched thoroughly repeatedly. (Found thing like a pair of eyeglasses under the chair, whew).

The couch had the cushions pulled up; the chair is Aeron with no hiding places.

 

[Alpha One Seven]

Call a locksmith that does the new car keys and move on.

 

[Alpha One Seven]

Good call, but did that. Actually I had four or five items without a bag. I remember setting them down on a box which tipped over, and then put them away. So naturally that was my first suspicion, and I actually checked the items (though there's no way for the key to get inside them, sealed boxes/bags) and repeatedly carefully the whole area where I'd sat them and they tipped over.

These were just simple items like a box of honey-butter biscuits, nowhere for keys to get lost in them.

The only seating involved was the couch and computer chair, both of which of course have had their areas searched thoroughly repeatedly. (Found thing like a pair of eyeglasses under the chair, whew).

The couch had the cushions pulled up; the chair is Aeron with no hiding places.

LOL I had one of those chairs. It was overpriced junk that failed within 6 months of buying it.

 

[Craig234]

LOL I had one of those chairs. It was overpriced junk that failed within 6 months of buying it.

Everyone loved them so I just bought it, but it's not very comfortable and I'm planning to get rid of it and buy a Costco chair instead. But the quality otherwise seems fine.

 

[Craig234]

Call a locksmith that does the new car keys and move on.

That's what I'm doing.

I called the car dealer back to schedule the work, and the same guy first had the call returned by someone else, who then didn't know answers and had to get him back on the phone.

And then he said he'd been told they have to do an additional action so the cost was doubled. I told him nevermind.

I then called AAA to see about their rebate, and ended up finding the higher level of membership has a higher rebate, but you have to wait 48 hours to get the service. After various hassles I upgraded that
and am now on hold with them about ensuring they'll be able to use the right locksmith, after they had previously apparently wrongly said it has to be towed to the dealer.

 

[Craig234]

Do you have a dog? Maybe it ate them. Can you hear a jingling sound when it's running around?

If I had a dog, he'd have been x-rayed.

No dog. No bigger than mice here. Don't ask.

 

[destrekor]

Don't see any way they could get there, but if they did, they're going to be quite hard to find. I'll take a look at the ones I would have been near.

You get around to doing that yet? Things have the tendency to get lost in the weirdest locations, I wouldn't spend a penny until I overturned every rock that hasn't budged for years and especially look in every overgrown patch. Pretty sure I've found at least one thing in that way. Don't put it off as the rarest of possibilities; it probably won't be there but that's where I'd be checking if I hadn't yet.

edit: honestly, if not there, I'd probably look everywhere in the nearby area, areas I specifically never went near, perhaps the entire yard and trying to look in nearby yards. Why? Animals. Animals can be dicks. Seriously, one could have picked up the keys and dropped it elsewhere. If it was one of the craftier crows, it may have kept it. lol

 

[mrblotto]

Under the floormat?
On that area between the hood and windshield? You know, where the wipers live
Do you have bushes/shrubs on your way into the house? Maybe they fell in there and kinda dropped down a bit and are down inside one of them.......

Good luck regardless

 

[Craig234]

And it turns out for the rebate from AAA, it has to be through a roadside service call,and they only use the one service they're contracted with, and it varies - and then roadsides said membership is wrong just now and you don't have to go through roadside for the reimbursement. So do I trust them and get a locksmith Wed night, or do I call roadside and get towed to the dealer Thu morning...

And on top of all that, the car has a problem somewhere in the fuel system needing to be fixed anyway - on the drive home before the keys were lost, the car died while driving about 35 mph in traffic...

So, whether to get that done at the same at the dealer, or take it to a repair shop. The shop I'd called about it said they can't fix it unless there's a check engine light or it happens every time.