(WARNING) Invisible Key Locks..
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,178
Likes: 1
From: Bahston Mass.
(WARNING) Invisible Key Locks..
The "Invisible Key Cover" has been on my car for about 6 months. I haven't driven my car much at all since then, until today.
I went to the store this morning, and parked way out in the middle of the lot. I locked the doors and went in.
I came out to find my Keyfob wasn't working
. Panic set in because these covers were there and I had no way in..
They were stuck so good that anything that anyone had/tried wouldn't pull the cover off. Needless to say, I now need to repaint my freshly painted door handle,and will NEVER use one of these things again..
They aren't worth the potential damage. Granted had my keyfob been working, I'd have gotten in just fine, but in this rare situation, I was definitely in trouble...
And that's how my Monday morning began...
I went to the store this morning, and parked way out in the middle of the lot. I locked the doors and went in.
I came out to find my Keyfob wasn't working
. Panic set in because these covers were there and I had no way in..They were stuck so good that anything that anyone had/tried wouldn't pull the cover off. Needless to say, I now need to repaint my freshly painted door handle,and will NEVER use one of these things again..
They aren't worth the potential damage. Granted had my keyfob been working, I'd have gotten in just fine, but in this rare situation, I was definitely in trouble...
And that's how my Monday morning began...
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 826
Likes: 0
From: Iowa City Iowa
The "Invisible Key Cover" has been on my car for about 6 months. I haven't driven my car much at all since then, until today.
I went to the store this morning, and parked way out in the middle of the lot. I locked the doors and went in.
I came out to find my Keyfob wasn't working . Panic set in because these covers were there and I had no way in..
They were stuck so good that anything that anyone had/tried wouldn't pull the cover off. Needless to say, I now need to repaint my freshly painted door handle,and will NEVER use one of these things again..
They aren't worth the potential damage. Granted had my keyfob been working, I'd have gotten in just fine, but in this rare situation, I was definitely in trouble...
And that's how my Monday morning began...
I went to the store this morning, and parked way out in the middle of the lot. I locked the doors and went in.
I came out to find my Keyfob wasn't working
. Panic set in because these covers were there and I had no way in..They were stuck so good that anything that anyone had/tried wouldn't pull the cover off. Needless to say, I now need to repaint my freshly painted door handle,and will NEVER use one of these things again..
They aren't worth the potential damage. Granted had my keyfob been working, I'd have gotten in just fine, but in this rare situation, I was definitely in trouble...
And that's how my Monday morning began...
question though. How much did it cost to get your door handles painted? I can't believe the scatches it gets from peoples nails.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,178
Likes: 1
From: Bahston Mass.
Well, the entire car has fresh paint.. I had it stripped down to nothing over the winter and a complete color change done..
I'm just going to pick up a new handle and have it painted as opposed to sanding/refinishing this one. It'll be cheaper in the long run.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,178
Likes: 1
From: Bahston Mass.
After buying all new trim/molding & weatherstripping that was a chance I didn't want to take, because my windows were up tight, and they sink into the stripping pretty good..
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 10,665
Likes: 56
why not just drill a hole very carefully in the center to lift the key hole cover out? That or a sharp knife should have done the trick...leaving no damage to the car handle.
Alternatively, you could have used superglue to glue a pen top to the keyhole cover, press and hold for 60 seconds, then presto...comes right out.
Alternatively, you could have used superglue to glue a pen top to the keyhole cover, press and hold for 60 seconds, then presto...comes right out.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,178
Likes: 1
From: Bahston Mass.
why not just drill a hole very carefully in the center to lift the key hole cover out? That or a sharp knife should have done the trick...leaving no damage to the car handle.
Alternatively, you could have used superglue to glue a pen top to the keyhole cover, press and hold for 60 seconds, then presto...comes right out.
Alternatively, you could have used superglue to glue a pen top to the keyhole cover, press and hold for 60 seconds, then presto...comes right out.
The superglue would have worked great, except at the point we were at I was already 35 minutes late for work and assuming that this thing would have pulled off as easy as it said it would when I bought it.. The thing had such a strong grip to the lock face that there was no chance of this pulling off easily.
We tried a sharp knife & a razor blade, with no luck, there was no leverage without damaging the paint, unfortunately. Granted , it's a mark on my door handle small enough for the average person not to see, but I know it's there, and that would bug the Hell out of me, so it's got to go.
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From: www.ncminsurance.com Bowling Green KY Home of the Corvette!
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Seems to me it would have been easier and less damaging to replace the battery and retrain the fobs...Sorry to hear of the problems though.
Adam
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 10,554
Likes: 33
From: Not on either liberal coast.
WOW! No one ever considers the "what if" side of this simple product.
I didn't buy the vendor version of my covers. I bought some magnets from the the hardware store and painted them to match. They're slightly larger than the recessed area of the lock, so they sit above the key area slightly. I also used a piece of plastic material behind them so they don't actually have as much grip. I'm going to check mine just in case this were to occur. Thanks!
I didn't buy the vendor version of my covers. I bought some magnets from the the hardware store and painted them to match. They're slightly larger than the recessed area of the lock, so they sit above the key area slightly. I also used a piece of plastic material behind them so they don't actually have as much grip. I'm going to check mine just in case this were to occur. Thanks!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,430
Likes: 1
From: Somewherebetweenhereandthere
simple solution
sorry about the trouble, i still think they are a cool idea. They look really clean, I suppose people that have them should just remove them every week or so to make sure they aren't stuck in.... 
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 176
Likes: 0
From: Powder Springs GA
The "Invisible Key Cover" has been on my car for about 6 months. I haven't driven my car much at all since then, until today.
I went to the store this morning, and parked way out in the middle of the lot. I locked the doors and went in.
I came out to find my Keyfob wasn't working . Panic set in because these covers were there and I had no way in..
They were stuck so good that anything that anyone had/tried wouldn't pull the cover off. Needless to say, I now need to repaint my freshly painted door handle,and will NEVER use one of these things again..
They aren't worth the potential damage. Granted had my keyfob been working, I'd have gotten in just fine, but in this rare situation, I was definitely in trouble...
And that's how my Monday morning began...
I went to the store this morning, and parked way out in the middle of the lot. I locked the doors and went in.
I came out to find my Keyfob wasn't working
. Panic set in because these covers were there and I had no way in..They were stuck so good that anything that anyone had/tried wouldn't pull the cover off. Needless to say, I now need to repaint my freshly painted door handle,and will NEVER use one of these things again..
They aren't worth the potential damage. Granted had my keyfob been working, I'd have gotten in just fine, but in this rare situation, I was definitely in trouble...
And that's how my Monday morning began...
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 7,788
Likes: 6
From: Winchester TN
Cruise-In III Veteran
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St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'11
Hi JB666 -
Bummer!
Welcome to Monday.....
I hope the rest of your week goes better .
best regards
mqqn
Bummer!
Welcome to Monday.....
I hope the rest of your week goes better .
best regards
mqqn
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,178
Likes: 1
From: Bahston Mass.
Yep,t hat's what I mean.. Not even the tip of a razor blade would fit in there..
As for the FOB, it was broken, not just a dead battery.. I already tried the battery trick long before resorting to anything else.. It was a pile of small rare occurrences all at once..
Keep in mind I was outside of a small convenient store that carries very little, and it was 6:30 in the morning, so no chain stores were open yet.. I had access to very little.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,178
Likes: 1
From: Bahston Mass.
I just called the shop that painted the car and he told me they had a cancellation this week so I'm getting a deal on the replacement.. The day's looking up.
The shop that installed the alarm is ripping this system out and putting a different unit in. I told them I can't risk this happening again....
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,891
Likes: 2
From: Baltimore MD
Exactly what type of "Cover" over your keyhole do you have? I have the magnet type and they are NOT all that hard to remove. Sounds like you have something different? A pocket knife will remove the magnet type - heck I've even removed it with my fingers when I first installed it just to be sure it could be removed.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 7,178
Likes: 1
From: Bahston Mass.
Exactly what type of "Cover" over your keyhole do you have? I have the magnet type and they are NOT all that hard to remove. Sounds like you have something different? A pocket knife will remove the magnet type - heck I've even removed it with my fingers when I first installed it just to be sure it could be removed.
No, this is probably the same magnet you are talking about, but with mine (not yours??) it's recessed in so far and so tight that there's no way to grip it on the edges, especially without doing any paint damage. The grip this thing had on my lock cylinder shocked me. I had a pc of metal stuck pretty good to the magnet and had no chance of removing it.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,891
Likes: 2
From: Baltimore MD
No, this is probably the same magnet you are talking about, but with mine (not yours??) it's recessed in so far and so tight that there's no way to grip it on the edges, especially without doing any paint damage. The grip this thing had on my lock cylinder shocked me. I had a pc of metal stuck pretty good to the magnet and had no chance of removing it.
Don't know bud, mine's on a 2002 - don't know how many vendors are making these - got them when they first came out. But I can remove mine with little or no problem. Sounds like you got one with a "Super Magnet" on it!
