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(WARNING) Invisible Key Locks..

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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 09:39 AM
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Default (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...
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 09:45 AM
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Originally Posted by JB666
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...
Situations like these you sit back and laugh. The odds of that man are rare. But seriously that does suck.

question though. How much did it cost to get your door handles painted? I can't believe the scatches it gets from peoples nails.
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 09:49 AM
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Originally Posted by deathinnovember
Situations like these you sit back and laugh. The odds of that man are rare. But seriously that does suck.

question though. How much did it cost to get your door handles painted? I can't believe the scatches it gets from peoples nails.

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.
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 11:15 AM
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would have been easier to just get a hanger and hit the unlock button (gotta love frameless windows)..
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 11:16 AM
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Originally Posted by SmoothFRC
would have been easier to just get a hanger and hit the unlock button (gotta love frameless windows)..
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..
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 11:26 AM
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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.
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by PaceThis
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.

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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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 11:57 AM
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Hope your Monday ends a lot better. Thanks for the warning.
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 12:01 PM
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How about going back into the store and buying a new battery for the fob? I have never used the key hole protectors, but it does seem luck was just not on your side.
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 12:05 PM
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Originally Posted by C5inmyFuture
How about going back into the store and buying a new battery for the fob? I have never used the key hole protectors, but it does seem luck was just not on your side.
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
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 12:15 PM
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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!
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 12:22 PM
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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....
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 12:25 PM
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You mean it fits so well and sticks so strong that you couldn't flip it out with a pocket knife blade?
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 12:35 PM
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Originally Posted by JB666
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...
Did you have the magnet-type or the plastic ones that actually stick into the lock itself?
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 12:42 PM
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Hi JB666 -

Bummer!

Welcome to Monday.....

I hope the rest of your week goes better .

best regards

mqqn
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 01:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Zozzie
You mean it fits so well and sticks so strong that you couldn't flip it out with a pocket knife blade?

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.
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 01:09 PM
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Originally Posted by mqqn
Hi JB666 -

Bummer!

Welcome to Monday.....

I hope the rest of your week goes better .

best regards

mqqn
Thanks, bud.. The way I see it is it can't get any WORSE!!

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....
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 01:31 PM
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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.
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 01:45 PM
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Originally Posted by IrishJoker
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.
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Old Oct 29, 2007 | 01:50 PM
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Originally Posted by JB666
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!
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