Electronics certainly have changed our world in almost every way, from medicine to banking and communication. Mostly this has made life easier. But not always.
In my most recent burglary (the September one) the thieves took mostly small stuff - old cellphones, USB memory sticks, a couple of old watches and so on. But the worst was they took all my keys - house, front gate, garage - and car, including the spare key.
Most of the keys presented little more than an expensive irritation; I called a locksmith and had all my locks changed.
The car keys were another story altogether.
I rode the scooter to the car’s agency, gave them the registration number and chassis number of my car and explained about the stolen keys.
“Hmm”, said the dealer, “this is bad. We have to order a new key from France. It will take between 10 and 15 working days to get it here.”
“Okay”, I said reluctantly, “go ahead and order it.”
“Not so easy.”
“We will need your registration paper and ID book before we can order it, oh, and payment up front,” he said.
“When the key arrives you will have to bring the car in here to have the electronic system re-programmed to fit the new key.”
“But how will I get my car to your computer if it can’t start?” I asked.
“Ah, that’s a good point. We can courier the key to you and you can then open the car door with it. Then you’ll have to get the car on to a flat-bed truck and have it brought to us for reprogramming.”
I added up the rands mentally and found myself well into the thousands. For a new key.
Electronics are not always helpful – or cheap.
Why is it not possible to load the key program on to a laptop and take it to the customer’s car?
But what I really want to know is this: every day people have their cars stolen from car parks and street parking places. They come out and - presto! The car has vanished.
How do the car thieves manage to get all those cars started without having to send to France for a coded key?
And, however they manage to do it, why do the garages not use the same system to get keyless cars started for their customers?
Maybe garage owners should consider employing professional car thieves. - Cape Argus