The cost of the ‘transponding’ key to freedom…
03 Aug 2021
Dear LPG,
We are always being told that this is the website where we older people should pass on those little nuggets of experience that we pick up along life’s way, and I have found one that I think is good to know.
It is often said that driving is an expensive hobby, but when you are older and walking around it is not quite as easy as it once was, being able to drive to the shops is something that I feel should be thought of as more of a necessity for those pensioners who can still drive, rather than the luxury that the young think that it is for us. We also hear more and more about people being attacked while walking down the streets and there is something very special and liberating about being able to get where you want to go in safety if you possibly can. With that in mind, I often find myself substituting the very true sentence ‘I treasure my car’ for, ‘I treasure my freedom’ and mean exactly the same thing.
With these thoughts in my head I decided, for the first time in my life, to treat myself to a brand-new car just a couple of years ago. It’s only a small Ford but for the first time in my life, I have a car which was mine first. After all, my savings were just sitting there and even though I don’t really drive very far very often, I can get my own shopping and visit my friends (or at least I could before lockdown and hope to be able to again)
Every now and then, like most older people, I loose things and, while it is sometimes my keys just when I am getting ready to go out, I realised one-day last week that I can’t find the 2nd car key that came with my car anywhere.
It’s only a car key right? So I decided to get a new one cut but I was in for a serious shock! Cutting is just the beginning of the process these days.
If you are a driver, can you remember the last time you put your key into the door of your car and turned it in order to get in? We just click, the lights do their thing and the door opens which happens because of the key’s transponder. We all click our way into nearly every car that was made since the beginning of the 21st century and we don’t even think about it anymore. But if you lose the key, did you know that you need to be prepared to spend a minimum of £150.00 to get it replaced these days because of all the electronics involved. Getting a replacement is not a case of just getting the key cut any more. The locksmith will need to take a computer to your car to get the transponder working.
I mentioned that I had misplaced my car key to one of my younger friends and when he told me all this I really did not believe him, so I decided to ask Google which was a serious eye-opener for me. For the drivers out there in LPG land, who might not be aware of this I thought it would be good to pass my newly acquired knowledge on.
I have decided to take another look for that second key I was given before entertaining any more thoughts of replacing it.
AM, Lee
Some of the information he found is also advertising key cutting services, but AM has included them because of the lessons they include as he passes on what he has learnt…
