Keeping your car keys in the car?

26 comments

1. This was something that was occasionally done years ago, mostly in very rural areas. The same kind of area where people would leave their houses unlocked all the time. I haven’t seen it in person since the late 70s.

2. I definitely would not do that.

   Some people might if they are far out in very rural areas, as there is generally less crime, so less people to steal your vehicle.

3. Only time I’ve ever seen this done was when someone was leaving a car for someone else to pick up, like at a repair shop or loaning a car to a friend.

4. People maybe did that like 40 years ago but it’s unheard of now

5. I normally leave my keys in a cup holder. I’ve owned a car for fifteen years and the only time that anything bad happened involved someone breaking a window to steal out of my car anyway. I live in a well-off suburban town.

6. > Or is it just handy for movies where the hero needs to find the keys for the car as a deux ex machina?

   Correct. When you see it in current movies, it’s done as a nod to the older movies or as a spoof.

   But yeah, still normal in rural areas. I’m miles from even a small town, I only lock my doors if I’m leaving for more than a few days.

7. Its a fairly common practice in small towns with extremely low crime. Usually more rural.

8. If I left the cars to my car in it, I wouldn’t have a car when I returned.

9. I’ve heard people say fleet vehicles sometimes have the keys under the sun visor, but I assume that’s because they’re usually parked in a secure lot.

   I think my grandpa did that with his pickup truck, but that vehicle rarely left the farm.

10. Today it’s generally just a movie trope. But you might find a farm truck with the keys in it

11. I keep my keys in my car when I’m at home. But in order to get to my car, you first have to travel down a dead end road that’s a mile long where I’m the only resident of, then you’ll have to jump over the gate or fence, then walk 100 meters to my house, then break into my garage.

    Just watch out for the motion censored alarmed security cameras and dogs. Last week I found several pieces of a dead deer in my yard. So you just have to be faster than a deer! And I work from home too and I have lots of weapons, so good luck 🙂

    Is my old toyota really worth that risk?

12. > Is this legit something you guys do all the time?

    In my entire life I have known *one* person who has done something like this. They have an old, beat-to-hell pickup truck that they got for free; it was broken, on someone’s property, and the owner said “If you can get the thing to run, it’s yours.”

    It’s not a vehicle that anyone would be particularly drawn to steal, and they live in a rural area. If someone did steal it, it wouldn’t really be much of a loss.

13. It’s a handy deus ex machina that’s also a holdover from a practice that used to be common in areas where people felt it was safe.

    Nobody really does it anymore.

14. Howdy!

    My car has one of those push button/smart key fob ignition systems, if I left the key fob in the visor I’d get a series of beeps and alarms reminding me to take my keys lol.

    Some of my neighbors will keep an ancient pickup in the driveway for dump runs and other errands. Sometimes they’ll leave a key on the seat or in the mailbox if a family member or friend is coming by to borrow the truck.

    I don’t think I’ve seen the visor thing, it feels like if you’re at all clumsy the keys would clonk you in the face or fall onto the floor.

15. There’s no way in hell I would ever do this, but some people do.

16. I knew someone who left their spare key in their glove box. There car ended up being stolen and they were able to drive off with it. Don’t do this.

17. I have never seen anyone keep their keys in their car like that.

18. Ain’t no way in hell I’d keep my keys in the car haha

    An old movie trope — maybe something that happened 40+ years ago, but I doubt this is common anymore

19. I leave my keys in my car. I live in Massachusetts and lived in small city.
    Now I live in the country (still within 20 minutes of a largish city) and still leave my house and car unlocked.

    Some regions of our country have very low property crime.

20. Sometimes I do. I’m generally not very worried about it unless I’m in the city or if I have my briefcase or expensive equipment with me.

21. I have never done that nor have I known anyone to do that with a personal vehicle.

    I have heard of that being done with trucks on a farm or at a work site, because the trucks need to move quickly for job purposes and the area is away from the general public.

    I live in a pretty rural area and I would never do it, maybe some elderly people who grew up in a different era might. Even my grandparents however still locked their trucks and took the keys with them though

    I think it’s mostly just a trope for movies.

22. I’ve never seen or heard of anyone do this. I’d also say it’s kind of hard to do with modern cars.

23. Not in the city at all; windows,doors, any access point to your home or vehicle will 99.99% of the time be locked.

    Out in the sticks, you’re bound to find a truck with the keys, a gun, and a pack of Marlboros sitting in plain view. Okay, maybe not the smokes, but everything else is pretty standard

24. I talked to a local police detective about some minor vandalism at my house. I live in what I would consider a middle-to-upper-middle class suburb in a medium sized city in Alabama. He said he’d been investigating a number of car thefts and finding that people left their keys in the car so they could jump in and start them (keyless start as long as the fob is in the car). Seems crazy to me.

25. If I’m on a property that I can see someone coming for miles on end or an otherwise secure facility, I’ve been known to leave them in the center console.

    Otherwise, no! That car will be gone in 60 seconds.

26. Not US, but our Canadian cousins have a town called Churchill where by law residents must leave their cars unlocked in case somone needs to escape from a polar bear.