Free Commodore, if I wasn't so honest.

[johnydep]

Driving to the petrol station on the main road I see a black SS commy parked with the keys hanging out the drivers door lock, the reason I notice is because of the meter long strap.
So I do a U turn & check it out, yep it's the key, no one in the car, so I open the door & see a laptop bag on the passenger front seat, I drop the key on the floor & close the door.
I'm thinking, "what should I do", the car is parked next to a house, so I knock on the door, no answer.
Back to the car, I wait a few minutes & decide to call the police, as I'm dialing a car pulls up with one very nice looking lady & out jumps a drongo. I presume he is the owner & approach him, "this your care mate", "yeah" he says, "I got home & realised I forgot my keys, thanks mate". :
He jumps in his car & drives north, I do another U turn & head south, there on the side of the road is parked the honey, she waves at me & then follows me for about a km, I turn into the petrol station & she turns down the street next to the station.

Mmmm, wonder if some cheatings going on.

Lucky for them I'm an honest b*astard, could have scored a nice commy with an optional laptop. :

How stupid can someone be?

[Paxton]

John, ask yourself, would you want to steal a Holden?

In all seriousness, calling the police would have been the only sane thing to do. If it was me, I would have tried to lock the car, and put the keys behind one of the wheels. Atleast then, the car looks locked.

The cheating could have been anything, the woman may have been his boss? There was some of that going on at my work earlier in the year. My Boss was 'with' one of my colleagues, but when the relationship turned sour, one had to leave. Put it this way, I like my new desk.

[new2ford]

I was once driving a fleet Commodore and went to a meeting at NSW State Rail. Parked in their special parking zone where there were several of their fleet Commodores. Came out of the meeting later, opened the car door, got in and started it up. Then I looked around at the interior, realised it looked a bit different with somebody else's bag in it. I'd got into one of their cars with my key (including starting the engine!). Quietly evacuated, locked their car and went back to my own employer's identical Commo parked just behind. Gives you a lot of faith in Holden's security doesn't it? Wonder if it will improve when they're made in Korea?

[Smoke Pursuit]

Had a Honda JAZZ parked outside my house for 3 days with the keys in the ignition, at first I thought one of the neighbours just parked it there, then I looked and noticed the drivers side window down and the keys in it. Rang the police but it took me 4 goes with different telephone numbers to find anyone from the QLD police who was interested about it, talk about a bloody joke.

[PH47]

Wonder if it's a holden thing? :P

We found a newish astra 2 weeks ago in coles car park with keys hanging off door, attached was one of those brown leather wallet/coinpurse/keyholder-allinone you see old dudes with..

Opened the wallet thing and looked at license, he was about 65-70, so took keys in to coles so they could make announcement.. was so thankful.

Seriously though I know lots of people who'd say to take the car but wtf are you going to do with it? Hide it in your garage and never want to take it out in case you get caught? Try sell it and risk getting pwned? so much better just to know you saved the owner from having to deal with their car getting stolen by some scum taking advantage of a persons forgetfullness.

[chief]

It might now be isolateD to Holden but at Christmas time I was at Warringa Mall Shopping centre, looking for a car space what is impossible at this time of year. I noticed a Commy with its reversing lights on. I put my indicator on and wait. Nothing. The engine is running but oddly enough none is inside. Wait a little longer and a woman comes running to the car in a panic and relised she had not taken her keys. The KEYS!!! What about the car??? She put the handbrake on, left it in reverse, got out and started shopping. Didn't put it in park, turn the car off or lock it. Some people honestly have minds like a sive.

[superpursuit83]

Its good to see good people in the world, always hearing about the bad things.

[DOC]

Originally Posted by johnydep

Driving to the petrol station on the main road I see a black SS commy parked with the keys hanging out the drivers door lock, the reason I notice is because of the meter long strap.
So I do a U turn & check it out, yep it's the key, no one in the car, so I open the door & see a laptop bag on the passenger front seat, I drop the key on the floor & close the door.
I'm thinking, "what should I do", the car is parked next to a house, so I knock on the door, no answer.
Back to the car, I wait a few minutes & decide to call the police, as I'm dialing a car pulls up with one very nice looking lady & out jumps a drongo. I presume he is the owner & approach him, "this your care mate", "yeah" he says, "I got home & realised I forgot my keys, thanks mate". :
He jumps in his car & drives north, I do another U turn & head south, there on the side of the road is parked the honey, she waves at me & then follows me for about a km, I turn into the petrol station & she turns down the street next to the station.
Mmmm, wonder if some cheatings going on.
Lucky for them I'm an honest b*astard, could have scored a nice commy with an optional laptop. :
How stupid can someone be?

John, did you see the TV show on this they are using these as bait cars for the car theives, they showed how they leave the keys hanging on the string to attract attention and load the car etc with goodies, and they have been getting heaps, bet your glad you didnt decide on that free car or it would have been a free holiday

Pete

[BlueRaven]

Thats a pretty good point.

I would have probably called the cops and not touched or gone near the car. I'd hate for someone to see me appearing 'interested' in the car if something goes wrong.

[johnydep]

Originally Posted by DOC

John, did you see the TV show on this they are using these as bait cars for the car theives, they showed how they leave the keys hanging on the string to attract attention and load the car etc with goodies, and they have been getting heaps, bet your glad you didnt decide on that free car or it would have been a free holiday

Pete

No I didn't. Makes sense though, he knew exactly were I put the key.

I could see the thief getting off in court, something about baiting or entrapment would be used by the defense lawyer.

Do they have a remote immobiliser to stop a potential car chase?

[DOC]

Originally Posted by johnydep

No I didn't. Makes sense though, he knew exactly were I put the key.
I could see the thief getting off in court, something about baiting or entrapment would be used by the defense lawyer.
Do they have a remote immobiliser to stop a potential car chase?

Not sure about the emobiliser ( but guess yes a kill switch or similar you would think to avaoid a chase ) but dont think many were getting away with it by claiming entrapment. but i would say where the car was there would be some history of cars going missing.

when you say he knew where the keys were im sure that had lipstick camera's as well etc in there.

[DENKO]

john would u have taken the car if it was a ba XR8?

[fiery]

Originally Posted by S-MAN

john would u have taken the car if it was a ba XR8?

shouldnt matter what the car was... it wasnt his so he didnt take it..
good to hear of honest people around........ well done..... :

[schmidty]

Another good 1 is when you get out of a turbo and walk off and the engine is still running on the turbo timer and you get people chase you down the street or yell out to you that you left your car running! Had some mates with me 1 day and a chick was quite worried cause she didnt understand the whole concept so we asked her if she'd mind watching the car for us for a minute. When it stopped she didnt know what was going on! Good laugh.

[ltd]

Originally Posted by senifx

Wonder if it's a holden thing? :P

We found a newish astra 2 weeks ago in coles car park with keys hanging off door, attached was one of those brown leather wallet/coinpurse/keyholder-allinone you see old dudes with..

Opened the wallet thing and looked at license, he was about 65-70, so took keys in to coles so they could make announcement.. was so thankful.

Seriously though I know lots of people who'd say to take the car but wtf are you going to do with it? Hide it in your garage and never want to take it out in case you get caught? Try sell it and risk getting pwned? so much better just to know you saved the owner from having to deal with their car getting stolen by some scum taking advantage of a persons forgetfullness.

Great to see thoughtfulness in the world. After all the bad stuff you hear about I think its great that we still have honesty and respect. Well done Jonny too.

[big_waity]

I'd lock the car then drop the keys at the cop shop. Seems like the best way, stops somone stealing a car and teaches the idiot who left his keys in it to think about it.

[SB076]

There is a show in the UK, where they leave keys delibrately in the door, so that when some would be thief comes a long its an inviting target. However the car is rigged and usually embarasses the theif by locking him in the car, spraying him with foam or just making a lot of niose to get peoples attention

However I think you did the right thing well done.

[tex]

A car was driven off from my local servo the other day when the driver left the keys in the ignition and went in to pay for the fuel.

Beware at self serve stations, apparently some lazy thieves stake them out and jump into suitable vehicles that unwary owners have left with the keys in.........

I'm sure they're appreciative of a full tank of get away fuel.

[LTDHO]

It is amazing how often it happens, then the owner sooks and whinges that their car was stolen...

If you a stupid enough to leave your keys in your car then you desearve to loose the car and don't complain!

It's like saying "I gave $1000 to a stanger and he spent it, how dare he, it was mine"

[merlin]

I was sitting outside the local shops the other day waiting for my fiance who was inside when a woman in a 3 series BMW pulls up, gets out and walks into the shop. She left the keys in the ignition with the engine running, the window down and a 3 year old in the backseat! Two minutes later she walks out with a loaf of bread and drives off. WTF, some people are waaaay too trusting.

[Full Noise]

I spend a lot of time at service stations and I could pick up a new car every day. It’s amazing how many morons leave their keys in their cars or their cars running when they go inside the shop. I wont even leave my car running when I’m checking the tyre pressure. I could have picked up a BA XR8 the other morning at the BP servo in Corio. I pulled up to clean my windscreen and fill the washer bottle at around 4 am, and this car was just sitting there running. I looked over into the shop and couldn’t even see anyone in there. This bloke was kneeling down trying to get some milk out of the fridge and wasn’t even looking at his car. It staggers me how stupid some people are.

Here’s an interesting site from Canada called Bait Car. The cops wire up cars with immobilisers and cameras, quite interesting…

Bait Car


Cheers, Danny

[AnthonyQLD]

Nice link full noise, be sure to watch the videos

[Bucket]

http://www.baitcar.com/node/107

Poor Dog! :(

[megsy]

normally any sensable person has a spare set of keys somewhere so i would have wrote a note, locked it on the inside drivers seat letting them know that their keys are locked in the boot