Yesterday, we walked into a hardware shop to duplicate a key. We thought it was a simple process and like every other key work, we would be out of the shop in minutes; at least I thought it was going to be very quick. I was wrong and to top it all off, after spending what seemed like more than an hour, we came away empty handed. Not exactly; we came away with a duplicate but not exactly a replacement.
What happened? Well, two things – I learned something new about keys and secondly, perhaps most importantly, keys are no longer simple; they are part of an intricately designed vehicle system that should now work in harmony. Every component relying on the other to work. Read on and share your thoughts of a ‘key’ experience that was like this one.
Our Telekom has always purchased the Suzuki Jimny as its choice vehicle for a while now. Speaking with our senior mechanic a while back I was told that the vehicle was suitable for our kind of terrain and that it was compact and easy to maneuver in tight and difficult spaces.
However, the new brand of Suzuki Jimny’s have also had their fair share of criticism with many vehicle custodians agreeing that they were not like their older more formidable counterparts. Complaints have been thrown at its four wheel drive capabilities with a few of the vehicles being unable to disengage the 4WD after usage. Others criticize its soft exterior and flimsy feel; not rugged and strong.
Perhaps we can now add another downside to owning the new Suzuki Jimny. The keys! This was our experience at the local agent, Lee Kwok Kuen. Lee immediately recognized that the key we had in hand had a “chip” in it and he needed to find the exact blank. When that was found, he informed us that it was not only expensive (some $500 for the blank), he also needed to find what he called “the machine” to enable the key to work. With little idea of what he was going on about, I played along without paying attention to the implications of what he was saying. We had to wait for a few minutes while the sales people talked with our mechanic to sort out payments and overdue accounts. Then finally, they were ready to cut the duplicate. That was done in a few minutes and then they said, this is the moment of truth.
I walked out with the duplicate, unlocked the door and then put it into the ignition and turned it on. The engine would not start! My mind immediately went to overdrive and I quickly realized that perhaps Lee was talking about the vehicle immobilizer, a term my colleague had mentioned in the shop. A shop assistant came and informed us that it could be “unlocked” when his boss arrived. But while we were there, the boss arrived but had bad news for us. Our Telekom had bought this batch of Suzuki Jimny directly from an overseas supplier and Lee Kwok Kuen only had codes to unlock those that it imported from its own suppliers.
In this case, when a key is inserted into the ignition and turned on, the vehicle’s computer sends a radio signal to a transponder. The transponder then responds with a code and if the codes are valid, the engine is turned on. This system was devised to reduce car thefts.
So what we can do now is find out from our overseas supplier if they will be able to activate the codes in the duplicate to work with our vehicle.
So what we now have is simply an expensive “instrument” to unlock the doors and nothing else. If you own a vehicle with a key having an attached vehicle immobilizer then it is in your best interest to keep your duplicate safe!
Every day we learn something new. Today, I learned even the simple key is no longer just a key; it is a complicated little device and sometimes it does not open everything! My next question – what happens if the original key suddenly fails to work correctly? I guess we will have an expensive vehicle sitting idle in the garage!