Key issue - revisited

If you have been checking in on my blog for more than a few months you may remember the posts last summer about our lost car key (brief re-cap: while doing a good deed, I dropped my keys down an elevator shaft. It got complicated because I refused to pay a Mazda dealership an exorbitant amount of money for a replacement key and Phil got frustrated with me and our single car key situation that kept causing us all kind of grief. If you REALLY want to know the ugly details, go back to last May in the archive.)

We have been muddling along just fine with a single key for our Tribute. Periodically I check to see if Mazda has decided to let locksmiths do replacement keys for a more reasonable fee. It's been so long, and we have gotten used to the one key, that I haven't checked for awhile. I fear that I may regret that, because our single remaining key appears to be lost. And, if I'm remembering correctly, we can't simply get another key without having an original key with which to program it. I remember reading something to the effect that in the absence of an original, they will have to replace some kind of circuit board in our car so that it will work with new keys. They do all that in the name of security. Supposedly it makes it harder to steal a car when they put computer chips in the keys. That's great, but I think more people lose keys than have their cars stolen.

If there's a bright side to this (from my perspective) it's the fact that Phil had the key last.

I'm going on a key hunt now. Cross your fingers for me. And if I manage to dodge this bullet one more time, I pledge to get a second key, regardless of how annoyed I am at Mazda for holding our keys hostage.