"Lost" key, how should I handle this?
 

Dropped off my rental at DCA this morning at 7AM (Cadillac XTS), always keep the key fob in the front cup holder, wasn't any different this time.

Get a call 30 min later once I am at the terminal that they couldn't find the keys. I told them to check the trash, I checked my bags and suit pockets, neither of us could find the fob.

He said he would call Dulles (this was picked up at IAD) and see if they had a backup fob on hand, I told them to keep me posted if we run into further issues, have not heard back.

I am curious what happens in this case? Am I on the hook for the Fob replacement? Saw a few other threads that talked of loss of service and the fact that it can sometimes be weeks and potentially a big bill.

I'd like to say that I left the keys in the cupholder but in a my word against them - I could've misplaced the keys, they could've lost the keys, their cleaners could've thrown the fob with the receipts and crumpled paper in the cupholder: who is on the hook?

Would appreciate advise on the matter (this was for work and I was using a corp AWD and we have some kind of blanket corp insurance, so it might come out of that, in either case want to make sure I handle this right).

I don't have direct experience with your situation.

The only time I lost an Avis key, I knew I lost it. I was in France at the time and had done a day trip out of CDG to NTE. The key was definitely in the inner "key pocket" of my suit coat when I left CDG in the morning. When I returned to CDG that night, the key was not longer there.

Avis-CDG made me walk with them back to short-term parking to see the car (and a couple of things I had left in there). Then we walked back to the counter, they found another key, and charged me a ~eur100 fee.

Seems like a very strange dropoff to me. Every dropoff I've ever done either I meet with a live person to whom I hand my keys (or leave them in the ignition since they'll need to put them in the ignition to check the return mileage, the gas guage, etc), or if it's unattended there's an envelope where I'm supposed enclose my keys in a key drop.

If this was an unattended return, what did they instruct you to do with the keys?

If there was a live person, why didn't they take possession of the keys while you were still there?

In the 150+ rentals I have had with Avis, there have been a many number of times that I have been in a rush and I have waved to an attendant walking to the car, that I'll take an "email receipt" and run off to catch a flight, never had an issue like this in the past. Never thought of this drop off habit as "strange" as I've seen many a coworker and others do the same, but hey, there's always a first time right? I should be more careful in the future.

Anywho...your post gave me some ideas, so yes it was an "attended drop off". The attendant came in, I took my bags out from the trunk and told him keys were inside the cupholder and flashed the gas receipt saying I had topped off the gas. He then sat in the car,checked the miles and gave me a receipt.

So for that to have happened - the key fob would have had to be inside the car, right? If the keys were on me he couldn't have started the car?

In my confusion and stress I had forgotten that detail. So if I hear back from Avis or see a big charge maybe I will tell them that.

Yes, the key must be inside the car to start the ignition. But if the engine was already running then they could have moved it without the key.

One time at ORD I had the agent drive me back to the terminal to catch a flight. I forgot that I had the fob in my pocket and only realized as I was going through security. I was surprised that the agent was able to drive the car back to the Avis station without the key, but they did.

I hustled down to baggage claim and gave the key to an Avis bus driver (because that is what Avis told me to do when I called them to let them know I still had the key).

Cadillac's honk their horn if the car is running and door is shut with no fob. It's pretty noticeable; my guess is you did the right thing, but someone took the key and stuck it somewhere (I have a CTS so I'm very familiar with this).

If they can start the car, the fob is somewhere in the car or in the employee's pocket. It's a question of searching the car for it and the employee turning his pockets out.

As to replacement, it won't take weeks to replace because Avis can get them overnight, but those OEM fobs are off-the-charts expensive.

I lost a remote for the SRX a couple years ago (the rectangle/more squared one than is now on the sedans). I was surprised it was only $300 for the remote and tow! I was expecting about $300 for the fob/programming, 150 tow and the admin charge!

Another reason to rent lower car classes, which is the USA almost always have real keys. In that case, just leave the key in the ignition when you return the car, no question about where it is.

thanks for the info, I am yet to see a charge, call back from Avis or a modification to the invoice I am hoping they found the keys!


thats 3 steps backward, no can do!

Well, then, I suggest something more "obvious" than leaving a fob (that doesn't need to be plugged in) in a cupholder. How about putting it in a plastic baggie and tie-wrapping it to the steering wheel before you get out? Ie, you want it to be so obvious the key is there than no one can argue that they didn't see it.

Meanwhile, I think the fleet suppliers to rental companies need to rethink which car-starting technologies make sense for rental companies and which make sense only for consumers. IMHO, a fob like this would only make sense if it could detect whether it was in the possesion of the renter or the rental company, and if could detect whether it was in the rental facility or not, and issue different alarms based on those combinations. A fob designed for a single user for the life of the car ownership (or lease) doesn't work well in a rental environment IMHO.

Yeah I predict that is definitely coming, most things are becoming "connected" or "software defined" and once the vehicle hardware supports it I can't imagine why it would difficult to implement security policies that change depending on fleet vs home use.

EDIT
frankly you shouldn't even need fobs anymore - it should all be on your smartphone.

EDIT
And...it got me on a google search rabbit hole http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/22/luxu...p-start-drive/

The battery in the average fob can last years.

The battery in some people's smartphones can't even last them all day (because of their usage patterns and not wanting to carry a "brick").

I can't wait for all the stupid reports of "I can't start my car because I forgot to charge my phone and the battery died" once they go down this silly route.

Non-rental cars could use biometrics as long the drivers are consistent. But that wouldn't work for rental cars either.

Plus there are still some people who don't use smartphones (or at least don't carry them all the time). Are they not supposed to buy cars any more? I thus don't see is as the only starting option. It's one thing to have the option to configure your car to start via smartphone only, it's quite another to design a car to roll off the lot with smartphone as the only starting option. How do you test drive such a car??? How does the smog check person (in states where smog checks are required) start the car? How does a valet start the car? :confused:

Btw, the article you linked about Volvo makes it sound like they're doing this to try to lock on independent repair shops. They sound like they're trying to make Volvo dealers the only ones who can service you car, because they're the only ones who can start it (without your phone). But again, that doesn't explain what smog checkers do, what valets do, etc.

Valet doesn't exist in Scandinavia :D

I'm sure all those people who fix car can get access to your keys via some special software - it's a bit like the TSA locks nowadays but more advance version. In Sweden all cars are registered through a database - any garage who has access to a particular system knows when and where my car was serviced (maybe to the extent how much I paid for it), and in Sweden all you need to tell a garage is your licence plate - they can look up all kinds of info about your car.

It's the same with personal information - just do a search on the white page equivalent and you can see people's phone number, their family member's phone numbers (who live in the same household), their birthdays, and which car they drive - We hate this so much that we got a Danish phones instead of a Swedish one so they can't link our information and publish it to the public - and what makes it more crazy is that the Swedish government is allowing it and they are the one who sells the information out to advertisers and companies like the white page.

I'd guess that there'd be a fob in a slot inside the glove box/etc. If you put in a valet code on the console, it activates the fob and allows that to start the car instead of the owner's phone.

And either a fingerprint scanner on the handle or a code on the doors (like Ford/Linc/Merc has had for eons) to allow access in the event your phone dies. But I'd expect it to require at least 8-10 digits (not the 5 or 6 Ford requires) since it'll allow the engine to start.