Some General Motors Car Keys Can Open Other GM Cars-Truth!
Summary of eRumor:
The eRumor is in the form of a news report. It says that the keys to 1994-2004 GM cars can “open nearly any other GM vehicle.”
The Truth:
The article in the eRumor is by reporter Pallas Hupe from CBS-13 in Sacramento. She is one of several television news reporters across the country who decided to put the GM car key rumor to the test. They have all come to the same conclusion: The story is true.
Hupe said she took two keys from her television station’s own fleet and started trying to open doors on a variety of GM cars. She was able to open several other cars (all with the permission of the owners). Some of the doors opened only after some jiggling with the key in the locks—but they opened.
ABC-13 in Lynchburg, Virginia conducted a similar test. Not every car opened with the GM key, but enough did to convince them that the threat was real. They talked with a locksmith who said that the biggest risk is valuables stored in the car. Even though the key may open the door, it doesn’t mean the key will work in the ignition, which has more tumblers in the lock.
This is apparently not new information both to a lot of car owners who have made the discovery themselves and to thieves who prowl parked cars looking for things to steal. We even found that sets of GM keys are available on the Internet from sites that boast that the keys will open the majority of GM cars. Sets of keys are available for Fords as well.
The bottom line is to avoid leaving valuables in the car and to make sure you have some kind of an alarm system that would prevent any thief from getting away with a break-in, according to the locksmiths.
Updated 11-15-07