We three keys unlock Megan's car

(Please tell me you sang my post title to the tune of "We Three Kings!")

I have had my car for nearly 12 years, and it wasn't new when I got it. In recent years, my key (#1) stopped opening the passenger-side door and trunk, but since it still worked in the driver-side door -- the door I use the most anyway -- I didn't stress too much about it. It was annoying, but not overly so.

However, about two weeks ago, the lock on the driver-side door started resisting. The key went in, but it took some effort to get it to turn!! It would take me five or more minutes to pry that #1 sideways and finally open the door. I'm sure more than one person thought I was breaking into the car -- one guy actually asked me outright, but since he was a friend-of-multiple-friends he was kind enough not to call the police.

I've been saving up money for home improvements and I didn't want to have to spend it on getting the stupid, hateful, stuck locks replaced >:( This whole situation was so frustrating!

When the problem first started, I was afraid that #1 would break in the lock. It didn't, but it didn't take very long before it looked like this:

Obviously, #1 wasn't very useful in this state.

So, I started using the spare key (#2), but it didn't seem to work much better. On the advice of another friend, I decided to make a few copies just in case #2 bent, too. That friend also mentioned that the copies would be cheaper if I bought templates without the black plastic covering the end (illustrated above). With that in mind, I decided to borrow the spare key from my parents' house (#3) so that maybe the lock-copying guy would assume #3 was the kind of key I wanted.

I gave #3 to the lock-copier... and we immediately discovered that his 3D holo-dealie couldn't recognize it OR #2. With difficulty, I refused to see this complication as a sign. The manual process worked fine, and the copier told me to test the copy to make sure it was okay (since the holo-dealie wouldn't recognize it). With trepidation, I put the copy from #3 in the lock... and it turned more easily than it had in weeks! I gleefully ran back into Home Depot and requested more!

I'm sure many of you have guessed by now that it was the key -- not the lock -- that had been my problem all this time. I don't know why I didn't think of that before. Well, maybe I did, but since #1 was the original key -- the one that had seemingly worked fine for 12 years even when the locks seemed to fail -- I assumed it was the right one! We took a closer look at #2 and #3 side by side. #2 was copied from #1. It was obviously worn down; REALLY worn down. It makes a little more sense now why #1 would sometimes fall out of the ignition while I was driving. Wow.

It's pretty amazing to me that I chose to make the new copies from #3 -- one that had seen far less action and was intact -- before I even knew the key was the problem. I am so grateful for that tender mercy, and that I don't have to replace the locks on my car. The key I'm now using works brilliantly in all of the locks! ... Well, the driver-side still sticks a little and takes a minute to jimmy, but hopefully that resolves itself in the next few days.

Just goes to show that the simplest solution is probably the best one... at least in a situation like this! Next time I'll try the obvious correction instead of immediately assuming the complicated and expensive one.

Another crisis averted!

Just need to remember to give my parents' copy back to them :P