BIGBADDAD

This was a pretty good one, and I will pass on a little info. If you are ever at your in-laws (100 miles away from home) and you don't have your spare key, Don't...I repeat Don't let your son get your stuff out of the trunk. He went to get his clothes out of the trunk, he then shut the trunk. He came in and told me what had happened, so I went out and looked, the doors were locked and the alarm was set. After I was done throwing a fit, I called AAA, they arrived...laughed at me and told me how difficult this was going to be. First he tried to lift the trunk release, but I guess when the alarm is set it has no power going to it, next he hit the door lock switch (he had to time it perfect, because it only gives you a split second to pull up on the handle) and lo-and-behold the door opened and the alarm went off, and the whole neighborhood was checking us out. Now the keys are still in the trunk, the release button still doesn’t work so we have to run around and open all the doors, which will shut the alarm off (who knew), but it worked, the alarm shut off and we were looking at each other "like...what next". The AAA guy said "I got you in", have a nice day, and maybe you can go through the back seat...Im here to tell you, you can not go through the back seat, as a matter of fact if you want to keep something safe in you LS400...PUT IT IN THE TRUNK.
Here is what I learned****If you have one person disconnect, and reconnect the battery, and another person repeatedly pulling and releasing the trunk release (all the time the alarm is going on, and off, and on, and off) It will eventually give up and let you have access to your trunk.
I just thought I would share.
Have a great NEW YEAR!!!!
Mark

trukn1

LOL!!!! Amusing story you have here,, sorry it had to happen to you. This is one of those stories which remind me of the phrase "Never, EVER, challenge worse, because when you do, it will come and tap you on the shoulder and announch its' presence." Yes, I agree, putting stuff in the trunk is like sealing it in Fort Knox. You cannot go thru the backseat b/c that is where the gas tank is sitting. Hmm, didnt know that opening al of the doors while the alarm is going off would turnit off, interesting point. Was the button for the trunk release pushed in? My thoughts are, it still should have worked, maybe not with the alarm going off tho,, didnt know. Also, didnt know about the battery trick as well. Hmm,, kinda concerned about that one. Gives potential thieves just one more weapon in the quest to get into our cars. Good story though.

Thermactor

iTrader: (1)

great story, don't trust anyone other than yourself with the keys to your car. I had a similar episode.

BIGBADDAD

The button was not pushed in, or this would have been impossible, the trunk with the button pushed in would be near impossible to open...that was a crazy day, happy to be able to Joke about it, I hope you all have a great New Year.
Mark

gengar

It's a lesson to call a car locksmith who can create spare Lexus keys on demand. I had to do that once on my '97 under the same situation; friend "dropped" my keys in my trunk while getting something from it. Expensive, but seems a lot less noisy than your experience.

BIGBADDAD

I was ready to drive the 200 mile round trip, just to avoid having to call the locksmith.
Mark

damon

Can you reach back thru to the trunk if you remove the subwoofer & brake lamp assembly?

JDMCelsior

iTrader: (1)

I once left the key inside the car. As I was shutting the door, I realized the keys were inside so I can of stopped from shutting the door. Luckily, it didn't shut all the way and I was able to unluck it with a hanger. No damage at all. Stuff happens I guess. Good you were able to get your key out. careful next time folks!

LexLS

Yeah you could do that assuming there wasn't much stuff in the trunk. One of those craftsman magnetic pick-up tools with the light would have probably done the trick.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

damn, if i was able to get into the car i woulda just taken the trunk switch partially out and fed it some +12v to trigger the trunk release

gengar

Sad to say that even with today's gas prices that would still be a much cheaper option.

skperformance

iTrader: (6)

Reminds me of why i always keep my flat wallet spare on me for just those situations. As well as backing up the situation with an aftermarket alarm in case to release it.

BTW the bolts for the sub are under it so it can;t be removed. Even if it could you would have barely any actress to reach anything in that cavern.

If you know the keys are close to one of the sides of the car . You can go under it and in the corners it has the black vents on the left and right corners , punch that out and reach inside if it is going to be close.

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

Same here. I would have just bypassed the trunk switch. I've installed alarms in most of my other cars myself so I know it is easy if you know where to look. I haven't touched the LS though I maybe I should take a look at the wiring schematics now

Anyway, I haven't locked the keys in my car since remotes came out for OEM cars, or I have had aftermarket alarms installed. I always lock with the remote only, so I kind of need the key for that

Also, doesn't the alarm go off by itself after 1 minute? Obviously you can retrigger the alarm, but I believe by law it can only sound for 1 continous minute due to city/state eccessive sound laws.

Anyway, glad it worked out for you

CK6Speed

iTrader: (1)

One thing you could do is because cars have the manual trunk release tab within the trunk, you could extend that wire and fish it though the back seat. Maybe you can attach some sort of handle on it and keep it stuffed between the seat cushion out of view.

In the NSX community people did something like that. A lot of us put back up cameras in the key hole and relied on the electronic trunk release. Problem is if the solenoid fails that electronic trunk release will not work, and with no keyhole you are stuck. What people did was use a cable like the handbrake cable on bycicles, attached it to the actual latch, and ran that cable to a location in the engine bay (NSX the engine is in the middle so it is not that long of a run). Now, if the solenoid fails, just pop the engine cover and pull that wire and the trunk will manually open.

Rice

Sorry, but this makes no sense what so ever (unless you lock yourself inside the trunk )
The tab is used to manually release gas door and not the trunk.