Only on Nantucket: The Curious Case of the "Stolen" Mercedes

Leaving keys in expensive cars in areas where everyone drives the same 5 luxury models is oddly common in some areas like Nantucket. It’s really jarring seeing the reminders from police there when you come from somewhere like NYC.

Reminder that the US is a blend of high and low trust societies existing in geographical proximity.

My parents still leave the door unlocked when they are home, especially if they are expecting anyone. Haven’t rung their doorbell in 25 years.

Meanwhile my condo with lobby staff, self closing & locking doors, many security cameras, etc has had break-ins and robberies ..

Happened to me in the '80's. '71 Buick Skylark. When we went to lunch, our receptionist asked us to drive her Buick as it "was making funny noises." We found it in the 5 storey carpark, took it out and it drove fine. However, we got back rather late, and the carpark was full so we had to park it on the highest level. When we returned, I asked our receptionist, "I thought it odd that you had a St Christopher statue on the dash, I thought you were Baptist?" "No, I don't have a St Christopher on the dash," she replied.

Apparently we took the wrong Buick. The owner, we conjectured, was going to report it stolen since it was sitting 4 floors up on the exposed level.

Not knowing what kind of liability to which we were exposed, we kept it to ourselves.

When I was a kid in the 90s, a teacher in the school shut their car door with their key inside. It was late into the afternoon and the school was a ways out, so with no expectation that they could get service any time soon, other teachers started trying their own keys.

To everyone's surprise, out a car key from a totally different make and model worked. The details of that one instance are obviously fuzzy at this point, but if I had to guess, it might have been made possible thanks to the AutoLatina JV

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoLatina

Wait a minute. There were two G-wagens in the parking lot, one a 1985 model and one (based on the photo) much more recent. These are $100,000+ cars. The owner told the cops the keys were not left inside. Are we saying that a random ignition key from a 40 year old car can start a 21st century G-wagen?

The kids who jack Kias for Tiktok views may just have found a new hobby.

> especially at the downtown Stop & Shop. We're very aware of that: there's so many red Jeeps with the keys under the mat."

Guess I won't need to pay for a rental car.

Nantucket ... Nantucket ... Ooooch, back to 1990s ... clipper ... xBase compiler ... Nostalgia ... Sorry, excuse me ! ;-)

Now the great question is how come the same key is working with a different car ignition!

And there isn't a reply for that in the article!

Ha, I've "stolen" a rental company BMW in a similar-ish way, basically we turned up to the rental company at an airport in Spain, they threw the keys my way and said the car is a BMW 2 series and it's outside their office. So I walk out and yep, there's a BMW Series 2 parked outside. Hopped in,pressed the start button, drove it to the hotel. Went for a quick swim in the hotel's pool, came back to about 30 unanswered calls from Hertz. They call me again and they go "oh sorry to bother you, just wanted to ask if you could check the number on the key for your BMW, we might have given you the wrong car". I told them the number, they said it's all good, sorry for bothering.

So I went for lunch, came back, another 30 missed calls from Hertz. They call again and ask we're really really really sorry but would you mind going to the car and checking the licence plate on the car. So I said ok, went to the carpark....and yep, it was different to the one on my key.

Turns out that the car right in front of their office was a car that was being prepared for cleaning and they left the key for it in the armrest, which is why it started when I jumped in. They must have pooped themselves when they noticed the car was gone lol. Fortunately they were really nice about it and someone from their office came to see us and brought us the right car. But I imagine the panic in their office when they realized the car is missing.

Survivorship bias perhaps but kudos to a car lasting 34 years in a marine environment. That is impressive.

Old Saab 900s had that issue. Pretty much any (same year or close) key would fit most other 900s.

Nan took it!

In my next life I might feel bad about rich people. Not now though.