GM Issues Words Of Caution Over Heavy Key Chains
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Easily lost in a purse and sometimes a pain in the pocket, our key rings are a necessary evil and sometimes a catch all.
While the Cobalt, HHRs and G5's may be in the spotlight, they aren't the only cars lugging around an overweight key ring.
"No matter what car you have, that doesn't do the lock cylinder any good with all that weight hanging on there," says Bob Bastone, of Bastone's Service in Shadyside.
"Over time, it's going to wear it out, the swinging around and the stress," added Tim Dietz, of Troubleshooters in Ross Township.
But the mechanics say it is big leap from wear-and-tear to shutting a car down when you hit a bump.
"Cars get jostled around an awful lot, and even in accident when you have head-ons, I've never heard of a key being turned off," said Dietz.
But GM put in its federal filing that customers should not have anything hanging on the car's key ring, except your car's clicker.
If you don't drive one of the recalled cars or even a GM product, you need to hear what a GM spokesman told Reuters. In fact, he took it way beyond just the cars that have been recalled, saying no car's ignition is immune from being pulled out of the run position if the key chain is too bulky or heavy.
"Like all other manufacturers they like to point to human error or blame it on something else; but essentially, it's a bad ignition cylinder lock," said Dietz.
The mechanics say the chances of this happening outside the recalled cars is slim to none, but if you are concerned, slim down your key ring to only the basics needed to operate your car.
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