Now that was a new experience...
Offline In order to understand my story you have to know that my brother and I work at the same studio. Usually we have lunch together or go get lunch together and come back, since we also carpool to work. Today was different however. He had to come in late and due to the lost work hours he decided to work through lunch to make up for it. So he asked me to take his car to get us some food, and I had no problems with that.
So it's lunch time at work. I go to our usual spot park the car and go get his usual and something not so usual for myself to spice things up a bit. Things were quite normal until I went back to the car to go back to the office.
I don't usually memorize the exact parking spot I'm in, as I suspect most people don't, but rather just a general idea of the location. I went up to my brother's car, used my remote entry, opened the door, and got inside. Something wasn't right. I couldn't place it exactly, but something was suspiciously strange.
I inserted my key into the ignition and it didn't turn. Was the key broken? Did something happen to my ignition? Then I noticed a peculiar smell. It wasn't peculair because the smell was unfamiliar or bad. It was actually quite pleasant. Then scent of ocean breeze air refreshener. It was peculiar because my brother doesn't buy air refreshener for his car.
Then it hit me. The car I was in was cleaner, newer, and better designed. It wasn't my brother's car!
That was a bit of a shock. Worried that the actual owner of the vehicle might have watched me get into his car and thought I was trying to steal it, I promptly left the vehicle immediately and began searching for the proper vehicle which ended up being about two spaces down.
I left the parking lot without incident, but that was still a completely embarrasing situation. I wasn't sure what to think on the way out, except to wonder why someone with a very nice and clean car would choose to leave it in a parking lot unlocked. If someone did see me, I can only hope that they don't think I had any mischevious intentions. It wasn't a large parking lot, and I was in a small very populated shopping center where all the shops had large clear windows.
That was an entirely new experience indeed.
I need to eat my lunch since clearly, I'm not thinking straight today.
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That same thing happened to a friend of mine. He got in what he thought was his car (same model, year, and color) and actually started it with his key. Luckily he noticed it wasn't his car before he drove of with it.
I went to a friends house once and parked behind a car that the was the same model, year, and color as mine. It had the same first three letters on the plate.
After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him.
The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.
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This hasn't quite happened to me yet. The closest I've come is putting the key in the door only to find it doesn't work, with subsequent investigation determining that it wasn't my vehicle.
But I do recall hearing about an incident a year or two ago. No idea where it happened, and only that vague impression of when, but I do remember it. Someone was supposed to pick up a car. Whether it was a friend, neighbour, or family member, I don't remember. Anyway, the person used the key and took the car. They drove it 200+ clicks to where they were supposed to drop it off. Only the recipients could tell right away that it wasn't their car, so begin the long talks with police to figure out what the hell happened. In the end, charges were not filed, as it was obviously not intentional, and no damage was done.
I'm going by memory though, so I could have a few details wrong.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
I might be wrong about this, but I thought I remember reading somewhere that for every make and model car companies usually only have like 20 different key codes for the remote entry system. So I think it's more than possible to take someone elses car w/out realizing it.
"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan