Latest news with #carkeys
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
Urgent warning to drivers as scientists reveal essential car item is RIDDLED with germs
We toss them into bags, shove them in our pockets and drop them down the sides of seats. But although we barely give them a second thought, car keys are riddled with infectious germs, a new study reveals. Experts at Money Supermarket reveal car keys contain almost four times more bacteria than mobile phones and computer keyboards. What's more, a third of drivers have never cleaned their car keys, despite a quarter on average having owned them for over five years. The steering wheel, gearstick and dashboard are known to be high-touch areas of the car harboring bacteria, previous research has shown But until now, the car key's tendency to spread microscopic bugs may have been overlooked. 'Washing our hands, wiping down surfaces, scrubbing our bathrooms are common cleaning tasks,' the experts say. 'But what about those small essentials we handle multiple times a day, like our car keys? 'They're with us everywhere, from restaurant tables to gym floors, to the depths of our bags, but they're often overlooked when it comes to cleaning. The researchers at Money Supermarket surveyed 2,000 motorists in the UK on their key cleaning habits and their type of car. A small proportion of the respondents also had swabs from their car keys submitted for lab analysis at Microbe Consulting Ltd, led by director Dr Joe Latimer, a microbiologist at the University of Salford. For comparison, a toilet seat – typically a household item with high bacterial contamination – was also swabbed, along with a phone and a computer keyboard. Overall, phone screens had an average bacteria count of 66, while the computer keyboard had a slightly higher average of 68. Car keys, meanwhile, had 241 bacteria on average – nearly four times more bacteria than the phone or computer keyboard. Unsurprisingly, the toilet seat by far had the highest bacteria count (1,100). But the experts fear that the amount of bacterial contamination on car keys is underestimated. If you haven't cleaned your car keys, a quick wipe down can help get rid of any unwanted bacteria (file photo) How to clean your car keys To clean your keys, use a soft, damp cloth and a mild soap solution. For stubborn dirt or grime, use a toothpick or cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to clean crevices and between the keys. But do not use bleach. Modern car keys, especially key fobs (the small electronic devices usually connected to a key) contain electronic components and circuits. Bleach, a strong chemical, can corrode or damage these components, leading to malfunctions or complete failure. It's also important to not submerge the keys into water, as again this can cause issues with any electronic components and circuits. Source: Money Supermarket The most common bacteria species on car keys was Staphylococcus epidermidis, a natural resident of human skin. S. epidermidis is normally harmless for healthy people but it is a major cause of life-threatening infections after surgeries in hospitals. The bacterium is becoming increasingly dangerous due to 'antibiotic resistance' – where bacteria evolve to become immune to substances designed to kill them (antibiotics). While a lot of the bacteria were skin-based, researchers also found that one of the keys tested showed signs of bacteria that may have originated in the gut. 'While unlikely to pose a problem, they can have the potential to carry disease under the right conditions,' said Dr Latimer. The experts advise regularly using a soft, damp cloth and a mild soap solution to wipe down car keys, but to avoid using bleach, which can corrode or damage metals parts. It's also important to not submerge the keys in water, as again this can cause rusting or issues with any electronic components and circuits in key fobs (the small electronic devices usually connected to a key). Drivers are paying hundreds of pounds for key replacements – more than £900 in the case of one Fiat owner – although this is usually because they're lost or misplaced. One in six (15 per cent) of drivers don't have a spare set of car keys – leaving them stranded when they can't find them. When it comes to car brands, Fiat drivers are the most likely not to own a spare set, with 27 per cent revealing they only have one set, followed by Land Rover drivers (23 per cent) and Toyota (20 per cent). The research also found that 57 per cent of BMW drivers clean their car keys weekly or more often – more than any other car make. This was followed by 55 per cent for Mercedes-Benz drivers, 46 per cent for Land Rover, 43 per cent for Audi and 41 per cent for Toyota. The full results of the study have been published on the Money Supermarket website. From muddy boots, sweet wrappers and used wet wipes, dumping your rubbish in your car may seem like a harmless thing to do. But scientists reveal that the inside of your car is dirtier than the average toilet, and is home to a thriving community of harmful bacteria. The researchers, from Aston University, took samples from car interiors with 'varied ownership histories', to establish bacterial contamination levels. Overall, the car boot had the most bacteria, followed by the driver's seat, the gearstick and the back seat. But all six points swabbed within the cars were shown to have more bacteria than dirty toilet seats, they found.
Motor 1
a day ago
- Automotive
- Motor 1
Toyota Salesman Finds Thousands of Dollars of 'Missing' Keys. Now He's Exposing Dealerships for Failing to Give Buyers the Spare
A car salesman is calling out his fellow salespeople for not giving car buyers both sets of keys with their purchase. As proof, he shows the purported back room of a Toyota dealership. There are dozens of keys on a desk in the room. He claims these are all keys that go to cars that were already sold and says this is a direct result of the dealership dropping the ball on customer service. Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . TikTok account Cars 4 Sale (@toyota4sale) is purportedly run by a Toyota salesman. In a video posted June 16, he shows viewers a desk covered in key fobs. All the keys appear to be for Toyotas. 'What happens when the salesperson won't do their job and check for a spare key for the customer?' he says. 'This is what happens.' Next, he explains the significance of what the audience is seeing. 'We end up with thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of keys,' the salesman says. 'There's even a key for a 2024 Toyota RAV4 Limited.' He attributes these 'missing keys' to a very specific cause: Lazy or negligent salespeople. 'There's no salesperson to give the keys to the customer. It's amazing,' he says. 'Just because they forgot to check or they don't want to check.' His post has nearly 215,000 views as of Monday morning. Do You Really Need a Spare Set of Keys? A missing second key is potentially problematic for a couple of reasons. The first is financial. A new car key can cost up to $1,000, depending on the make and model of your vehicle. Car owners have also expressed concern that the second key could get stolen or misplaced and later used to steal the vehicle. This would require the would-be thief to not only have access to the second key, however, but also to be able to track down the vehicle. Not having a spare could also strand you if your first key's battery dies or if it's lost or misplaced. That's why car owners generally prefer to have at least one spare. The difficult truth when buying a used car is that you may not always get two keys. That's because the car might've come into the dealership without a spare. If you're concerned someone may use a missing key to access your vehicle, you can ask the dealership to deactivate the lost key fob remotely. In the event the dealership can't or won't deactivate the key, you can also contact a locksmith to reprogram the codes that allow the fob to start the vehicle. An Expensive Mistake or a Money-Making Scheme? Trending Now 'I'm Absolutely Doing This:' Arizona Man Shares Little-Known Sunroof Trick to Stay Cool. Then He Slides It Open to Show Off 'Thought I Was Doing Him a Favor:' Woman Tries to Tow in Husband's Ram Bighorn. Then She Makes a Common Mistake One person who commented on Cars 4 Sale's post accuses dealerships of having a nefarious reason for retaining one set of keys: So they can charge the customer for a new one. 'And it's totally intentional so they can charge $600 for a new key,' they wrote. If true, this would be a sneaky way to make a buck. Edmunds reports that costs for replacing a basic key fob range from $50 to $100. For more expensive keys, such as a smart key, AutoZone says the costs can be as high as $1,000. Still, it doesn't seem overly likely that a dealership would run a racket of keeping one just to charge a customer for a replacement key. It's arguably more likely that dealers end up keeping a set because staff either didn't know there was a second key, couldn't find it, or didn't bother to check, as Cars 4 Sale suggests. Viewers Weigh In Several people who commented on the post agree that the problem is with the dealership's system. 'All spare key should be with all the paperwork/books who's gonna look for keys like that no one,' one person said. A second person agreed that the blame is misplaced. 'Sounds like a management problem,' they wrote. A third said they don't leave a dealership without a spare key. 'I won't buy a used car without two keys,' they wrote. Some people offered solutions to the stockpile of keys at the Toyota dealership. One suggested, 'Mail them to the customers. Take the cost out of commission.' Motor1 reached out to Cars 4 Sale via TikTok for comment. We'll be sure to update this post if he responds. More From Motor1 'Never Knew This:' Honda Civic Driver of 3 Years Reaches for Key Fob. Then She Realizes It Has a Little-Known Feature Tesla Fails Cybertruck Owners Again, Cancels Key Upgrade 'Why I Hate New Cars': Man Tries to Replace a Headlight Bulb on His 2022 Toyota Corolla. Then He Learns Something Unexpected It Sure Looks Like GM Is Copying Lucid's Homework Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
