"Bring this key to your dealer...

[Kestas]

... If it fits the car, you win..."

I forget what the rest of it said. I checked the key attached to the flyer, and sure enough, after looking at the edges, it was made from stamped steel. If it was a cut key, I would probably make the trip. Do people fall for this?

Now I have to break off the plastic and put the key into the steel recycling bin.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Haha I just got one of these too It`d be funny to go shove it into a car`s ignition and be like,"Hey,it fit`s!" Haha

 

[Brule]

It's amazing what people will fall for since they often think with emotions.

 

[NHGUY]

Those dealership promos are big business.They have companies set up just for that very thing.They charge the dealership a flat amount(thousands) and then they make it look like the dealer themselves personally sent it out to you.The Key May Fit promo,the Key May Fit the Safe Promo,the Check in the Mail promo.....all scams to bring in foot traffic,and hopefully fleece the public on their trade ins and maybe even witholding any potential dealer incentives.

 

[Propflux01]

All of the keys are the same too, last time they had one of those sales here I looked at several of the ads mailed to various friends and all the keys were the same!

 

[GSCJR]

I remember seeing this promo in Italy around 1985 when I was about 10 years old. A friend of the family ran a Renault dealership and I could already tell at that age that the keys were fake. They looked like plastic keys. He drove a nice car, a Renault 25. I remember the car would talk, at 10 years old, that was cool, but it certainly was not KITT.

 

[WiskyBadger]

I like the ones that are scratch tickets. Scratch to see if you won a car! Yea ok

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
... If it fits the car, you win..."



A nearby Ford dealership has been doing this for over 25 years and I still get about 2-3 of these "keys" every year.
I'd like to take the key into the dealership and pound it into the ignition tumblers with a hammer.
"Hey dealership owner, my key fits! Sign the title over to me now, please!"

 

[Errtt]

I didn't get a key ;>(
One of my vehicles (now gone), besides two sets of keys & fobs, it also had some plastic emergency key to keep in a wallet. I never did try it. Being plastic, who know how much wear (shear) using it would have caused. Although sort of flat and semi-hard plastic, it did out last a couple wallets.

 

[GreeCguy]

I've gotten one of these every day this week - I give them to my grand daughter so she has a "key ring" like mama.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: Kruse
I'd like to take the key into the dealership and pound it into the ignition tumblers with a hammer.
"Hey dealership owner, my key fits! Sign the title over to me now, please!"


Reminds me of the Seinfeld where they bring in a bag of cement mix to a laundromat and fill up the washing machine with it. After the owner ticked them off for some reason. And a cloud of dust forms when their pouring it in.

 

[cchase]

The last one we got had the odds of winning the car at 1 in 25,000, the odds of winning $500 at 1 in 25,000, winning $100 at 1 in 25,000, and the odds of winning $3 in gold coins at 24,997 in 25,000.

I chuckled when I read the whole thing.

 

[cpayne5]

A local guy won a car this Spring. Here is an article about it...
http://www.fauquiernow.com/index.php/fau...ns-man-wins-car

From reading the article, it doesn't sound like the winning key was a key that would unlock the doors or start the car, but rather had the right numbers on it.

"Dealership employees checked the number on Mr. Utterback’s key. It matched the winning digits."

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: cchase
The last one we got had the odds of winning the car at 1 in 25,000, the odds of winning $500 at 1 in 25,000, winning $100 at 1 in 25,000, and the odds of winning $3 in gold coins at 24,997 in 25,000.

I chuckled when I read the whole thing.


I actually collected a number of those free $1 "gold coins". It was for my son's collection. They were literally giving away money.

I don't get them anymore for some reason.

 

[cchase]

I actually seriously considered getting the free $3 but when I figured it would probably cost me $4 in gas to get there, I decided it was still a bad deal. Not to mention the calling lists I probably would have had to sign up for in order to get the money.

 

[otis24]

Read the fine print. "Chances of winning the (insert big price here) are one in a gazillion". People see this, look at their neighbor's flyer that says the same thing, and they both think they have won the big prize.

I've had people drive from 200 miles away. I tried to warm as many as I could. "if you have no interest in buying a car, don't come". Our phone conversations were randomly recorded and I could have been fired.

Problem is, some people never learn. I've had the same people come year after year and they leave with their $3 set of Tupperware. You would think they would get the point. Our sister store had a "sale" and sent out flyers and were doing a hot dog feed as well. Had two old couples travel together from ninety miles away. "Is this the place doing the hot dogs". "No, that is our other store in Winner (another 50 miles away)." They get in their car and drive another fifty miles for their "free" hot dog. Probably was the most expensive hot dog on the planet.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: cchase
I actually seriously considered getting the free $3 but when I figured it would probably cost me $4 in gas to get there, I decided it was still a bad deal. Not to mention the calling lists I probably would have had to sign up for in order to get the money.

I stopped there on my way home from work, I drive by a row of dealerships. I collected from about all of them at some point. I think if you collect once, they stop sending from a given brand (deadwood). The funniest thing was as soon as they looked at my car, no one was trying to sell me another.

 

[The_Jeff]

When I get the key thing it's in a flyer with a few other yokel traps:

-- The scratch off doohickey
-- 2 of 3: New Porsche, 2 night cruise (must buy airfare), $1 milllion scratch ticket
-- the fake check for $1975 that's any amount between $1 and $2000 "towards your next car"

What gets me is if someone figures out one of the things in the flyer is shenanigans, they then believe one of the other three.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I may hit a few tomorrow...not because I expect to win (though there's supposedly a "1 in 5" chance to win a free oil change from either the Honda or Toyota dealer), but more because it's an excuse for a motorcycle ride.

 

[demarpaint]

In 2001 I was working at a Kia Suzuki dealer and we had one of those promos, it was the real deal. A woman won a 2001 Kia Rio, she didn't have two nickles to rub together. She was Pizt when she found out she had to pay tax on the car, and needed to take a loan to pay it. LOL