One habit I have is to lock the car while its warming up and using my remote to unlock it. While this works with my Dodge Caravan, this technique does not work with the Escape's remote as I painfully discovered. I had to get the autoclub to unlock the vehicle for me (vehicle idling while I was waiting). The remote works only when the ignition is in the Lock mode (as per the manual which we know we all read "grin").<br>I hope Ford's anti-theft system works well, because opening a locked Escape is amazingly simple.

I have found with a clothes hanger and anywhere between 2 minutes and 10 minutes I have been able to unlock a number of cars by sliding it down the window and finding the lock mechanism. I haven't learnt this because I have led a life of crime, but rather through my own and others similar mistakes of locking ones keys in the car.<br><br>It's worked everytime so far.<br><br>Gary