Cadillac XLR Owner Gets Trapped in Car After Key FOB Battery Fails

[Rob]

Peter Pyros of Cleveland, Ohio decided to take his rarely driven 2006 Cadillac XLR for a short drive to prep it before winter set in.

Unfortunately, when Pyros got in the car, and shut the door, the door locked, but the key fob battery was dead and wouldn’t unlock the door.

For nearly 14 hours, Pyros struggled to stay alive in the car in the 70 degree plus weather, passing out a couple times, but coming to only to continue struggling to get out of the car.

Punching and kicking the windows out didn’t work. Luckily, a next door neighbor heard him pounding on the car, jumped the fence and called 911. The emergency personnel tried several times to open the doors, but failed. They finally popped the hood and jumped the car, thus freeing Pyros from his prison.

“It was the most horrifying experience you can imagine,” he said Monday in a phone interview with The Washington Post. “I accepted, at some point, that this is how I’m going to die.”

Full Story on the XLR Net's Home Page

 

[graytoad]

Peter Pyros of Cleveland, Ohio decided to take his rarely driven 2006 Cadillac XLR for a short drive to prep it before winter set in.

Unfortunately, when Pyros got in the car, and shut the door, the door locked, but the key fob battery was dead and wouldn’t unlock the door.

For nearly 14 hours, Pyros struggled to stay alive in the car in the 70 degree plus weather, passing out a couple times, but coming to only to continue struggling to get out of the car.

Punching and kicking the windows out didn’t work. Luckily, a next door neighbor heard him pounding on the car, jumped the fence and called 911. The emergency personnel tried several times to open the doors, but failed. They finally popped the hood and jumped the car, thus freeing Pyros from his prison.

“It was the most horrifying experience you can imagine,” he said Monday in a phone interview with The Washington Post. “I accepted, at some point, that this is how I’m going to die.”

Full Story on the XLR Net's Home Page

Seriously..... It is true, most car owners have no idea about the releases, and even if they did know about them they can get 'flustered' due to the situation and can't think straight.

 

[cubby558]

Trapped for 14 hours......

He should have used that time to open the glove box and READ THE OWNERS MANUAL. He would have found out not only about the door releases, but could have slipped the dead fob into the slot and started the car. Some people shouldn't be driving these cars, the technology is beyond them.

Just watched the video attached and noticed he had a lawyer involved. Typical liberal, getting a lawyer involved to blame someone else for their own stupidity of not reading the manual beforehand.

 

[XLRATING]

GM sent out a warning/info letter after the guy died in the Corvette - guessing this guy didn’t read that either.

Wonder what he thought the plastic boxes on the floorboards with pictures of open car doors on them were for?

 

[long Tall Sally]

He should have used that time to open the glove box and READ THE OWNERS MANUAL. He would have found out not only about the door releases, but could have slipped the dead fob into the slot and started the car. Some people shouldn't be driving these cars, the technology is beyond them.

Just watched the video attached and noticed he had a lawyer involved. Typical liberal, getting a lawyer involved to blame someone else for their own stupidity of not reading the manual beforehand.

What magic fob will start a car when the battery is dead? Paper said fire dept had him open the hood and jumped the battery to get it to start. People do read things but forget when you don't use them in a short time after reading. The owners manual should be shortened to just the most important facts to keep in the glove box.

 

[rexster314]

I think the owner needs to drive the damn car till he knows what and how it operates. Not the car or GM's fault. It rests on his shoulders. I've never used the fob to open the door from the inside, however.

 

[cubby558]

The article I read above, says the fob battery was dead. You can still start the car with the fob in the slot in the glove box; even with no battery in the fob. Regardless, had he read the manual, he would have been able to get out of the car with the manual door release. Your last sentence makes me think you are another liberal, who is constantly looking for someone else to blame, instead assuming the blame for you own mistakes!

What magic fob will start a car when the battery is dead? Paper said fire dept had him open the hood and jumped the battery to get it to start. People do read things but forget when you don't use them in a short time after reading. The owners manual should be shortened to just the most important facts to keep in the glove box.

 

[long Tall Sally]

not political

The article I read above, says the fob battery was dead. You can still start the car with the fob in the slot in the glove box; even with no battery in the fob. Regardless, had he read the manual, he would have been able to get out of the car with the manual door release. Your last sentence makes me think you are another liberal, who is constantly looking for someone else to blame, instead assuming the blame for you own mistakes!

No wonder so many people that know about cars are leaving this forum. People are so negative. We should be glad a fellow owner is not dead like the corvette guy. People comment before they have all the facts or half read them and then want to make political statements. If you will research the article you will see that the rescue squad was able to get him out by having him open the hood and they jumped the car with cables. He said he tried to install new batteries in the FOB that he had in the car but that was not the problem . from the article
[h=2]An investigation[/h]

Pyros' car could not be opened using the fire department's usual crowbars, so a fireman instructed Pyros to pop the hood, he said. Then, rescuers jumped-started the engine, opened the doors and freed Pyros. He spent the night in the hospital recovering

So I guess you would never Blame Gm when your Corvette starts having issues like so many have?
​

 

[Mark0polo]

That's a Long Time...

Wasn't the car's dead battery equally complicit in this event? I've always wondered why some owners don't keep their manuals in the glove box. I wouldn't drive 10 feet without the manual OR my emergency trunk access key. It would be interesting to know how long he owned the car; sad story though.

 

[Popbigguy]

It's a wonder he knew how to open the hood!!!!

Edit: And it's a pretty poor fire dept. if they couldn't get into the car with "crowbars". Makes me wonder how they save people in wrecked cars??

Edit #2: If the FOB was dead...... How did he get into the car?

 

[Smoothran]

The lawyer is because people win cases like these. The person that sued McDonald's because of the hot coffee. The person who sued and won a case for falling off the top rung of a ladder which clearly stated do not stand on top rung. The person that sued the tobacco company after smoking for years. Opportunity to make $$$$.

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

 

[Rob]

Below are photos of the emergency door release lever on the driver side:

 

[onalaska]

Rob, good idea to show a picture of the emergency release in case someone hasn't yet read the manual. Man, that's one dirty XLR though and look they still put a paper floor protector down anyway!

XLR and Corvette aren't the only cars that work this way. My new Tesla Model 3 also has electric door latches and the emergency release is located in the door armrest. Not obvious unless you read the manual. Duh!

 

[XLRATING]

Makes me wonder - in one story he said the owners manual was in the house, in another he said it was in the car but it was too steamy to read it. Also has given different stories about the fob & the batteries in it/extra batteries in the car.

In any event, good reminder to learn about your vehicle. Made sure my kid as a passenger knew about the manual door release too, in case something happened.

 

[Thunderbuck]

I think any seller is obligated to demonstrate this to a new buyer.

 

[Quinn]

The article I read above, says the fob battery was dead. You can still start the car with the fob in the slot in the glove box; even with no battery in the fob. Regardless, had he read the manual, he would have been able to get out of the car with the manual door release. Your last sentence makes me think you are another liberal, who is constantly looking for someone else to blame, instead assuming the blame for you own mistakes!

Ya know, Cubby - sometimes, if you're out with your girlfriends, and you've had a nice lunch, at say a club in Sebring during race week, when you get back into a car, you JUST MAY forget how to start it or get back out of it. That's when you need a guy with the Cadillac app on his phone. It can happen... Isn't that right, Supa?

 

[cubby558]

And that is why I don't like anyone driving my cars!!! If you can't figure it out, you shouldn't be driving!!!, Supa included!!!

Ya know, Cubby - sometimes, if you're out with your girlfriends, and you've had a nice lunch, at say a club in Sebring during race week, when you get back into a car, you JUST MAY forget how to start it or get back out of it. That's when you need a guy with the Cadillac app on his phone. It can happen... Isn't that right, Supa?