My family and I went down to Bellingham, WA yesterday to buy some bargains at a mall and break-in my G. While we were at the border, the US customs border officer asked me to turn off the engine. After turning off the engine, the officer was kind of confused. He asked why I did not used the keys to turn off the ignition and to hand over the keys to him . I explained to him that I didn't need to do that because it's got an intelligent key which you can just put in your pocket while turning on/off the engine with just a push of a button. I then tried to get the keys from my front pockets. As I was doing this, I noticed he twisted his body and faced directly at me while putting his left hand on his gun holster . I was thinking and saying to myself, what the F#$% is wrong with this guy. Does he think I'm carrrying a gun with my wife sitting at the front and my 8 year old son sitting at the back reading his library books. And when I finally got the keys from my pocket and about to give it to him. He said that's okay. You can keep it. And I was thinking maybe he doesn't want to hold the key anymore because it looks something high tech for him. After that, he went around my G and looked (admired) at my car from front, sides and back and finally let us go.
And as I was speeding away, I think I heard him say .... "that's one nice car I would like to have"

 

hahaha sweet =)

 

You know how suspicious we are of Canadians with High Tech cars!
LOL.
Great story - I wonder why he even wanted you to shut off the engine in the first place?? I think he was looking to test drive the thing - then noticed you had a family in the car...

 

maybe he got intimated by the sound of the engine. that's why before I took off, I shifted the gear from P to N first and rev up the engine a little bit.

 

You can never be too careful when dealing with Canadians...

 

NEVER put your hands out of site or in your pockets or move quickly when talking to someone that is armed UNLESS you tell them in advance what you are doing.

 

How old was this guy? Sounds like one of those cavemen in the Geico commercials.

 

Was your BONG on the dash??

 

Well he asked for the keys and that's exactly what I did. I got them from my pockets as I was explaining about the intelligent key (that it's in my pocket and it does this and that ...). Maybe he's just being cautious or something.

 

He's probably a newbie. Looks like he's in his early or mid 20s.

 

When he asked for your drivers license you should have told him you think you left it in the "secret" compartment

 

haha thats awesome.

 

Funny story. Yup, the rule is to leave your hands in the steering wheel (though you did tell him it was in your pocket). Yeah, keyless ignitions are still fairly new. Sometimes, I worry when I go to a parking garage that are run by valets whether they'll know how to use them. At least it turns out not to be a problem in New York City when I visit - they're accustomed to the latest model cars.

 

Some enforcement personnel are such drama queens....

 

Strange, been through the border there several times in my G. Apart from being English and having to go in the office to get a new I94 every friggin time - no reaction.

But, as anyone who crosses that border knows - it's a crap shoot as to whether the person knows the latest rules and procedures or wants to interrupt your journey.