- Contact your roadside assistance company (like AAA) or reach out to your insurance company to see if your policy includes help for these situations.
- Call local locksmiths to see who can come out the fastest and unlock your door for you.
- Do not hesitate to call 911 if a child or pet is locked in the car or you can’t access essential medication.
Who to Call if You Locked Your Keys in Your Car
Reach out to a locksmith. If you do not have any roadside services, your best bet is to contact a locksmith (choose a locksmith who specializes in cars, if possible). If it’s after 5 pm, you’ll likely need to call an emergency locksmith. What’s it going to cost? Expect to spend $60-120 to have them unlock your car. If you need an after-hours locksmith, expect to spend $150-300. How long will the wait be? The average wait time for locksmiths is 15-30 minutes, but depending on your area and who's available, it can take up to an hour. Don’t settle for the first locksmith you call if you don’t want to wait. Keep calling different locksmiths until you find somebody who can be there fast.
Call your roadside assistance company if you have one. If you pay for any kind of roadside assistance via AAA, Curbside, your insurance policy, or some other kind of subscription, this is exactly what you pay them for. Contact them, explain your situation, and they’ll send someone out. Don’t assume you don’t have roadside assistance, either! If you have time, pull up your insurance policy on your phone—assistance might be included in your premium. What’s it going to cost? Nothing. You already pay for the subscription, so there’s no additional cost. How long will the wait be? 20-60 minutes, but it varies based on where you live and how intense the demand is. According to some data, AAA tends to be the fastest, while Progressive and Geico take longer.
Contact your dealership if the vehicle is still under warranty. If you’ve recently purchased a new vehicle or you opted for a warranty on a used car, the dealership may send roadside service or a locksmith out for you. Call the dealer where you bought the vehicle to see if they can help—even if it has been a few years since you bought the car. What’s it going to cost? Nothing if the warranty covers you. How long will the wait be? It really depends on your dealership, but it shouldn’t take more than an hour if they’re diligent.
Call 911 if you locked a child, pet, or key medication in the car. This qualifies as an emergency. Do not wait. Contact emergency services and explain the situation. They’ll send a cop or tow truck professional who will get your car open ASAP. What’s it going to cost? It depends on where you live, but the odds are very high that this will be free. How long will the wait be? It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes for emergency services to show up. If it’s hot out and there’s any possibility that a baby or dog in the car will be injured, do not hesitate to break the window.
Get in touch with a dealership if you no longer have a programmed key. If you’re locked out and you’ve either lost the key or it no longer works (and getting into the car’s interior won’t really solve anything), call the dealership that sold you the vehicle. They’re the only ones who will be able to program a new key most of the time, and it’s legally questionable for locksmiths to cut car keys in a lot of states and cities. What’s it going to cost? Expect to spend $50-500 depending on how complex the key programming is. How long will the wait be? A day or two. You’ll have to go to the dealership yourself to actually pick up the key (unless the dealership has incredible customer service).
Call someone to bring you a spare key if you have one. People often forget about the spare keys sitting in the bottom of the sauce packet drawer in the kitchen, but if you’ve bought your vehicle in the past decade or so, you were probably given a spare key. Think back to where you might have left it. If you’re not in a rush, go get the spare key and use that to get into your vehicle. Visit your dealership to get a second key cut if you don’t have one. If the key is for an older vehicle and there’s nothing to program, a locksmith can duplicate your key for you.
How to Unlock Your Door if You Have a Key Fob
Use your manufacturer’s remote unlocking option if you have one. A lot of modern vehicles come with some kind of remote unlocking feature—either via their app or through some secondary service. Depending on your vehicle’s make and model, you may be able to open the doors without a key at all. Tesla: Use your phone app to unlock the car remotely (although it shouldn’t lock with the key card or fob inside to begin with). GM (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC): Call OnStar at 1 (888) 466-7827. You’ll need to pay a service charge if you don’t have a subscription, but they can unlock your vehicle if it has an OnStar button. Mercedes-Benz: Use the Mbrace app or Mercedes Me account. Mercedes also offers 24/7 roadside assistance if you call 1-800-367-6372 or 1-800-222-0100. Hyundai: Use the Blue Link app to unlock your car. It’s free for the first 3 years after buying your car, too! Toyota: Pull on the handle if you locked a fob in the car. Even if the car is locked, it should ping your key and unlock the vehicle once it realizes it’s inside. Ford: Use the FordPass app to unlock your vehicle remotely. Unfortunately, if you haven’t set this up ahead of time, you can’t do it from outside the vehicle. Unfortunately, Dodge, Honda, and Fiat don’t have any kind of remote access or app support.
Comments
0 comment