Locked your keys
in the car?

Most lockouts happen the same way. The key goes down on the seat or into the boot while the other hand is full, a door shuts, and the car locks itself. It is not carelessness; modern cars are designed to do exactly that.

First, is anything inside?

If a child or an animal is shut in the car, that changes everything. On a warm day the inside of a car heats up far faster than people expect, and waiting for a locksmith is the wrong answer.

If the only thing inside is the key, there is no rush, and the next few minutes are worth spending on the checks below.

Three things to check first

1. Every door and the boot. Cars often lock the driver’s door and leave another unlocked, and some boots open independently. Walk round and try every one.
2. A spare key. Who has one, and how far away are they? A spare twenty minutes away is quicker and cheaper than any locksmith.
3. The fob, if it is keyless. A car that will not unlock with the key in your hand is usually a flat fob battery, not a lockout. Most fobs have a hidden blade inside for exactly this.

If none of those work, it is a genuine lockout, and it is worth knowing what not to do next.

Two things that make it worse

Both are well-meant, and both regularly turn a seventy-five pound job into a much bigger bill.

• A coat hanger or a slim jim. They worked on cars from the eighties. Modern doors have side airbags, wiring looms and deadlocks right where the wire goes, and it is very easy to damage one without opening the door.
• Breaking a window. Replacing a side window often costs more than we do, it takes days to get fitted, and it leaves the car open until it is. Unless someone inside is in danger, it is almost never the cheapest way in.

What happens when we arrive

First we check that the car is yours: photo ID and the V5C, or something else linking you to it. That step matters more than it sounds, because a locksmith who skips it is the reason cars get taken.

Then we open it by working the lock rather than forcing it. On most cars that takes minutes rather than an hour, and the car is left exactly as it was. The price is the one you were given on the phone, and there is more about lockouts here.

Stopping it happening again

• Get a spare made while you still have a working key. It costs a fraction of a replacement, and it is covered on the spare keys page.
• Keep the spare somewhere a person, not a drawer, can reach you from.
• Change the fob battery once a year, before it becomes the reason you are stuck.

And if it does happen again, ring. It is a normal Tuesday for us and nothing to be embarrassed about.