Short answer: Try every door and any spare, then the metal blade hidden in a smart fob. If a child or pet inside is in distress or the car is warm, call 911 first. Otherwise leave the door alone: no hangers, no prying, no broken glass. An opening runs $79 to $129, and a missing key makes it a key job.
When you can see the key lying on the seat, the only problem is the door. Handle the next ten minutes well and the fix is small and quick, and it leaves no mark on the paint, the frame or the rubber seal.
This guide goes in the order that saves the most: free checks, the dead-fob workaround, a child or pet inside, what to leave alone, what an opening runs and how to tell when a lockout has become a lost key.
Free checks before you call anyone
Walk all the way around the car and try every handle: both rear doors, the hatch or tailgate, and the trunk button. A door a passenger shut without locking, or a window left down an inch, ends the problem for nothing. On a pickup, check the rear slider too.
Next, the spares. Someone at home with a spare key may be the quickest fix of all. On some newer cars, the carmaker's phone app can unlock the doors if the connected service is active. Roadside plans from car insurers, auto clubs and new-car warranties often include lockouts, so check that app and its wait time first.
A dead fob with the doors locked
A smart fob with a flat battery still carries a mechanical key. A slide or button on the fob's case frees a short metal blade, and on many cars the matching keyhole sits behind a plastic cover at the end of the driver's handle, with a notch underneath where the blade tip lifts it off. Turn the blade and the door opens.
The alarm may go off once the door opens and stops when the car starts. With a dead fob, starting usually means touching the engine start button with the fob, or setting the fob in a backup slot your manual points to. A new cell usually revives the fob; it is a few dollars at an auto parts store, or $20 to $45 fitted at the car.
If a fob with a fresh battery gets no response, the car battery may be flat. The blade still works because the lock is mechanical, and the hood release is inside, so the door comes first. A missing blade, or a lock seized from years without use, is the time to call.
A child or a pet inside
Call 911 first if a child or pet is inside and seems in distress, or if the car is warm. The dispatcher can send help and talk you through the wait, and that call comes before any call to a locksmith, ours included.
If it is cool and the child is calm, stay at the glass and keep talking. A child who can follow directions may be able to press the unlock switch on the front door panel; point to it and keep your voice easy. Rear doors may have the child lock set, which blocks the inside handle, so the front switch is the better target.
When you call us, say who is inside before anything else, then give the cross street and the car's color. Stay beside the car rather than leaving to look for help; call or wave someone over from where you stand.
What not to do to the door
Skip the coat hanger and the slim jim; they date from doors with a simple rod to the lock. A modern door holds the window motor, speaker wiring, latch cables and, on many cars, side airbag wiring, and a bar fishing in there can unhook any of them. The damage often shows later, when the door stops locking.
Do not pry the top of the frame with a screwdriver or a knife, and do not pull the rubber seal back to make room. A frame bent out of line lets in wind noise and rain, and a torn seal is a part to order and fit. Leave the keyhole alone too; a screwdriver forced into it can ruin the cylinder.
Unless someone's safety is at stake, leave the windows whole. Breaking one usually trades a small bill for a bigger one, plus glass in the seat tracks and a car that cannot be secured until new glass is fitted.
What an opening costs and what to have ready
An opening runs $79 to $129, quoted by phone first, with the trip to any spot in the county included. Open hours are 7 AM to 9 PM, Saturday and Sunday too, and an evening call costs what a morning call does. The van usually reaches you within 45 to 90 minutes, and nothing is paid, card or cash, until the door swings open.
Keep your license or state ID with you. Registration papers locked in the glovebox are fine; they get checked against your ID once the car is open. If the car belongs to someone else, mention that when you call.
Dealer service departments generally work on cars in their own bays, so getting a locked car in front of them takes a tow in the $125 to $200 range. How we open a door without harm is laid out on the car lockout page.
When a lockout is really a lost key
A lockout assumes the key is in the car. If you cannot see it through the glass and cannot say where it went, tell us on the call. We check your key type by VIN and quote the whole visit, a new key included, before the van leaves, so nothing at the curb comes as a surprise.
If the door opens and the key is not there, a new one gets cut and programmed right there. With no working key the spare-key price goes up $60: a transponder key lands at $185 to $259, a remote head key at $225 to $319, a smart key at $289 to $459. You hear the figure before anything is cut.
After the new key passes its test, we delete the missing one from the immobilizer at no added charge, so it becomes useless to anyone who comes across it. The whole process is on the lost car keys page.