Here’s an “emergency” that may not be dangerous, but certainly can be exasperating!
If you tend to be feather-headed and leave the keys in your car fairly often, you may be tempted to hide an extra key somewhere on the vehicle. However, I must warn you that unless you’re very clever about where you hide it, you may be inviting someone to steal your car or its contents. Those little magnetic boxes that stick to the metal surface of the body or frame are
the best bets here, but be sure to place your box in an obscure and hard-to-reach area where it can’t jiggle loose and fall out. I leave the choice of area up to you — if I publish a list of suggestions, the Car Thieves of America will nominate me for their annual Helpful Dummy Award! Be imaginative. Struggling a little to reach that extra key is better than giving the car away easily. And don’t hide your house key with it. You don’t want to give everything away, do you?
Assuming that you’ve decided not to risk hiding that extra set on your car, here’s how to get in without a key:
If you have the old-style door locks with little buttons that go up and down,
obtain a wire coat hanger, straighten it out, and bend the end of it into a little hook. Insert it between the rubber molding and the side window or vent window and then, carefully, with the dexterity of a jewel thief, hook it around the door button and pull it up.
If you or your auto manufacturer has had the foresight to replace these buttons with the new, smooth kind,
your vehicle has less of a chance of being stolen, but you will have a harder job getting into it without a key. You may be able to use the hanger to hook one or to push the gizmo near the door handle, but most of them will straighten out your hanger before they condescend to budge. Sorry!
If you’re in a parking facility or near a service station,
the attendants often have a gadget called a “jimmy” that can be slid between the window and the door and used to operate the locking mechanism. It certainly doesn’t hurt to ask. If they have one, ask them to do the job for you and be generous with your thanks. They’ve just saved you a lot of time and money.
If you call a locksmith,
you’ll have to prove that you own the vehicle before any work can be done, and you’ll probably also have to pay immediately. (Let’s hope that you didn’t lock your wallet in there along with your keys.) If your key is lost outside your car and your steering wheel locks, the locksmith may have to dismount the steering wheel and remove the lock — this can cost you lots of money, plus time and aggravation, before you can drive off again.
There’s good news, however. Each car key is coded by the auto manufacturer, and if you have the key code number, a locksmith can make you a new key as long as you have identification and can describe the vehicle in terms of its vital statistics. General Motors car keys have little coded tags that you knock out of the key and keep; other U.S. cars come with little metal tags with the number on them; and most foreign carmakers engrave the number right on the keys.
As a valuable favor to yourself, write down the code number where someone at home can read it to you in an emergency. Also record it — without identifying what it is — in your pocket address topic or in your wallet before you lose your keys. If you don’t know the code number for
your keys and you bought the car, new or used, from a dealer, the dealer may still have the number on file. Failing that, a good locksmith may be able to analyze a key in fairly new condition and come up with the proper code for it.
If you happen to lock yourself out of the car while you have the trunk open,
you may be able to move the rear seat out of the way and gain access to the rear of the car (or you can hide an extra ignition key in the trunk).
If you get totally freaked out and decide to break a window, break the little vent window,
if you have one. It’s cheaper to replace, and sometimes the latch breaks before the glass does.
If you have to break the glass, wrap something around your hand and use a stone or other heavy object. Keep your head away from flying glass, although most auto glass should be shatterproof. And don’t break a window that will interfere with visibility while you’re driving home to face the jeers of your family and friends.
