It happens to the best of us – it’s a busy morning or a slip of the mind, before you know it, you’ve locked your keys in the car. If this is you, don’t fret! There are plenty of things you can do to regain entry. We’ve written a handy guide that breaks down different tools and approaches you can use – you can read it by clicking here.
If you’ve accidentally locked your keys in your car, you can try unlocking them yourself. The first part of this blog covers how to unlock your vehicle from the exterior.
If you have accidentally locked your keys in your vehicle, you may need to unlock your car yourself. A slim metal tool or a coat hanger, called a Slim Jim, can be used to unlock a car door.
Unlocking Your Vehicle Door From the Outside
A Slim Jim is a handy tool that you can use if you’ve locked your keys in your car and helps you access the inside of your car door from the outside. Although this technique requires a little more finesse, it can be handy if you’re careful and pay close attention to what you’re doing. If you are not careful, you could accidentally damage the wires inside your vehicle door or your weather stripping.
Step One – Making a Slim Jim Tool
You can make a Slim Jim by using either a coat hanger or a long, thin piece of metal. Begin by straightening the metal and forming a small hook shape on one end of the metal. This hook will eventually be slid into the door and is a key player in helping you unlock your car door!
Step Two – Inserting the Slim Jim
Since there are numerous wires in the driver’s door, it’s best to use the Slim Jim on the passenger’s door – this is an extra step that ensures you don’t cause significant damage to your car. Next, you’ll slide the Slim Jim between the weather stripping located at the bottom of the window and the window itself. Be careful during this step not to tamper with the weather stripping.
Step Three – Unlocking the Car
Use the hooked area of your Slim Jim tool to latch on to the lock inside your car door. The device that unlocks the car is below the locking pin; once the hook catches the locking pin, it will release – unlocking the door!
Gaining Entry Through Your Trunk
If your car has manual locks, then there’s a chance that the trunk won’t be locked even if the vehicle’s doors are locked. If the trunk is unlocked, there’s a chance that you’ll be able to gain entry through the it.
Step One – Opening Your Trunk
Once the trunk is open, look along the back to see if there is any way to gain entry to the car’s interior. You’ll need to look for a lever or a gap that you can push through to gain access to the backseat.
Step Two – Pushing Your Rear Seat Forward
Once you’ve found the lever, you can either push or pull it to lower the rear seats and gain access to the inside of the car. Sometimes, cars have an additional cable that lowers the seats when pulled – you can find it along the edges of the seats.
Step Three – Getting In Your Car
Now that you lowered the rear seats, you can crawl into the car through the trunk to unlock the doors manually! These techniques are an effective way to get into a locked vehicle; however, it can look suspicious. If the authorities approach you, remain calm and explain the situation – they will understand!
Pop-A-Lock Is Always Here to Help
The team at Pop-A-Lock has seen it all! We are always here to help – our experts have experience in many areas, especially car door unlocking. When in doubt, visit our website to make an appointment with our locksmiths to gain access to your vehicle.
We would never want to guide you to do anything that would harm you or your car, only use this guide at your discretion. Our team is happy to help and probably closer than you think – give us a call today!
