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-   -   Ever locked a car with the keys inside? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/21251-ever-locked-car-keys-inside-21.html)

It's more complicated. The other day, I got in the car, closed the door, hooted the horn in case of unseen cats under the car --- and as soon as I hooted the horn, the doors locked.

Please don't tell me I have a dying CPU, which would be the biggest dread! I don't think so, and I suspect it just needs a reset. The battery change also stopped the auto-up/down windows working, and removed the speed beep. The beep I was glad to get rid of; the windows, I followed the internet instructions. But some other settings may have got lost.

Except that the doors do, as they should, lock at 15-20kph.

Ever locked a car with the keys inside?

Yes! Today!

We were at a wedding, and it was all over bar the lunch. I put my camera in its bag in the boot of the car and shut it. Only to realise that I left they keys inside too.

I had used the quick-boot-unlock button: it does not unlock the doors, and the boot immediately locks again when shut.

Went back to my wife and said, "I've done something very stupid! Keys locked in car. I need to take your keys home to get the spare key." We were not far from home, it would have taken only 20 minutes round trip. But her reply shocked me: "I left my keys inside the car today."

Our FNG said he can open some cars but not mine; VW Service said they could send someone from the far north of the city. We called various people, who offered various help, but all some time away.

We called a local auto driver to go to a lock shop to see about getting into our house. We struck gold. The guy said, "I cannot open that make of house lock, but I can get into your car!"

















For Chennai residents, This guy has a first-floor shop very near to Thiruvanmiyur Market: Murugan Keyshop. He says Google knows about him.

Other locksmiths/garages/car thieves (;)) may offer this service. I'd seen it done on youtube, even just using thick wire and wedges, but the magic pneumatic-bag thingie makes all the difference.

I believe if you have the start/stop engine button then chances of you locking your key inside is zero, that's why I always keep my keys in my pocket. Also if you are a car thief, don't read this article - Jeremy Clarkson

Sure. I would not have even needed to take my keys out of my pocket, let alone had the chance of putting them down inside before closing the tailgate, I can see the advantages. But many of us have old-technology cars

I had gone to a nearby restaurant to pickup breakfast and just had to pickup a ready parcel. I locked my car along with its keys inside. Now that's now really alarming, isn't it? But imagine locking your 2 year old child as well in the same car with all windows rolled up!

I was really worried that if I don't get help ASAP, the only option was to break the window glass. Luckily the guy from hotel helped me open it by inserting a really long scale.

I think this is the professional way to open a locked car door under such circumstances with a inflatable bag to prevent any damage. If it was a thief or the police towing people they would not have thought twice before inserting metal scales etc under the door. Did you by any chance try to find out if those police towing vans were nearby? They would have happily obliged I suppose.

They are called Air wedges and they are used to align doors and windows for installation.

They are available in Amazon and I did pick one up since I accidently locked the car with the keys inside one time and the locksmith caused dents on the door frame trying to insert a long metal rod between the doorframe and the roof to hit the door open button on the door pad.

Yes I think so too. To get the initial small gap to insert the cushion, he used plastic wedges.
In this instance, he arrived with a zipped pouch containing the inflatable wedge, a couple of plastic wedges, and a multi-piece "fishing" rod. I think it had been sold for this purpose.
A neat thing to own (Might even want to align a door one day!) but knowing me, I'd keep it in the car! rl:

Or, more probably, in the house. And, that day uniquely, my wife had left her house keys in the car :Frustrati. Otherwise, the situation would have been fixed with just a 20-minute auto journey.

Further Post-Event Thought

Back in about 1989, our cars did not have the immobiliser chip. I used to keep a spare key in my wallet; just flat metal, no plastic top. As a company, we also had the habit of keeping a spare key in our desk drawer. We had a car-park section allotted to us, but it closed at night, so if someone was out on a call by public transport, a colleague would move the car out so it would not be locked in.

I'm going to look into having a copy/ies made, no transponder. I'll keep one in my bag. It would not start the engine, but that wouldn't matter if the key is inside anyway.

This was my first time for over thirty years. I'm not expecting it to happen again! But no harm in taking precautions.