Locked Your Keys in the Car? What to Do and What It Costs

Updated September 2026. Written and checked by the technicians at Safe & Secure Locksmith, 4105 Macdonald St, Vancouver. Every figure below matches our published price list. Call 604-734-7233 for a quote before anyone is dispatched.

First, work out which problem you have

There are two, and they cost very different amounts. If you can see the keys inside the car, this is a lockout: the technician opens the door and you drive away. If the keys are genuinely lost, opening the door only gets you a car you still cannot start, and the job becomes a key replacement.

Tell us which one on the phone. It is the difference between a short visit and a longer one, and it lets us bring the right equipment the first time. The number is 604-734-7233.

Before you call, ninety seconds of checks

Try every door and the tailgate, because the one you did not try is unlocked more often than people expect. Check whether anyone else has a spare within driving distance. If your vehicle has a connected app, some manufacturers offer remote unlock from your phone, and it is free. And if you have roadside assistance through your insurance, a credit card or the manufacturer, lockout service is often already covered.

Do not use a coat hanger

The advice that circulates online was written for cars built before 1995. On a modern vehicle the door cavity contains the side-curtain airbag, the wiring loom for the window and mirror, the lock actuator and weather sealing. A wire pushed blind past the glass finds all of those.

We regularly see doors where a slim-jim attempt cost more to repair than several lockouts would have. The linkage on modern locks is shielded specifically to stop that technique working, so the attempt is both damaging and futile.

What it costs

A vehicle lockout is priced off the same sheet as the rest of our work: a $75 service call during standard hours plus the labour for the job. After 5pm labour starts at $150 and from 9pm to 8:30am it is $250 per hour. If the keys are lost rather than locked in, you are into key replacement territory: a programmed transponder key is $180 to $280, a proximity smart key is $280 to $420, and all keys lost starts at $180. The sheet is on the prices page.

How the door actually gets opened

Most vehicles are opened with an air wedge and a long reach tool. The wedge creates a small, controlled gap at the top corner of the door frame, and the tool goes through that gap to press the unlock button or lift the interior handle. Nothing enters the door cavity, nothing touches the airbag, and the door closes on its own seal afterwards.

Some vehicles are opened through the lock instead, by picking or decoding the door cylinder. That is slower and it is the fallback where the frame does not tolerate a wedge. On a small number of models with frameless glass, extra care is needed and the technician will say so.

Keys locked in the trunk

Common with hatchbacks and with people loading groceries. Most vehicles have a fold-down seat or a trunk pass-through that turns this into a normal door lockout. Where they do not, the trunk lock is picked or the release is reached from inside once the cabin is open. Say on the phone that the keys are in the trunk, because it changes which tools come out of the van.

Children and pets

This is the one case where you should not wait for a locksmith. A child or an animal locked inside a car in warm weather is an emergency: call 911 first. Interior temperatures rise far faster than people expect, and no lock is worth it. Tell the locksmith too if you have already called, because we prioritise the call, but emergency services come first.

Making this the last time

A spare key kept somewhere other than your pocket is the entire fix. With a working key present, a spare is a routine appointment rather than an emergency, and the price reflects that: the reasoning is in what a car key replacement costs. A magnetic key box on the vehicle is worth thinking about carefully, because it is also available to anyone who finds it, so use one that holds only a door key with no transponder.

If the keys are gone for good

Then the job is a key, not a door. We can cut and program a replacement at the vehicle, and depending on the platform we work from the key code or read the immobiliser directly. See can I get a new key with a VIN number, car key replacement, and emergency locksmith if it is the middle of the night.

Article history

Updated September 2026. This page now carries the material from the older essential locked keys in car services what you need to know for quick assistance article and the separate unlocking car door service guide, which covered the same job twice. One page, current prices, working links.