Ames Locksmith Service

Preventing Auto Lockouts

Who hasn’t locked themselves out of their car a time or two? If you drive long enough, chances are that this will eventually happen to you. This is an upsetting event in any motorist life.

This type of incident could leave anyone upset and irritated. Unfortunately, no one can predict when this might happen to them. Keys locked in cars are a common occurrence. The majority of service calls that we receive are from people who have locked their keys in the car. It’s nice to know that you are not the only person that this happens to. It is very easy to lock your key in the car. If you’re in a hurry or are distracted, you could easily jump out of the car and leave your key in the ignition. Keep reading this article because we are sure that it will come in handy at some point

You might not think that reading this is helpful right now but since this does occur so frequently, it certainly couldn’t hurt to read it. We would like to offer you some suggestions on how you might be able to avoid locking yourself out of your car. This is merely a guide; however, if you have your own unique way of remembering to remove your key from the ignition, perhaps including our suggestions would also be helpful. You might even be able to lend someone else in need a helping hand if you have successfully retrieve keys from inside a locked car before. When you plan ahead, you are less likely to become frustrated and do something unreasonable and unrealistic.

Tips from Our Locksmiths

Develop A Routine When Exiting Your Vehicle – Some people have told us that it helps them when they look down at their hand before jumping out of their car. What they are looking for is to physically identify that their keys are in their hands. When you create some type of routine, you may be able to avoid the possibility of leaving your keys behind. The goal here is to do something every time you get out of your car that will ensure your keys are in your hands, before placing them in your purse or pockets.

Get Your Locks Replaced – This is only if you notice that you have trouble getting into your car. This is a clear indication that your lock is damaged. If you continue to force it, the chance is that you are not only causing further problems with the lock but you could be damaging the key. If your car key is damaged and the lock, you’ll certainly require the services of a locksmith to fix both. We suggest you do this before the problem gets any worse. Even though you’ll incur some expenses, it will cut down on your level of frustration from dealing with a car door that you can’t unlock.

Stop Duplicating Keys – You might think that the first suggestion our locksmiths would make is to have a new key made. Nope! This could be the problem within itself. If you are not having your key made from the original key, it may not be cut correctly. This will leave you locked out of your car without access inside. You can avoid being locked out by having only the original key duplicated. Another good suggestion is to have the place where you purchased your car, provide you with an extra key. This can be helpful when you’re locked out, as long as you leave it with someone who is responsive and who will bring you the key when you need it.

Make Sure Your Keys Are With You – Instead of handing over your keys to someone else, keep them with you. Since you have likely developed some type of routine to prevent losing your keys or locking them in the car, it’s best that if you need something from your car, you get it. You might send someone else and they may sit the keys on the seat or drop them, without realizing it. With a routine, you’ll quickly know that there is a problem and will respond so that you do not lock your keys in the car.

You should also consider only taking your keys out when you are right in front of your car or when you are about to open the door. It is very easy to lay your keys down and forget to pick them up. If you go to the store and have your keys in your hand, you could very easily sit them on the counter to remove your wallet. It happens before you realize it. When you arrive to your car, you likely do not even remember the last time you saw your keys, now you’ll have to retrace your steps. You can avoid this by only taking your keys out when you are headed to your car or standing in front about to open the door.

Spare Keys

We’ve already suggested that you have a set of spare keys and we understand that this will not prevent you from locking the keys in the car; it will keep you from being locked out for too long. Again, it is very important that you only give your spare car keys to someone who is reliable. You wouldn’t want to hand over your spare keys to someone who travels frequently or simply can’t deliver your keys to you when you need them. They may not even be around for someone else to pick them up and deliver them. Choose whomever you pass along your spare car keys to, wisely, to avoid being locked out for too long.