What You Should Do While Waiting for Car Rekeying – Part 2
Losing your car keys and not having an emergency copy can be a nightmare for any car owner. This nerve-wracking situation can later escalate into an expensive one because you’ll need to have your vehicle towed, pay for a new key, or miss out on school or work.
After determining which key you have, it’s time to find a solution to your problem. While it may be difficult to remain composed during this nerve-wracking situation, our locksmiths from Dallas put together six things to do when you misplace your car keys and have no spare copies.
1. Search the Immediate Areas
While it may be understandable to feel frantic, locksmiths strongly recommend keeping your composure to help you assess your surroundings properly.
Start by searching your immediate area again until you’re 100% sure you’ve lost your keys. Sometimes, you might’ve placed them somewhere else or need help to retrace your steps. For this reason, it’s also best to look in seemingly unlikely locations to help you save time and money.
2. Check inside Your Vehicle
If your car keys are outside the immediate areas, such as your home, office, or the restaurant you recently had dinner in, it’s time to check your car.
While there are different causes of car lockouts, forgetfulness is one of the leading causes. Sometimes, car owners forget their keys when they exit the vehicle only to find out that they left them inside.
3. Gather the Necessary Information
If you’re 100% certain you can’t find your car keys in the immediate areas and inside your vehicle, it’s time to call the professionals. However, you must gather all the necessary information for a locksmith or your local dealership, so they can help you get the correct key to operate your vehicle.
You’ll need to provide your locksmith or dealer with your vehicle’s make, model, year, and vehicle identification number (VIN), where you can access most of the essential information on your car’s insurance cards or the registration document.
If you’re locked out and can’t access these documents, call a professional to examine your car door lock so they can determine and make a replacement key.
4. Request a Replacement Key
After scoping your surroundings and providing the necessary information, you can ask your dealership or locksmith to create a replacement key. It’s best to call someone who can efficiently address your problem for free.
On the other hand, calling a locksmith works best if you have an older car because you can easily bypass the dealership and expensive costs. They’ll also give you a replacement key that doesn’t need programming since it works for an older model.
5. Consider the Costs
Next, you want to ask your locksmith to give you a durable key at an affordable cost. It’s easy to let your emotions control your reasoning, especially in a nerve-wracking situation like losing your car keys and forgetting how reliable things are.
While we recommend exploring more budget-friendly options, you must always remember that you need a durable and functioning key.
6. Request for a Spare Key
You may want to invest in a spare key after deciding on a reputable locksmith or car dealership to create a replacement key. A spare key can help you in different nerve-wracking situations, like losing your car key! While it may seem costly to get one now, it will eventually pay off in the long run.
Keep Calm and Call a Locksmith
No car owner would want to lose their car keys and not have a spare copy with them. Fortunately, working with a reputable locksmith and taking the necessary steps can help you resolve your situation immediately.
Action Lock Doc has been offering 24-hour professional locksmith services in Dallas for over 40 years. With our highly-trained professionals and the latest techniques and products, we’re ready to serve all your locksmith needs. Keep calm and call us today!
Joe, a former CIO and tech industry professional, has made it his mission to secure Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) through the Action Lock Doc, Dallas Safe and Vault, and Summa Security brands. When he’s not running the show at the office, you’ll find him writing about commercial and residential locksmithing, access control, and safes.