The order to work through when your keys are locked in the car: who gets you in for free, who charges what, what the police and ICBC will and won't do, and how the door gets opened without a scratch.
"Locked my keys in my car" has three good answers in Vancouver: a locksmith at $95 to $160 for a standard door, BCAA if you're a member, or your car's own app if it has remote unlock. The order depends on one question you answer before anything else: is a child or a pet inside?
If a child, an elderly person or an animal is inside and you can't get the door open right away, call 9-1-1 and say exactly that. E-Comm, which answers 9-1-1 for Vancouver, defines an emergency as a police, fire or medical situation where someone's health, safety or property is in jeopardy and immediate action is required. A sealed car on a warm day is exactly that, and the temperature inside climbs fast even under cloud.
For a dog, the BC SPCA says to call local animal control, police, RCMP or its Animal Helpline at 1-855-622-7722, and not to break the window yourself: only police, RCMP and BC SPCA special constables can lawfully enter a vehicle to help an animal in distress. Once help is on the way, call us too and say there's a child or animal inside; whoever opens the door first wins.
BCAA's Basic, Plus and Premier memberships all include roadside assistance up to four calls a year, and a lockout is a roadside call. Per BCAA's membership plans, the first move is dispatch: BCAA or its contractor tries to open the car. If they can't, or the key is lost or broken and the car won't run, Plus and Premier members are covered up to $100 towards a locksmith (BCAA's own pages show two different figures for Basic, so check yours). Membership runs $97 to $177 a year.
The fine print in the membership terms that bites at the roadside: you must be with the car, holding your membership card, government photo ID and valid insurance papers. Your insurance is usually in the glovebox of the locked car, so keep a photo of it on your phone. A brand-new member who needs service within 72 hours of joining pays a one-time $75 "Join on Arrival" fee, so joining on the sidewalk isn't free.
If your car is from the last several model years, check the app before you check your wallet. Toyota's Remote Connect locks and unlocks the doors from the Toyota app on select models, as long as the car's data module is active, which it is during the trial period or on a paid subscription. Honda's HondaLink Remote Package does the same on compatible models, with a one-year free trial and then $129 a year. Ford's Ford app unlocks from the Vehicle screen if the car has a modem and it's been activated.
The catch is the same for all three: the account and subscription have to be live before you're standing in the rain in a Kitsilano parking lot. If you've never opened the app, tonight is the night.
Basic Autoplan carries no roadside benefit; that comes with ICBC's optional packages. The Roadside Plus package reimburses up to $50 per incident for emergency roadside expenses, and "locking your keys in your vehicle" is on its list, limited to two claims per policy term. RoadStar doesn't include that benefit. Both packages carry lock re-keying coverage, with different limits, for the day your keys are stolen rather than the day they're on the passenger seat. Keep the locksmith receipt and file after.
Police. VPD's guidance is 9-1-1 for life-threatening incidents or a crime in progress, and 604-717-3321 for everything else. Keys locked in an empty car is neither, so don't expect a patrol car. With a child or pet inside, the equation flips, and officers have the authority to get into the vehicle.
ICBC. It insures the car; it doesn't dispatch anyone. The Roadside Plus reimbursement above is paid after the fact against a receipt.
Tow trucks. Many do lockouts, and BCAA's roadside contractors are often tow operators. The difference is training and tools: a tow driver carries a wedge and a long-reach rod, fine on a standard door, less fine on frameless glass or deadlocked doors. If the car won't open, the next offer is a tow to the dealer.
Dealers. They don't come out. If every key is locked inside, the dealer route is for cutting a replacement, and it starts with a tow. See car key replacement for when that makes sense.
Our published rows on the pricing page: a standard door entry is $95 to $160, and a push-start car or a difficult entry (deadlocked doors, frameless glass, some European models) is $130 to $200. That's the whole job, quoted on the phone before we leave, after-hours included; we run 24/7.
Roadside coverage tops out at $100 (BCAA) or $50 (ICBC Roadside Plus), so on a standard entry it covers most or all of the bill and on a difficult one it covers part. The dealer isn't a lockout option at all; once towing and a replacement key are added, it's the most expensive way back into a car you already own.
On most cars we protect the paint with a soft wedge at the top corner of the door, open a gap about a finger wide, and use a long-reach tool to press the unlock button or pull the interior handle. On older cars, and some newer ones with a working key cylinder, a decoder pick opens the lock the way a key would, with no gap at all. Either way you drive off with the same door seals you arrived with.
The coat hanger worked on a 1990 Civic because the lock rod ran straight down inside the door. Modern doors carry window regulators, side airbag wiring and cable-operated latches with nothing to hook. What a hanger does reliably is scratch the paint under the weatherstrip, tear the seal, and chip the edge of frameless glass. Breaking a window isn't the cheap alternative either; a quarter-window replacement typically costs more than the lockout would have.
Keyless cars are supposed to refuse to lock with the fob inside. They stop refusing when the fob's battery is nearly dead, when the fob is in a bag in the trunk beyond the antennas, or when a second fob in your pocket did the locking. The car is then locked with the only working fob inside it.
Entry is the same as any other car, priced at the push-start row of $130 to $200 because these doors are usually deadlocked and need more care. Once the door is open, the fob inside starts the car as normal. If the fob was dead, that's a fob battery we carry; if it's lost rather than locked in, that's a fob replacement and a different price row. The rest is on the car lockout page.
| Option | Cost | Typical wait | Damage risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Locksmith (Fast Locksmith Vancouver) | $95 to $160 standard; $130 to $200 push-start or difficult | Arrival window quoted on the call | Low: wedge and long-reach, or decoder pick |
| BCAA roadside | In the membership; up to $100 towards a locksmith if they can't get in | Depends on call volume and weather | Low to moderate: wedge and rod |
| Manufacturer app remote unlock | Free with an active trial or subscription | Immediate if the account is live | None |
| ICBC Roadside Plus | Up to $50 reimbursed, two claims per term | Someone still has to open the car | None; it's a reimbursement |
| Police (VPD) | Free, emergencies only | Emergency response only when a life is at risk | Glass may be broken to reach a child or pet |
| Dealer | Tow plus a replacement key | Business hours | None to the car, plenty to the wallet |
| Coat hanger | Free | Immediate | High: paint, seals, wiring, glass |
Once we're at the car, a standard door is usually open within a quarter of an hour of work; a deadlocked or frameless door takes longer because we go slower to protect the glass. The drive is the part we won't promise in minutes, so we quote an arrival window on the call instead.
Yes. Before we open anything we ask for government photo ID, and once the door is open we check it against the insurance and registration in the car. If the car isn't yours, we need the owner on the phone or on site. BCAA's terms ask for the same three things: membership card, photo ID and valid insurance documents.
Often, yes: opening a door from inside without the fob nearby triggers the factory alarm on most cars that have one. It stops when you press unlock on the fob, put the key in the ignition, or start the car with the fob inside. Expect the noise, and have your ID ready for the neighbour who comes to look.
We open a door first, then use the interior trunk release or fold the rear seats to reach through. Cars with a valet lock, or a trunk isolated from the cabin, need the trunk cylinder picked or decoded, which moves the job to the difficult-entry row of $130 to $200. Say so on the call.
Standing beside a locked car right now? Call 604-227-9083 and tell us the make, model and where you are, or book online if it can wait until morning.
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