Here's a tip that's worked well for me... Drive a piece a shit car, you don't even have to lock it! I Drive a '85 Chevy Blazer, the windows, radio, horn and locks don't work. It's hasn't been stolen yet, I can only hope it will be some day.

It's dumb enough leaving something that costs $15 to $75 thousand on the street but even dumber to leave a key to it anywhere somebody might look. This is a really stinky idea. If you frequently lock your keys in the car, keep a spare in your wallet or on a chain around your neck.

Isn't this one of those tips that stops being useful as soon as it gets publicized?

My first car was an 87 Dodge Omni. I installed a deck in the glove compartment and locked that, but not the car. Using a key to open the doors was just too much of a pain.

I used to hope someone would notice the Blaupunkt stereo in my 78 Accord and steal it. It had a built in 8-track player. I left the car unlocked on the street all the time, but no dice.

As for the locksmith scam, ye gods, just pay for an annual membership to the AAA. They'll take care of that kind of thing. And if you don't have one of those fancy chip key sets, you can get a plastic credit card key from the AAA that will let you in the door (not supposed to be used as an ignition key but I've managed it a time or two).

If your car uses a key fob to unlock the doors, and you have a spare one, you can have someone at home use the extra key fob over a phone to unlock your car. Just have your cell phone near the door of the car and have the person on the other end hit the unlock button on the key fob near the mic on their phone. Opens the doors right up. Of course this assumes you didn't lock your cell phone in your car too.

I purchased a Hitch Safe www.hitchsafe.com and it works great, i can keep a spare transmitter for the alarm and a key in there (wrapped up in sealed plastic bag)

@BeeBoo:

I'll accept the chain around the neck idea, but the wallet idea just doesn't win for me.

Steal a wallet + bonus car. If you lock you keys in your car / lose your keys often enough to have this save your bacon several times, then you have probably misplaced your wallet once or twice.

@TheWillow:
I would have to agree.

I have one of those punch key jobs plus i split the door opener and the ignition on to two separate key rings.
I figure if I lock myself out again I should do the world a favor and inhale mace.

@TheWillow: I was thinking the same thing.

@tmed: Yeah, you have a point, but I think 90% of the time the keys are just locked in the car, not actually lost. I drove a car for about 20 years and locked my keys in at least 5 times but I have never lost my wallet.

@TheWillow: Yup.

@se7a7n7: I had similar luck when I drove a fifteen year old minivan. Man, I kept hoping someone would steal it, but no luck.

Someone once asked me why I didn't lock the door, and I explained that if someone was desperate enough to steal it, they must really have needed a car...

Great, now I have to carry around a screwdriver just in case I lock my keys in my car.

Great, now everyone that reads this will know where we hide our keys!

Locking your car is just bad news anyway. The best thing to do is to get in the habit of never, ever leaving anything of value inside. If someone is going to steal it, they can easily get in. If someone wants to take what's inside, they can rummage around to their heart's content and not find anything.

Or, you can never, ever leave anything of value in the car except $4 in change and have your window get busted out for that $4 in change, costing you $165 to repair. Your choice.

@RAREBREED: Thats a great idea unless you live in a city like myne where crackheads will break into your car for spare change in the ash tray, in mycase they also used a crowbar to break open the glovebox as well, got a cell phone and a gps :(

Get a car which makes it difficult to lock yourself out. Many (all?) Hondas and Toyotas unlock the driver's door when it closes, so you have to lock it from the outside. As long as you don't have small children to lock themselves in the car, this will prevent most lock-outs.

You can also keep a spare car key in your wallet. I made a wallet once which had a key pocket in it. The fact that I no longer have this wallet highlights the weakness of this approach...lose your wallet, lose your key. But I never locked myself out of my car or my room ("do not duplicate" my ass) when I had this.

I personally have a broken remote hidden for my cars. Since when I buy cars, I make it a point to get 4 sets of keys, and 5 remotes (Fords are super easy to have spares for) Although the extra remotes come from eBay. Anyway, I have the remote hidden on the outside of the vehicle, sealed in laminated plastic bag, So I just have to reach and hit the unlock button.

Also, If you drive a Ford vehicle that uses those Sentry Key systems that the keys must be programmed, the key that you would get from wal-mart would be a generic metal key blank, with no chip in the head. Theft of that key wouldn't matter, as all they could do is steal your stereo or contents of the car, but couldn't steal the car itself.

Roadside assistance from State Farm: $2.10/6months.

Most cars with transponder keys will open with a boring old mechanical key. You don't need to worry about getting an expensive-ass key with the chip in the head for your license plate spare.

There are places which sell the strong boxes that real estate agents use to store keys outside of houses. I have one on the outside of my house, just in case I get locked out by one of my kids or my own forgetfulness. The box I have can also be mounted to the inside of a vehicle's wheel well. You need a combo to get into it, and it would take a hell of a lot of noise and destruction of the car to loosen the box and access the key if you don't know the combo.

When I had cars without remote entry I was known for locking my keys in the car. After one two many instances, I learned to always carry two sets of keys, one set for driving the car and the other to stay on me at all times when I was out and about. This worked for me because I am not the sort of person that leaves her purse in the car when I'm running errands and I don't leave my key in the ignition when getting gas (where I grew up, that was asking for trouble).

This hasn't been a problem for me since I've had remote entry because I always use the key fob to lock the doors once I am out of the car. This might be a good method for people with remote entry, program yourself to only lock your car with your key fob. Then you are more likely to notice if you're missing your fob because you can't follow your car locking procedure.

I have only locked my keys in my car once. It happened when I was in high school, and I had to call my dad to come down there and help me break into my car with a coat hanger. It was embarrassing and frustrating enough that I have not done it again the 10 years since.

Even better yet, just get a copy of a key and stick it in your wallet. I used to lock myself out repeatedly, and until I did this I spent many hours waiting on AAA, or helpful friends with keys.

If you really want to go high dollar, they sell a 'Credit Card Key' for about $5 that is the size, and thickness of a credit card. Just fold out, turn, and voila.

Onstar is great for unlocking your doors.

@310Drew: I suppose thats the benefit of those cars you see with the keypad entry

@kidnextdoor: Yeah but paying 50% more for car insurance is no deal.

This is why I love my beater jalopies. I don't care if they get scratched, keyed, or vandalized in any matter, I don't lock the doors and if you want to steal it, go right ahead, chief. You'll never beat me in chicken when merging, either. I love when the guy in the new BMW tries to jump my turn when merging into one lane. I just give him a look that says, "You do realize I'm driving a 1985 Plymouth Reliant, right." They usually always realize they won't win this game. There's something to be said to paying $800 for a planned one-year car and then junking it when the engine blows. Sure, sometimes they clunk out after a few months but sometimes they'll go 3 years or more on you.

@TechnoDestructo: I grew up with Hondas. You just hold the handle while closing the door and the door lock easily. The problem is that it become second nature, in that's the only way you close the door.

I've now got a BMW that won't let me inside-lock the drivers door and close it without unlocking at all, but I managed to lock my keys in the back while I was loading groceries a couple of years ago.

@se7a7n7: once upon a time i owned a 1984 beat to hell celica with a smashed front end. and i left it unlocked all the time. and someone broke one of my windows out to try to steal a box of granola bars [that was actually empty] off the driver's seat. there is no surefire deterrent

The problem with finding a hiding place for anything is that when you think "Ah ha! That would make a great hiding place!", you should realize that others will have the same thought. That alone makes it a bad hiding place.

"Never Get Locked Out Your Car"??? I think you need the word "of" in between Out and Your, LOL.

Okay, now to discuss the topic at hand. I have keyless remote entry on my Honda (thank goodness). I also have a spare remote, spare keys and even a valet key. In addition to the many keys, I have AAA. I think I've got it covered. I don't really like the idea of leaving a key anywhere on my car.

@catastrophegirl: Daaaaaaaamn! That's mess up, man!

The GRANOLA bars??? *smh*

I'da been mad they went for the granola bars and not, y'know, the entire car.

@infmom:
I have a membership with AAA (great investment but enrolls you in the "I am an old Fart" category). Since I routinely toss all the weird correspondence from AAA, could you enlighten me about the plastic credit card key?

@Overheal: One thing I LOVE about my Fords: keypad on the door. I INTENTIONALLY lock my keys in my car because I unlock the car with the keypad.

Way to tell the world where you hide your key. I think it is a very dumb and stupid idea. People do steal tags and it happens often. I locked myself out once when I was 19 yrs old. It has never happened again and I will be 39 next year. I always make sure I have my keys before I lock the door or close the trunk, ALWAYS!

I would never, ever, ever bolt a key behind my lic. plate. Worst advice I've ever read from this site and as someone else said. You will need a screw driver as most lic. plates screws are big and thick and require a good amount of torque to undo.

Again, worst advice. EVER!

@Fried Chicken Little: They sell those boxes at Staples, so they aren't even hard to find. That's a great idea, too, I'm going to do it!

@310Drew:

Its an awesome feature that came with my 1996 Chevy Corsica.

I love the fact that my car will take any key to unlock it. Ive locked my keys in my car before, and I used someone else house key to unlock my door.

I replaced a wheelwell screw with a longer screw and fastened my extra key.

I know others that mounted the extra key into the blades on the radiator grill.

Guess what? The good theives already know our hiding places. All of them.

@catastrophegirl: so you mean they broke a window when the car was unlocked? to get granola bars? haha! that theif deserves an award!

However, locking your keys out of your car will (a) make your friends laugh at you and (b) let you meet cute mall security guys.

My friend did this once, at mall closing, two days before Christmas. We laughed at her extra-hard because if she hadn't stubbornly refused to bring her jacket in, she wouldn't have locked her keys in the car, since the keys were in her jacket pocket.

I'm pretty sure the cold and the fact that we will never let her live that down taught her a mighty good lesson.

Better yet. the switch for door lock is positive and ground. run two wires from lock switch threw firewall. then strap them somewhere under the car. get locked out lay under it and touch the two together , and unlock the doors

If your key has a chip in it, you might still be able to get a cheap metal key made. A plain metal key should open your door lock, enabling you to get into the car and use the regular key to start the car.

Also, always be sure to check your key works the lock after it is cut by the person at the hardware store!

I think the key here is to hide a key somewhere wierd...like up underneath the chassis, behind a license plate or whatever, but NOT to write about it in an internet blog :)

When I used to drive a service van for a living, I had such a key in a place that most people probably wouldn't ever find it. Even better, the vehicle belonged to my jerkwad of a boss, so I really didn't care if it got stolen!

@kidnextdoor:

I have State Farm but I don't have a cell phone.

@ravensfire:

THat's a good idea, because I tend to lock the car with the button on the door and not the key fob. I will train myself to ONLY use my fob. It sucks to pay $25 to Pop-A-Lock to open my car, and it's embarrassing to have them arrive in that loud, ad-covered Beetle of theirs.

The dumbest thing I did was one time I went to the laundromat, parked the car, locked the door, got out and shut it...

with the keys in the ignition, headlights on and car running.