Keys locked in boot

DannyDan

DannyDan

DannyDan

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Joined
6 Jun 2005
Posts
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Location
Wirral, UK
My brother and his girlfriend have gone to France in their 03-reg VW Beetle.

They've managed managed to lock the keys in the boot, have no spare key with them and no form of breakdown cover.

Any suggestions of what to do next would be most welcome, currently they're trying to persuade me to take the spare to France :(
 
Coat hanger:D

If there is no other way of getting into the car, no sunroof that can be forced open I suppose you would have to put a window through an climb in :eek:
 
I'd say breaking a window would be easier and cheap than you going to France. However, if its deadlocked then they won't be able to open the doors so it'll be in through the broken window. Do the rear seats on the Beetle fold? If they're fixed this obviously won't work. Couriering small parcels to Europe next day isn't expensive, so thats an option. They could try the nearest VW dealer and ask them if they could cut them a key from the VIN number but I don't know if the VIN and key number information will be shared across Europe. They could contact a UK dealer and ask them for the key number and ask the French dealer to cut one to that spec. It won't start the car because it won't be programmed to the immobiliser but it'll get them in.

I did this myself in Asda a few years back. The keyfob had a button that opened the boot without unlocking the doors - I put the keys in the boot, put shopping over them and shut the boot! Fortunately I was only about 4 miles from home and my sister brought me the spare key. I bought a newer version of the same car later and the boot button on that one opened the boot and unlocked the doors so locking the keys in the boot was impossible.
 
I would put the window in myself as long as you can get into the boot from the cabin.

Don't you fancy as trip to france then ;)
 
Driving on the continent without taking out any form of breakdown cover is pretty stupid tbh.

Breaking a side window would be a last resort as it won't be cheap to replace and they will be finding bits of glass in the cars for years. Have they tried contacting a local VW dealer?
 
remove the rear number plate light cover, fire a charge with a battery to the live connection to the boot light, which comes on when you open the boot, this will unlock the car but set the alarm off. You can do this with the Focus via the rear brake light unless it is double locked like i do with mine!
 
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It depends if theres a dealer nearby that they can get to....obviously without the use of a car.

If there isnt then they are going to have to break one of the windows, provided that the seats fold back and that they can get access to the boot, and then go in search of a garage to sort the glass out I suppose.

This is all that I can suggest unless theres a car theif on here who can talk us through it properly :p

Next time though - european breakdown cover is a must!
 
DannyDan said:
My brother and his girlfriend have gone to France in their 03-reg VW Beetle.

They've managed managed to lock the keys in the boot, have no spare key with them and no form of breakdown cover.

Any suggestions of what to do next would be most welcome, currently they're trying to persuade me to take the spare to France :(
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Do they have a green card either? If they dont they are not insured either.
 
I've told them to contact a VW dealer... not sure if they have yet though. They're both 18 and haven't driven abroad before so I think they're feeling a bit lost and confused. Her dad owns a car dealership so I think he's trying to sort things out for them at the moment.

I doubt they'll want to put a window through unless there's no other option... and in addition I'm not sure that the rear seats fold down.

As for wiring up batteries to live connections in the number plate light, they both have the technical ability of a monkey, it's not going to happen ;)

I will personally be ensuring that they don't leave the country without breakdown cover again.

Thanks for all your replies, I'll keep you all updated (probably from an internet cafe in France :( )

edit:

blueboy2001 said:
Couriering small parcels to Europe next day isn't expensive, so thats an option.
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They're in a supermarket car park at the moment, and have been camping anywhere they can find, so we don't really have an address to send the keys to unfortunately.
 
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The seats definitely fold down in the new style Beetles as my lass has one. Whether you can go that without having the boot open is another matter.

Actually come to think about it there is a button on the drivers side door that opens the boot, so it will be possible to get into the boot if they smash a window.

Personally, Id have been on a flight by now if I was her Dad.
 
Dogbreath said:
they will be finding bits of glass in the cars for years. Have they tried contacting a local VW dealer?
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Not if you do it right. :cool:

On the odd occasion we get called out to assist a motorist who is locked out of their car ( normally only get called when there has been a sleeping baby sat in the back ), when we go in through a window, to avoid getting glass all over the interior we use strips of silver gaffer tape and cover the entire window. Glass management tool or centre punch in the corner of the window and it breaks but remains intact. The tape holds the glass in place and it can be removed with almost no glass dropping inside.
 
roboffer said:
Actually come to think about it there is a button on the drivers side door that opens the boot, so it will be possible to get into the boot if they smash a window.
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These buttons don't normally work whilst the doors are locked though.
 
Here's how the AA got into my mate's Skoda whch probably has the same system since it's from the same company:

Behind the drivers side foglight there's a set of jump terminals. Put 12V on them and it disables the immobiliser and alarm, apparently this is now a feature on all modern cars so the emergency services can disable alarms etc. Slip a piece of metal between the body and the top of the door and carefully prise the top of the window away from the roof, reach in and open the door which unlocks it. Pull the boot release.

Unfortunately I think it is that simple with most modern cars :eek:

Edit: Lol @ Draeger, "glass management tool" :D
 
Thanks for the replies.

Her dad has decided to post the spare key to the place where they're camping, due to arrive on Tuesday apparently. Luckily they have some money not locked in the car.
 
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