It can be a nightmare to suddenly halt a scheduled appointment because you have mistakenly locked the car keys inside your Hyundai Sonata. It's nerve-wracking to find yourself in such a situation, but keep calm as we've researched on your behalf to provide you with the following solutions.
To unlock your Hyundai Sonata if you have accidentally locked your car keys inside, you can help yourself with any of the following :
- Inflatable wedge
- Rod and screwdriver
- Coat hanger
- Strip of plastic
- Shoe-lace
- Professional lock picking tool
- Locksmith or your car assistance provider
Keep reading for the details on how to open your car without the keys. We'll also tackle tips on how not to lock yourself outside your car and the cost of a professional unlocking your car door.
Opening Your Hyundai Sonata Without The Keys
Locking your car keys inside your car can be an unpleasant situation, especially if you have a myriad of things to do. To avoid messing up your day, be patient as you try out using one or more of these solutions to open your car:
Inflatable Wedge
An inflatable wedge is a tool that creates space between the door and the body of your car.
Since the driver’s door has a wiring network in it, trying to open this door may interfere with its wiring mechanism. Opt to open the passenger door instead.
- Engage a non-scratching plastic wedge at the top of the door to create enough space to insert the air wedge.
- Pump the air-wedge several times until there is enough space to insert your reaching tool. If you have an extra air wedge, place it on the side of the door and pump it several times.
- Insert your reaching tool in the space formed, slide it gently until it reaches the lock button, and push or pull the lock.
- Remove the reaching tool carefully to avoid damaging the car paint, and deflate the air wedges to return the door to its original position. You may now open the door.
Check out this air wedge car door lockout kit on Amazon.
Have a look at this reaching tool on Amazon.
You might as well watch this video that shows how to open your car without damaging the door:
Screwdriver And Rod
A flat head screwdriver and a metal rod is another good option to open your car without any keys. Also, a metal ruler can be a substitute for a metal rod.
- First, you need to take care of your safety by wearing a pair of gloves to protect your hands as you are more susceptible to hurting your hands with a screwdriver.
- Secondly, you need to locate where the lock is. If your car is automatic, then opt to open the passenger’s door, because the right-side door has a lot of wiring in it, and any interference may lead to damages. If your car is manual, it is safe enough to open the driver’s door.
- The third step involves creating space between the frame and the door using the metal ruler or rod and then inserting the screwdriver to wedge between the door and frame.
- Continue pushing the screwdriver until you see its tip, but place it appropriately above the lock.
- Finally, insert a wire coat hanger or a similar-looking tool and press the unlock button.
Coat Hanger
This method may be more suitable for an older Hyundai Sonata model that has a manual door lock.
- Start by straightening a wire coat hanger. Use a pair of pliers to create a small hook at one end of the hanger that is half an inch long.
- Pull the weather stripping of the window backward using your fingers to create a small space. Insert the hanger into this space, starting with the side that has the hook. The hook should face the inside of the car and not the sides.
- Continue pushing it inside until you feel a bar or pin that controls the door lock and lock post.
- It may be difficult to find this pin or bar, which is usually 2 inches below the window next to the door handle. Keep moving the hanger side to side until you see some motion on the lock.
- Pull up the bar or pin to unfasten the door lock, but be careful as the hanger could have hooked onto something else.
If the hook has properly latched onto the bar or pin, it shouldn’t be too difficult to open the lock. This video below shows clearly how to use a coat hanger to open the door of your car:
Strip Of Plastic
A strip of plastic can come in handy if you’ve locked your keys inside your car. The plastic to use is the type that binds a bundle of newspapers.
- Bend the strip in half to form a loop.
- Try and insert it inside your car by pushing it through the door jamb.
- Navigate the loop around the lock until you clasp it. Pull it up to unlock the door.
Shoe Lace
- Tie a slipknot in the middle of a shoelace.
- Hold each end of the shoelace and glide it through the corner of the door.
- Once it's inside, pull it back and forth and try to slide it over the knob.
- As soon as the knob gets into the loop, pull each end of the string to tighten the grip on the knob and pull it up to unlock it.
Check out the video below for a visual demonstration on how to use this method:
Professional Lock Picking Tool
This tool is mostly used by professional technicians. However, if you know how to use it, you can try opening your car. If you have never used it, or don't have the skills to use it, don't attempt because you could make matters worse for your car.
Call A Locksmith Or Your Car Assistance Provider
You may decide to call a locksmith or your mechanic to help you open your car if all the above methods have failed, or you do not want to take any risks by attempting to open the door by yourself.
How Not To Lock Your Keys Inside The Car
Whereas mistakes do inevitably occur, what can you do to ensure you do not forget your keys inside your car again?
The following are some pointers to consider to help you remember your car keys when leaving your car:
Check Your Keys
Form a habit to always check your keys every time you arrive at your destination.
You could even have a specific object that you place or keep each time you get out of your car, for example in a particular hand, your pocket, or handbag.
Hide The Spare Key On Your Vehicle
It’s important to have a spare key. There are many places outside of your car where you can hide your car keys, for example, the tire well, inside the gas tank flap, behind a license plate, or even behind the bumper.
You could even ask your mechanic to be creative and design a place outside your car where you can hide the keys.
Keep The Spare Key Yourself
You can keep away a spare key somewhere in your office or your home.
However, you need to remember where you hid it when you want to retrieve it.
Whereas it may not be difficult to access your office, an interesting scenario could arise, whereby you can’t enter your home because you have locked the house keys inside your car.
So, you may want to rethink where to keep your spare house keys too.
Have A Trusted Person Keep Your Spare Key
This could be tricky because you could give your key to someone you think you trust, only for a problem to develop later.
Thus, you have to be extremely cautious with this method.
The Cost Of Unlocking Your Car Without Keys
The cost to call a locksmith when you have locked your keys inside the car would depend on the type of job to be done.
To open your car door would generally cost between $75 and $150.
To duplicate your car keys because you have lost them would cost between $50 and $300, depending on the type of key.
In Closing
Sometimes, we accidentally lock our car keys inside the car. There's no need to panic, especially as there are several methods to unlock your car without keys as we have discussed in this post.
However, if you are not up to the task, it's better to call a professional to handle the situation.
Ensure too that you'll get to apply our tips that will help you remember not to lock your keys inside the car.
Read these other posts and learn how to fold the seats of a Hyundai Sonata and how much it weighs: