I just spent a weekend on a car trip in a strange town, hundreds of miles from home. And I had a disquieting thought while walking on the beach…WTF would I do if I lost the keys to the car?
This little thought experiment made my head swim.
Has this happened to anyone? what did you do? Or hypothetically, what would you have done?
I’d contact the nearest dealer for my Make of car. They should (I think) be able to make a key for my car. I’d look around the locks to see if there was any kind of number, but failing that, I’d hope the VIN was enough info for them to determine my key.
Of course this would all (including getting the VIN) be made more difficult if you were locked out of the car. 
I did this once.
I was driving from Ft Wayne to Chicago and stopped at a truck stop along the way to use the bathroom. I went into the stall, hung my purse on the hook on the door, carefully laid my key down on top of my purse, and did my thing. Just after I flushed, I grabbed my purse, swung it onto my shoulder, and … clink clink clink the key was gone.
Yes, I managed to propel the car key from the top of my purse into the toilet bowl as it was flushing. I flushed my key.
I was only 2 hours from home, but my parents (who had the spare key) were both at work, and wouldn’t be able to come rescue me for at least 5 hours, and I had a concert to get to in Chicago that I absolutely wasn’t going to miss, so after about 5 minutes of laughing so hard I was crying (or crying so hard I was laughing, still not sure), I went out to the cashier at the attached convenience store and explained my situation.
She called the plumber who came out, stuck a thing down the toilet, and said “ayep, they’re gone, sweetie”. Then we called the nearest Pontiac dealership, which ended up being about 20 minutes down the road. Despite the fact that I could provide no proof that I owned the vehicle (the registration being locked inside it), armed with only the VIN (which I read through the windshield as it was printed on the dash or something) I was able to get them to make me a copy key for $8. A trucker who had overheard the whole story offered to drive me to the dealership so I could pick up the key.
So … yeah. With just your VIN you can in fact get a spare key to your car made. Or maybe you can get a spare key for that fancy Porsche your douchey neighbours just bought? 
We took members of my daughter’s Scout troop on several trips out of town. On two separate occasions, the leader locked her keys in her car. Once when we stopped at a 7-11 90 miles from home… and once when we were in cabins at Shenandoah National Park.
The first time, another mom called AAA, they came out, and got the car unlocked.
The second time, I went up to a park facility and finally got hold of someone from AAA somewhere… they had ZERO clue where we were. It would have been hours before they could get to us - if they ever showed up. Fortunately, another mom was able to scrounge up a coat hanger and get the car open.
We tease that mom about this, to this day.
On another trip, a mom (the one who did the coat-hanger trick) managed to misplace hers. We knew they were nearby… as she’d opened up the trunk of her car. I forget where they turned up.
By comparison, my own Scout-related misplaced-keys incident was tame… I dropped them under a picnic table, half an hour after we arrived; we were just 20 minutes from home, and I had a spare key with me.
Anyway… the lesson learned is to always have a spare somewhere separate from the main key. If the key is truly lost, I guess the dealership is the way to go.
I wonder if it’s that much harder if it’s one of those bloody-expensive new microchipped keys?
Certainly more expensive. At the dealer it’s over $100. Not sure if the one in the link also needs some programming that will cost extra.
[nitpick]Look through the front window of your car from the outside, and toward the front end of the top of the dashboard you will find the VIN.[/nitpick]
I suppose I’d have to call my apartment’s management to enter my apartment, get the spare out of the junk drawer, and FedEx it to me. That’d be the cheapest way.
I haven’t lost keys in over 30 years. The last time was when I was in kindergarten or something and I had house keys.
Of course, now that I’ve said it, I might as well kiss them goodbye.
One trick I learned (doesn’t work with the new fat car keys) is to leave a spare in my wallet. Saved me numerous times when I locked myself out.
Unless your car is stolen, the VIN is visible through the windshield.
To answer the OP, I would call AAA, then a locksmith and/or my car maker’s dealer depending on convenience.
As it happened, I once had my Jeep Wrangler wrangled while visiting Philadelphia. The vehicle was not stolen, but the steering column ignition bits were destroyed. Pretty much the same scenario as the OP.
More than a nitpick – that’s an extremely life-saving bit of info, given that the VIN could lead to a new key, with much less grief relatively speaking.
I’d call Geico because I have roadside assistance and this is what I pay for. I locked my keys in my car when I was visiting my mom (hour and a half south of my home). I called my insurance company and within the hour a guy came with a slimjim to open it. I never had to provide proof that I owned the vehicle to anybody. I looked up my policy # on the Geico website and called them, and I didn’t have to pay anything.
If I actually LOST my keys, that’s why god invented locksmiths. Which are also covered under roadside assistance. I process locksmith claims from places like Pop-a-Lock every day at the insurance company where I work.
I once lost my only set of car keys on the Sunday of a long weekend. I got CAA to tow my car to a car stereo and starter installation place and we took the key out of my remote car starter. Much cheaper than the 175 bucks I was quoted for a new microchip key from the dealer.
I tend to get out in the boonies with my truck sometimes. I’m more frightened of losing my keys than I am of thieves. Mine has two key types, one only opens the door, and the other opens and starts the truck. I keep one of those magnetic boxes in a frame member beneath the truck (it has the door-only key). I keep an ignition key in a similar box in the engine compartment, which can only be opened from inside the vehicle.
Lost keys? Shimmy under the truck and retrieve the door key, then pop the hood and get the ignition key. I figure the two-step process might deter most thieves.
I also keep spare keys on my boat (to truck, camper, and the boat itself). I’ve always felt that dropping keys in the lake is a matter of ‘when’, not ‘if’. (and I’ve been proven right)
I keep a spare key in my wallet.
[hijack]
I’m sure I’ve seen a movie where someone loses their car keys and is stranded in a small town and is subsequently taken to be a hitman. But I can’t find it. Is it real?
[/hijack]
I keep a spare in my glove box. I assume that most people that break in to the car are looking for whatever they can steal quickly and turn into cash. If someone is determined enough to steal the car and risk the felony charge, then at least start the car correctly.
Keys on a newer car can cost upwards of $75 to replace, and you can only get them from the dealer.
I figured that a locksmith / AAA would be fine if you’d locked the keys in your car (and I’ve done that myself. It’s alarming how quickly a AAA tow truck driver with a slim jim can get inside your car). But they’re no good in getting your car started – hence the nightmare of my scenario.
I have one of those magnetic key holders hidden under my rig. I dislodged it at the car wash the other day. It occurs to me, I could have just as easily dislodged it, and failed to notice I had done so.
I would suggest anyone with the magnetic holder should check to make sure it is still there from time to time.
Kind of off the subject, but the last time my wife locked my keys in the car, the AAA guy used a rubber wedge to pry the top of the driver’s window just a bit, then inserted a deflated balloon and inflated it with the attached hand pump to pry the window a bit more. He then inserted a tool to punch the unlock button. Took about 3 minutes, tops. He said that with security features in most cars these days, the days of the slim jim are long gone.
And this was in New Orleans during Mardi Gras. Yay, AAA.