ATL: How long should it take for a locksmith to open my car?
Ask The Locksmith Question:How long should it take for a locksmith to open my car?
- The vast majority of cars can and should be opened, "damage free" (i.e. No tint damage or tearing, no weather stripping damage, no scratches, etc.), within 10 seconds to, at most, 2 minutes.* There is the occasional exception; any car can put up a fight... A simple to open car can turn sticky, and a difficult to open car can give it up in seconds. In most cases, any locksmith that struggles for longer than 5 minutes on any car other than say, a Lexus, or a BMW, is simply not doing the job you called him out for.
The exceptions to this rule are generally Lexus and BMW's. Both of these cars have exceptional protections against unauthorized entry, whether by locksmith or car thief.
Just as an FYI, to open a Lexus damage free takes an extraordinary combination of timing and skill. Lexus has a brilliant little timeout system. Once a locksmith gets his opening tool into the door, and gets a hold of the lock button, he/she has exactly 4/10ths of a second to flip the button and get the door handle open, concurrently. If he/she doesn't get it on the first try, the car sets a timeout, forcing the locksmith to wait approximately 10 minutes before trying again. Because of the minute amount of time to accomplish this trick, it is not uncommon for it to take multiple tries to get a Lexus open. Takes time, practice, skill, and patience.
BMW's on the other hand have a cool little "weight" trick (as do the newer Lexus', rendering the previous opening tactic moot). In order for a BMW to be opened, there needs to be "weight" equivalent to a human body in the drivers seat. There are specialized tools that can open BMW's, bypassing that issue, but they are not 100%, few locksmiths have them, and fewer still have mastered them.
Just so you know, no, there are NO cars made or known to mankind where damage during opening is a standard result. Believe it or not, we have heard that excuse for massive amounts of damage done to window tinting, weather stripping, etc. Please don't allow any "locksmith" to tell you that "these cars are real hard to open, and some damage is to be expected." Nonsense.
*Cars that have broken linkages, or previous damage within the door panel itself can add considerable time to getting the door open. In these cases, and these cases ONLY, the locksmith should move to the drivers side to open the car if a rear door opening is not possible (Please see the post titled: "Why do some locksmiths insist on opening a car ONLY from the passenger side, while others say it makes no difference?".)
We're not your normal locksmith company™... :)
