Josh-the-Locksmith
25 Years Experience
Austin, TX
Male, 46
I've been a locksmith since 1998. I did automotive residential & commercial work from 1998 to 2008. From 2008 to 2018, I did some residential, but mostly commercial work. I have been project managing & estimating since 2018. I used to locksmith in the Chicago area, now the Austin area.
The first thing I'd try is squirting some high quality lubricant in there. Not WD40, and not graphite. Vehicle door locks get dry or corrode quickly, especially if you rarely use it. Secondly, I'd look at your key. If it's bent or a bad copy (possibly not visible to the untrained eye), that is very possibly the problem. A lock shop should be able to read & cut you a new factory-spec key. Past that, it's internal lock damage.
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Surprisingly not! Young, old, male, female, etc. a little bit of everybody.
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No lock is guaranteed, but some are easier to pick, or cut with bolt cutters. The goal is to make it as difficult as possible; so getting something so thick that you'll need an angle grinder to cut it off would probably be your best bet.
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No, some keys that say "do not duplicate" is just a deterrent. It's simply an honor system. It's telling you that whoever gave you that key would prefer you didn't make a copy of it. It's up to the person copying it if they want to do it or not. Our shop makes you sign a waiver just to cover out butts. Other keys that say it might be covered by a patent. The blank might not even be available to them, that's called a restricted key. Mostly Medeco, Mul-T-Lock, Primus, etc, most of those are truly restricted.
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You should never pay that kind of money to have a locksmith open a car or house that takes 5-10 minutes. Prices vary depending on where you live, but that's ridiculous! They're ripping you off. You are being taken advantage of. There are some nationwide companies who hire subcontractors to work on commission. They quote people a small rate on the phone (which they're most likely in another state), & then the contractor charges whatever he wants to make. They use local phone numbers & fake addresses to make themselves look local. If you're ever quoted a price on the phone, ask the tech what the price will before he does any work. If it's not the same, or if he tries to add more without warning after the job is over, refuse to pay & call the police. He's probably trying to rip you off. It should always make sense. Obviously emergency calls in the middle of the night will be more expensive.
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