HOW TO GET INSIDE

1. Insert a wedge by the top corner of one of the front doors, on the side opposite the door’s hinges, several centimetres in front of the upper corner. If you have two wedges, set the second one on the other side of the door’s corner. Drive them in with the heel of your hand until you have just enough space between the door and the pillar to insert the rod.

2. Once you can reach inside with the rod, there are a few ways to unlock a door. The most obvious is to push the unlock button, but sometimes it’s easier to pull the interior door lever. If those methods fail and you can see the keys inside, you can try to hook them and pull them out through the opening. Or, if you can reach the buttons on the key fob, you can push the unlock button there. If the car is running, you can also roll down the window by pushing the button, which is usually easy to reach. It’s surprising how many times people overlook that one.