One of the things that most car owners worry about is the risk of locking themselves out of their car. If you have worried about this in the past, you may have researched different ways to get in without having to call a lockout service. The truth is that, while some of them work, many of the things that are touted to let you back into a locked vehicle just will not work. Here are some of the methods you might be considering and the truth behind them.

Tennis Ball Pressure

Many people have heard the line that you can unlock a car using a tennis ball. Supposedly, you just have to drill a hole in the ball that's the size of your door lock, then center it over the lock. Push on the ball with enough force, and your lock will pop open. The air pressure is supposed to force the lock upward.

There are a couple of problems with this theory, and it's been proven to be an ineffective method. First, IF it worked, it would only work on older car locks, not the electronic ones. The mechanisms are different on power locks than they are on manual ones. In addition, you'd need quite a bit of air pressure to move the metal components, which would be hard to achieve from a tennis ball.

Wire Hanger

Wire hangers have long been proven effective at unlocking car doors, but only certain locks. The lock has to be one that you can actually pull upward with an edge on the top for the wire hanger to get hold of. Otherwise, it's ineffective. However, if you have power locks and a stiff enough piece of wire, you might be able to manually push the unlock button on your door if you get it in the window. Either of these methods, of course, assume that you left a window cracked open; otherwise, there's no way to get the wire in there.

Remote Access

This is another one that's actually accurate. If you have a remote access service for your emergency roadside needs, they can often access your car's computer chip and unlock your doors for you. Just make sure you have the phone number for the service in your phone so that you can reach them because you won't be able to use the controls in your car to call them.

When all else fails, you can always call a local automotive locksmith service to help you get into your car.