How do you get in the car when the remote doesn't work?

Just the other day I had a customer call and asked me to install a battery in a vehicle.  Usually a battery install is pretty simple.  This one was not the case.  The car had been sitting for a few months and the battery had gone stone dead.  So the electric door locks were not going to work.  So how do you get in the car?

Today's modern cars that have keyless entry and no key start on cars you just need to have the key fob with you; how do you get in?  The guy or gal who sold you the car probably didn't explain to you how to get in in case of failure.  I had a difficult time explaining to my customer over the phone , what I will explain to you with pictures here.

Inside your key fob for your car is hidden a mechanical key to your car.  On the driver's door of your car there is a place where you can put the mechanical key in the door and turn it to unlock the door.  That's the SECRET!  Now vehicle manufacturer's have gotten sneaky over the years and have hidden the place where the key hole is.  The key hole on the driver's door is usually around the door handle.  It may be hidden under the handle, or you may have to pull on the handle to expose the key hole; but it will definitely be in the vicinity of the door handle on the drivers door.

As you can see in the picture above the key is hidden as part of the key fob.  To remove the key from the key fob (remote) , usually there is a button or a catch that has to be pushed or slid to allow the key to be released from the key fob.

Seen here ; you can see the button that has to be slid to release the hidden key from the key fob.  Not all buttons to release the key are on the key.  Some times the release button is located on the key fob and not the key.

Now you have learned how the design engineers planed to get you back into your car when the remote stops working; or when the car battery is dead and won't open the electric doors.  You have a way to get back into your car!