After a long tiring day working on my lovely 1998 Felicia LXi with a view to getting her back on the road, I did the unthinkable and locked her with my only key and many of my tools inside.

 

I was hopeful of forcing down a rear window which was ever-so-slightly ajar, but had no luck with that.   Subsequently all attempts to apply ingenuity to gain entry have failed, leading me to think that Skoda security was pretty good back then.

 

I’m stuck, and if anyone knows of a way in without causing serious damage I’d be ever so grateful if you could PM me with the secret.

 

[ After a search of this forum I am encouraged by a post from forum member Ben Cordy, who said “I locked my only key in the current felly the day I bought it. Took the AA guy less than 20sec from arrival to opening the door, quite scary.” ].

 

As a rider, when I went ages ago to get a spare key blank, the shopman insisted that it was a chipped keyfob and a spare would be very costly.   I think he was mistaken because she is the lower-spec model  [ VIN TMBEFFC13W0743498 ] with a simple Yale-like key on the Skoda fob and possibly does not have the high-spec immobiliser - anyone know?

 

Don't break anything, there are easiest ways.

Car unlock when you have lost your key.

Have you sorted it?

If the window is open a bit, I'd probably start with either a long bit of stiff wire, some pallet banding or even a bit of string and see if I can get on either a window winder, or a lock pin. 

Thanks, folks.

 

I’m still struggling, having spent many hours grinding and hot-bending old hacksaw  blades to make ‘slim-jim’ type tools to reach the lock mechanism by insertion between the window glass and the rubber seal.   No success with this yet, because I have only very fuzzy diagrams of the mechanism inside the door.

 

The slightly-ajar window has only about 2mm gap, and won’t budge.   The smooth design of the manual locking buttons of course defeats some of the common means of getting in, and I’ve begun to wonder whether Skoda designers sought also to block slim-jim attacks.

 

I am keen to avoid door-wedging to gain string or wire-hook access if at all possible, so would be very glad to hear from anyone here who has successfully opened a Felica using more gentle means.

2 hours ago, Skodle said:

wonder whether Skoda designers sought also to block slim-jim

Yes, there's a plastic cover inside the door.

 

2 hours ago, Skodle said:

am keen to avoid door-wedging to gain string or wire-hook access if at all possibl

PM'ed

 

 

https://www.hagerty.com/media/maintenance-and-tech/unlock-your-car-with-string/

 

 

 

 

Older models can be opened with a string. Newer models have a small cover around the locking pin, that might be harder.

Update -

 

After days of struggling to use band and string methods to get in, and latterly trying to pick the lock without success, I concluded that to secure the necessary gap I would have to apply such force to the door as to cause damage

 

This was unacceptable because she is in such splendid condition, and so I decided to bite the bullet and call a locksmith, thinking it should be a doddle to pick the earlier Felicia lock with the right tools.

 

Well, I’m in again at last - at a cost of £89 - but the the guy who came round was a cowboy who, instead of picking the lock as I was expecting, used pneumatic pressure pads to force an alarmingly wide gap in the door.   He was able to use a ‘grabulator’ to lift the locking button (ironically my own grabulator was locked inside), but not far enough to release the door.   He was successful in the end in using a long wire hook to pull the keyring from the ignition switch, but left me very peeved  to  be landed with a permanent set of about a mm or 2in the doorframe.

 

So, I live and learn, (especially to watch out for cowboys posing as locksmiths!), and huge thanks to all of you who have sought to help me out with this one.

 

4 minutes ago, Skodle said:

used pneumatic pressure pads to force an alarmingly wide gap in the door.   

 

Same method is used ever from Police in USA to open doors from seized or absndoned cars.

Yeah, that's pretty poor. If it's an old style skoda key, they're pretty easy to rake. Give me half an hour with my cheap and nasty pick set and I can normally get them and I don't really know what I'm doing. If it's the newer-style VAG door locks, they're pretty trivial if you have the right lishi pick. 

Cmon you should have stopped him. 

Heck if I saw him try to use the pad method I would just prefer to break the damn window as a second hand unit would cost the same and not cause any permanent damage to the vehicle...