Car Lockout in San Francisco

The work happens where the car stands, and in this city that is almost never a driveway. It is a kerb on a hill with the wheels turned into it, a metered space on Geary, a lot in SoMa, the beach end of Judah, or a garage under a rowhouse with the house door locked as well. Say which of those it is on the call, because a car in a locked garage is two jobs in one stop and the order matters: the house door comes first, the car second.

Opening is done at the weather seal and the latch with wedges, an air bag and long tools, and nothing is levered against paint or glass. Modern cars are fussier than old ones about where a tool may sit, so the technician works to the model rather than to habit. If your car is one of the few where a non-destructive route genuinely does not exist, you hear that before anybody starts rather than after something has been marked. Photo ID and the registration get matched to the plate first, which at one in the morning is a courtesy to you as much as a rule for us.

Cars on the west side bring their own version of the salt problem. A door lock or an ignition that lives within a mile of the ocean drags long before it fails, and people put up with a stiff driver's door for years because the fob still works. If yours has started needing a shoulder, that is worth mentioning while a technician is already standing at the car, because a lubricate on the visit is cheaper than a cylinder later.

The visit is $115 to $219 with the $89 service call inside it. Daylight, an ordinary saloon, keys visible on the seat: the low end. It climbs with a car parked tight on a grade, a model that needs the long route, or a garage that has to be opened first. Evening adds $55 and after midnight $95, both counted in before you agree. Nothing gets packed away until the doors lock and unlock properly with the car standing where it was.