Emergency
24/7 Emergency Car Locksmith
Locked out, lost every key, or stuck somewhere you don't want to be. Here's what to do first, and what we need from you.
911
If someone is in the car, call 911 now
If a child, an elderly person or a pet is locked inside the vehicle, stop reading and call 911. A closed car heats up far faster than most people expect, and it does not need to be a hot day. Tell the dispatcher there's a person or an animal inside and how long they've been there. Nobody will think you overreacted. That is the one situation on this page where a locksmith is the wrong call.
We come to you
Driveway, lot or roadside
Call or text
Same number, either way
Ownership checked
ID and paperwork, every job
Keys, fobs & remotes
Every kind, one call
Is this actually an emergency?
If it’s only keys, you have more time than it feels like. Get yourself somewhere safe, then call or text us with the year, make and model and where the car is — that’s what lets us arrive with the right key rather than find out at the vehicle.
And if the fob simply stopped responding, that’s often a flat battery rather than a failure — a coin cell and a couple of minutes. Our key fob battery guide covers how to tell.
When you’re somewhere you don’t want to be
This is the situation that genuinely is urgent, and it isn’t about the car.
If you’re alone, in the dark, in an empty car park or on a roadside, that changes the priority order. Get somewhere with light and people if you can — a petrol station, a shop that’s still open, anywhere with a door. The car will still be there.
Say it when you call. “I’m on my own and it’s dark” is information that changes how we handle it, and it’s the kind of thing people leave out because it feels like it isn’t about the car.
If you’re stopped on a road with no shoulder — the Taconic and stretches of Route 17 are the local examples — that’s 911 before it’s a locksmith. Get out of the vehicle and behind the guardrail. A key problem is smaller than a traffic hazard.
Need a key sorted? Call or text — same number.
What changes at night
Some things do and some don’t.
What doesn’t: the work itself. Programming runs through the vehicle’s diagnostic port and the equipment travels to the car. Two in the morning is the same job as two in the afternoon.
What does: parts. If your vehicle needs a specific key blank that isn’t already in the van, that’s a supplier and suppliers keep hours. And some manufacturers gate key programming behind credentialed data requests with mandatory waits attached — General Motors vehicles from 2020 onward carry one that can run to a couple of hours regardless of the time of day.
So the honest version is that some jobs are the same at night and some can’t be finished until morning. We’d sooner tell you which on the phone than after driving out.
We're available around the clock. We try to keep weekends for ourselves, but if a call comes in — particularly an emergency — we go.
How quickly we get there. Around Poughkeepsie most calls are reached within 30–45 minutes, the rest of Dutchess within about an hour, and Putnam, Ulster and Orange in roughly an hour, longer at rush hour or with bridge traffic. You get a real arrival time on the phone before we set off.
What we need, fast
Four things, and they’re the same at any hour:
- Where exactly the vehicle is — a road, a lot, a level in a garage
- Year, make and model
- Whether you have any working key
- Whether anyone is in the car — say this first if the answer is yes
Proof of ownership is still required — registration or title and matching photo ID. That doesn’t lapse after dark, and any locksmith who says otherwise is one to avoid.
Frequently asked questions
My child is locked in the car. What do I do?
Call 911 immediately. That’s an emergency, not a lockout, and emergency services treat it that way. Don’t wait for anyone else.
Is a lockout an emergency?
Usually not, though it doesn’t feel that way. It becomes one if someone’s inside the vehicle, if you’re somewhere unsafe, or if the car is stopped where it’s a hazard to traffic.
I’m alone in a dark car park.
Get somewhere with light and people if you can — the car isn’t going anywhere. And say it when you call; it changes how we prioritise.
Do you charge more at night?
What determines the cost is covered on our cost page. What we won’t do is quote you a figure here that doesn’t account for your vehicle.
Can everything be done at night?
The work itself, yes — the equipment comes to the car. What can’t always happen after hours is sourcing an unusual key blank, or clearing a manufacturer waiting period on certain makes. We’ll tell you which on the phone.
What’s the fastest thing I can do right now?
Get somewhere safe first. Then call or text (845) 206-4917 with the year, make and model, where the car is, and whether you have any working key. Those answers are what let us bring the right key the first time.
Locked out or lost your key? Call The Fobfather