Breaking into a C4

[iceberg]

Urgent help needed!

Today is Bank Holiday Monday (May 4th) and my son is in the Lake District for the week with his girlfriend and he is locked out of his Citroen C4 - how can he get in?

Now he has the key, but the remote hasn't worked for quite some time and the passenger door lock now just turns round.

What are his options?

1. Break in - how?
2. Get a new key with remote facility - how does he get this and how long would this take?
3. Any other thoughts?

[Hell Razor5543]

The first thing I would try is to spray some light oil into the locks, to see if that helps. I cannot say how easy it will be to break in, as if the deadlocks are engaged the doors can only be unlocked by the central locking or a key.

[wurlycorner]

I take it the dead remote is more than just a dead battery that could be replaced?

[vborovic]

If the option is to break in, I'd go for the rear glass (boot), it should be the cheapest and easiest to replace (100 GBP max with labour, not in the Citroen service of course) ... if it's a 3 door, then the rear side fixed glass ...

[wheeler]

Is it a 3 door or 5 door for a start ? are the rear windows manual or electric ? Does he have breakdown cover with the AA or RAC ?
If it has manual rear windows or it is not deadlocked then it shouldn't be too much trouble for the AA/RAC to get in.

[iceberg]

It is a 3 door and he does have some sort of Green Flag cover, which he had forgotten about! They have opened the car for him which is great, but of course the car can't be locked now.

And yes, the dead remote is more than just a dead battery.

Next step I guess is to get a new remote key - does he go to a Citroen dealer for that and is there a cheaper option?

Thanks for your responses already.

[wurlycorner]

Not familiar with C4's, but is it not possible to buy a used remote from another car and get someone to programme the car to it using a LEXIA???

[vborovic]

No, already used remotes can't be configured again to a different car (at least not on the newer car models)

[Stickyfinger]

can you not transfer the chip to the replacement fob ?

[qprdude]

Hasn't the "new key fob" question been done to death, pawed over and dissected?
The only sure way is to get a proper replacement and have it mated to the car isn't it?
The Ebay efforts don't work as far as I know, not for remote operation, unless they are the same as new Citroen keys.
Anyhow, if you had months to play about with cheap keys to get them to work, you might eventually manage something, but the OP hasn't got that luxury.
Added to that, the door lock just turns round? Would this be a case of not leaving these things until they bite you?
The door lock might well be suffering from overuse if the remote hasn't worked for some time, I don't know.
Maybe now the "turning" door lock won't respond to a new remote, so the problem is made worse isn't it?
Personally, if I could afford it of course, I would just get a new key made from Citroen and get it programmed.
I had to do this with my Saab as I tried all the other "cheapo" avenues. In fact I paid about £120 4 years ago, but I expect Citroen could be much more expensive.