It occurs in an instant where the slightest movement in that tight lock causes your key to snap, splitting it right in two. The feeling of panic overwhelms you, but having a snapped key does not have to mean the end of the world - provided you know what you are doing next.
The urge to reach for the stub and yank it out is natural. Resist it. You will only be making matters worse since any attempts to dislodge the fragment might damage the wafer assembly and require a whole new lock altogether.
In some cases, when there is a fragment of your key exposed, a carefully performed procedure with needle-nosed pliers may yield positive results. If after the first attempt at pulling out the fragment does not go well, do not force it until it gets snapped into another piece.
Sometimes, broken keys are caused by damaged locks rather than the age of a key itself. In case of keys breaking in the ignition, consider researching the symptoms of wear associated with ignition cylinders to avoid unnecessary damage.
The professional way to get rid of key fragments is to utilize dedicated tools that allow us to extract the parts without doing any harm to your car lock and cut a new key right away.
Stay calm and skip the panic moves that turn a free fix into a repair bill. Here's the right order of steps.
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